well, Tony could have lived, or died. You don't know that the person coming in the door was meadow, and you don't know what was up with those sketch guys in the resturant. For all we know, nothing happened. But, no matter what way they ended it, people were gonna be pissed, so this way basically makes everyone happy. On another note, it was David Chase(the guy who plays tony) who directed this episode, which in a way makes it better because the main guy ended it how he thought it should. Also, the cutting to black instead of fading is a very interesting editing tactic that nobody really uses, so I give them props for doing it.