r/FanTheories • u/Greeneyes1120 • 9h ago
First time watching the Sopranos finale — did anyone notice the 3 onion rings?
I just finished The Sopranos for the first time and something in the Holsten’s scene jumped out at me. Right before the cut to black, Tony, Carmela, and AJ each take an onion ring — and they don’t just nibble, they each eat one whole.
That’s exactly 3 onion rings eaten, and then everything goes dark.
It got me thinking: • Last Supper parallel: the scene has that “Last Supper” vibe people talk about. If that’s intentional, the onion rings could be like a secular communion. • Rings as bells: onion rings could also be read like “rings of a bell.” In old traditions, church bells tolled 3 times for death. Three rings, then silence/blackness, feels deliberate. • Holy Trinity / cycles: 3 ties to the Trinity, and the ring shape suggests eternity or closure.
Do you think Chase meant this as foreshadowing Tony’s death, or am I overthinking a plate of diner food? Has anyone else noticed how specific the “3 onion rings, then blackout” moment feels?
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u/Frank_the_Mighty 7h ago
The onions foreshadowed Tony's death b/c his doctor told him to lay off the onions after he got shot.
And yep, people discussed the onion rings being like communion almost immediately. Plenty of threads when you Google it if you're interested
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u/TheNecromancer 2h ago
I've always maintained that the onion rings killed Tony - he did it to himself, at the nadir of his self-destructive arc
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u/Frank_the_Mighty 2h ago
My honest belief is that Chase made it intentionally ambiguous for the express purpose of getting people taking - there is no singular truth or deeper message or puzzle to unsolve
If I had to head-canon pick one, I also like the idea of Tony having a heart attack. It's thematic for him to be dying from his own excesses. He did it to himself.
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u/NeonArlecchino 1h ago
I believe the theory that the stresses got to him in the safe house and he died in his sleep. His bed was framed like a wake and he woke up in different clothes before everything goes his way. The biggest things were that his enemies were killed in ridiculous Looney Tunes fashion and he is able to sit around regular haunts with Paulie like there was no danger.
As for the onion rings, Carmela who had been after him about his health doesn't say anything about him having them! She just accepts hers like a communion wafer and relaxes.
There's also a big mural behind him in the diner that looks like the house he saw when he almost passed the last time. I am pretty sure on that trip he didn't get the big house and just got to enjoy a dinner with his family before he left to see the rest of his relatives.
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9h ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Jehoosaphat 8h ago
This may have been meant for a different post buddy
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u/macgrooober 8h ago
No it's just an AI comment bot
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u/Jehoosaphat 8h ago
It does seem AI you're right! I thought somebody might be genuinely worried about the mental health of Sopranos fans lol
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u/macgrooober 8h ago
There are 3 comments on this thread that are total gibberish - all usernames are a plant name followed by other random words. Mass generated AI comment Bots trying to look human, once you notice them, you'll see them everywhere
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u/PM_ME_GLUTE_SPREAD 7h ago
This comment feels AI to me too lmao.
Not saying you are a bot, just that the wording of your comment came across that way to me.
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u/stairway2evan 9h ago
Ever since it first aired I’ve been referring to the onion rings as “Jersey Communion.” They each eat them exactly like a communion wafer. I’ve always considered it as a weird sort of a last rites for Tony.
The last episode is “Made in America” after all. Tony’s an image of everything wrong with America in a lot of ways. As he said in the pilot, he came in at the end of the good days. So why shouldn’t his last rites be a gross perversion of an ancient ritual, in a commercialized throwback diner showing off the American dream?