'Sopranos' finale: Burning questions

WARNING: Spoilers from last night’s series finale of The Sopranos abound.

Let’s leave aside, for now, the question of whether, with that final blackout, David Chase’s refusal to provide narrative closure or any kind of moral reckoning for Tony and Carmela was a fan-frustrating cop out or a true-to-life affirmation of the show’s existential thematic concerns. (We discuss that question at length here.) After all, you surely have plenty of additional unanswered questions. As do we. EW’s reporters will try to find answers to some of these; others are almost certainly unanswerable. We’ll get you started after the jump; if there’s anything we’ve forgotten to ask, add your own questions in the comment section.

• Was one of those suspicious-looking characters in the diner a hitman, one who might have popped Tony after the blackout? Or was Tony more likely to succumb to an onion-ring-induced coronary?
• Was Tony peeling an orange an ironic reference to The Godfather, where oranges were always a sign of imminent death?
• Can an SUV really catch fire that easily?
• Tony and Carmela said they wouldn’t buy AJ a replacement SUV, but isn’t it spoiling him just as much to buy him a new BMW?
• Would Silvio have awakened from his coma? If so, what would thisconnoisseur of strippers have thought of Abigail Breslin’s hoochiedance in Little Miss Sunshine?
• How many times can TV producers make use of Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’?”
• Did the Feds really flip Carlo? Did he flip because they pressured his son with a drug bust? Was he the one planning to testify against Tony on that old weapons rap?
• So, is Butchie the head of the New York family now?
• Did Uncle Junior really stash a fortune? Is he too far gone to remember where, or is he just being cagey? Will Bobby’s kids ever see any of that money, or is Tony right to fear Janice would keep it for herself?
• Was Tony going to get back into therapy, either with the shrink Melfi referred him to, or with AJ’s doctor?
• What was up with Agent Harris and his law-enforcement mistress? Was Tony’s dime-dropping on those two terror suspects ever going to pay off, or were they just ordinary, law-abiding folks who happened to be Muslims?
• Might there be a spinoff series for Paulie (Tony Sirico, pictured)? Might it look like this?
• Is the aging Paulie now Tony’s heir apparent?
• Is the Christopher-obsessed cat a reincarnated Adriana?
• Why did Hunter show up after all these years?
• Where has Donna Pescow (who played Meadow’s future mother-in-law) been since Saturday Night Fever and Angie?
• Might there be a Sopranos movie to tie up all these loose ends? Or would Chase be interested only in making a movie about the family’s immigrant ancestors?
• So, whatever did happen to the Russian?