David Chase clarifies his comments on Tony Soprano's fate

Last week, fans went through interchanging cycles of rage and relief when Sopranos creator David Chase seemed to have told Vox that Tony Soprano was alive at the end of the series. But Chase’s representative later issued a statement: Tony was not alive, nor was he dead. “As David Chase has said numerous times on the record, ‘Whether Tony Soprano is alive or dead is not the point.’ To continue to search for this answer is fruitless. The final scene of The Sopranos raises a spiritual question that has no right or wrong answer.”

In an interview published Thursday on The Daily Beast, Chase offered more clarification and context.

“This has taught me, for good and all, not to befriend any journalist. I got too friendly with her. And I kept saying to her, ‘You know, this can’t be good that you and I talk to each other and have lunch and coffee. Something’s wrong here,’and she’d say, ‘No, no, no.’ And she meant that—she wasn’t setting me up,” Chase said. “It seems like, poor Dave, there’s no way he can win. I don’t recall that conversation. I’m sure it happened, but I don’t recall it, and if I did say that, I believe I was probably thinking about something else…”

Well, bummer. But Chase did end up admitting that he felt a little competitive with Mad Men, the brainchild of Sopranos alum Matthew Weiner, and that he still hasn’t finished Breaking Bad. So there’s that, for any consolation. Read the full interview here.