There’s never been a more polarizing finale than “Made in America,” the last episode of The Sopranos. In the closing seconds, the screen cuts to black just as every member of Tony’s family has gathered in a diner. What just happened? The ambiguous final scene has sparked never-ending debate since its airing. The abrupt cut to black technique, followed by several seconds of silence, initially led many HBO viewers to think that their cable or DVR had malfunctioned at a crucial moment. When it emerged that this was the intended ending, some fans were disappointed, suggesting that David Chase and his team shouldn’t have concluded the mafia series ambiguously.

However, with time, everyone has come to admit that this was a genius move. Questions still remain about what happened, and Chase keeps adding to the confusion by alternating between confirming and denying that Tony Soprano died. At the moment, the following theories sound more convincing.

A widely circulated theory involves the “Man in the Members' Only Jacket.” In the show’s final moments, the mysterious person enters the diner and sits. He then glances at Tony before heading to the bathroom. According to many fans, this person comes back from the bathroom and shoots Tony Soprano, hence the reason the screen cuts to black.