The following is the most plainly worded, pared-to-the-bone, no-bullshit comment in yesterday’s “Sopranos Finale Was Cut Wrong” thread:

“Outside of the influence of surrealism and whatnot, smart, strategic, well-ordered cinema RARELY fucks with people’s heads like the final Sopranos scene did. I explained why many were confused or uncertain about what had happened. It was because of the EDITING — David Chase’s decision to not play by basic editing rules at the very end,

“Except for the various dream sequences, The Sopranos was never some trippy cowabunga metaphysical space cadet David Lynch thing that dropped a tab of mescaline as it went off into the wild blue yonder. It followed the rules of clean, no-bullshit storytelling. It didn’t play bait-and-switch fakeout games. It experienced off passages like any longform, but it generally knew what audience expectations were and more or less MET them, episode after episode, season after season.”