i'm a mediocre (now) english major, and i could have written 6 different, more compelling ways to end it than that. seriously, I wrote them out to try to figure out how the show was going to end and win a few bucks. it wouldn't have been the end of the world to have sent tony to jail for tax evasion &c. &c. david chase copped out, he copied all of the elements of the prototypical "gangster" story, all of the things that people watched the show for, and decided to have some righteous indignation over all of those stories ending with a downfall. weak sauce.