How Many Saints Of Newark Links To Sopranos’ Cut To Black Finale
Many Saints of Newark has plenty of connections to The Sopranos, most notably one scene linking to the series finale's infamous cut-to-black ending.
The Many Saints of Newark has plenty of Sopranos-related “Easter eggs,” and here’s how one sequence in the film actually links to the original series’ finale that famously and controversially cuts to black. The prequel to the acclaimed HBO crime drama, The Sopranos, recently hit theaters and HBO Max, and, in doing so, has been attracting legions of fans and TV/movie connoisseurs. Mainly following Dickie Moltisanti (Christopher’s father, played by Alessandro Nivola) and a teenage Tony Soprano (Michael Gandolfini), creator David Chase offers up a very unique kind of backstory for some of the beloved show’s characters and storylines.
One vitally important component of the movie is how it fleshes out Tony and Dickie’s relationship during the former character’s formative years, as well as how it seemingly affects him long-term. There’s a tragic moment that takes place not long before The Many Saints of Newark’s credits roll – when Tony goes to meet his “uncle” (they refer to each other as family – like Tony and Christoper later on – despite not being blood-related) at a local diner. Of course, Dickie’s just been killed and never joins his heartbroken mentee. On the surface, this sequence of Tony feeling stood up elicits sympathy for his character and functions as one of the last, painful notes his and Dickie’s relationship ends on. However, there’s also much more to the brief scene than just that.
Any fan who’s seen the show through to the very end is all too familiar with The Sopranos‘ cut-to-black ending series finale. Tony’s fate is left purposefully ambiguous and unsatisfying when the episode cuts to black, forcing viewers to draw their own conclusions about whether the beloved anti-hero dies or continues a declining, paranoid life for a little longer. Watching teenage Tony in The Many Saints of Newark’s diner is a clear foreshadowing of that same moment decades into the future. In fact, it literally is the same ice cream parlor/diner. As seen in both the restaurant’s layout and the logos on menus and the front window, it’s an establishment called Holsten’s, where he eventually sits down for a meal for (presumably) the final time. Just like the film, there’s an eerie buildup of tension while Tony meanders about in anticipation. He’s waiting for someone, looking up to see who enters as the bell rings with each person that passes through – just like in the show’s finale. This time, he expects Dickie instead of his future family.
There are plenty of other seemingly intentional similarities, as well. For one, Tony wears a high school sports-type of jacket as he paces around Holsten’s in The Many Saints of Newark. In the series finale, a patron that both adult Tony and viewers are made suspicious of – and could very well be there to perform a hit on him – is also wearing a similar type of jacket – one that has a Members Only style. All of this is a very thoughtful act of foreshadowing within the prequel, and it’s incorporated into the storyline so smoothly that the parallels will likely go unnoticed during a viewer’s first watch.
Yet, it’s clearly included on purpose, as a slew of other Sopranos references permeate the rest of the film. This is also done with other notable elements, like the seemingly random bird trapped in the garage when Dickie kills his father, the same kind of bad omen that shows up when Christopher becomes a made man in the series, and, likewise, when a baby version of Christopher begins to cry when faced with Tony, who ends up killing Christopher in The Sopranos. The Many Saints of Newark features plenty of Sopranos Easter eggs, but the brief scene at Holsten’s – which undeniably connects to the finale – is arguably the most important one.
