Television audiences can have tough times saying good-bye to shows they love. For every finale that elicits tears and cheers on its departure—every Mary Tyler Moore Show or Six Feet Under that vacates in triumph—there’s a Dexter or a How I Met Your Mother that bows out with loyal viewers feeling cheated or even betrayed.
The ending of The Sopranos was so shocking, so ambiguously abrupt, that loyal viewers needed time to process what had happened before they could figure out whether or not they even liked it.
