So what's up with all the controversy over the ending of the Sopranos' final episode? After all, that's exactly what David Chase wanted! Why should we be so surprised after watching his "art" for so many years?

All the questions; "How could he do this? What was he thinking? That was wrong! That sucked!"

I've heard all the arguments, debates, criticism & praise. The people who had no issue with the ending seem to be OK with it simply because it left open the possibility of a movie. I can buy into that, however even with sequels, there is still an ending to the original.

Others say "it's art, therefore it's all interpretation, just as are all great songs and movies." That in itself is contradictory because all great songs and movies have endings (good or bad). And, you cannot compare a TV series, a movie or a song to a painting or a photograph.

In my opinion, what David Chase did was abuse his artistic freedom. HBO allowed him to do so because he has all the leverage. David Chase is an artistic genius, therefore he got off on what he did (as an artist). To blacken out a scene in the height of its dramatic finish as well as doing so without music; to make the audience think there was something wrong with their set/satellite was simply the work of an artist completely mind-fu%#ing his viewers whom he had eating out of the palm of his hand. In essence, he acted like God - and it worked!