Mike, I heard the same things.  But David Chase debunked all of that in an interview with the Star Ledger (he was in France this weekend but had previously committed to giving the interview the day after the finale). Bascially, Chase said that he was not trying to “play with people’s minds” and confirmed that none of the people in the restaurant were ever used before in the series.  Chase maintains that his intention was to leave it open for the viewers and to entertain the audience. He also downplayed the movie but didn’t rule it out.  He said alot of characters are dead and it would be hard to do a movie surrounding a day we never saw during the series but the kids will be older and it would be tough.  He didn’t rule it out altogether – saying if he got a great idea and everyone else wanted to do it (Gandolfini), he would.  But as far as the ending goes, I think if you want to believe that Tony dies moments after the “fade to black” you have ample justification for that.  The suspicious looking characters, the conversation between Bobby and Tony, etc.  If you want to believe Tony survived, I think there’s justification for that too – remember the lyrics to the song (which Chase has always said is like the Greek Chorus and augments the dialogue) “it goes on and on and on and on…” etc, etc…  My wife watched the final moments again with the On Demand service and said when you watch it again knowing that it goes to “black” none of the characters look menacing or suspicious.  With the series, I think Chase was “dropping” us in a specific period in Tony’s life (his therapy period) and then took us out as quickly as he dropped us in.  If you think about it, the show begins with Tony not in therapy and ends with him not in therapy.  That’s what I think is Chase’s enduring point.  Therapy works. Â