Is there even a New Jersey Crime Family left at the end of Sopranos?

Question

I recently rewatched The Sopranos. Many have asked the question whether or not Tony Soprano was murdered in the final episode. But regardless of whether he lives or not, can the family even exist properly?

It would be too much work to list all the people who were murdered throughout the series. Therefore, I will focus on those who were either murdered or turned out to be FBI informants in the last season.

The following characters were murdered (or died another way) not long before the end of the series:

• Christopher Moltisanti
• Silvio Dante (was in a coma, but it was indicated that he will not come out of it)
• Bobby Bacala
• Vito Spatafore
• Eugene Pontecorvo (suicide, was also an FBI informant)
• Tony Blundetto
• Ray Curto (had a stroke, was also an FBI informant)
• Tony Soprano (possibly)

Carlo Gervasi was an FBI informant, Feech LaManna went back to jail, Larry Barese was an FBI informant, but I'm not sure that anybody in the crew knew that, Junior had dementia.

This brings me to the following people who are still alive at the end:

• Paulie Walnuts
• Patsy Parisi
• Benny Fazio
• Little Paulie
• Tony Soprano (possibly)

Did I forget anyone? Are Benny and Little Paulie even made?

Answer 1

I think the issue here is one of cinematography, not realism.

It makes little sense to introduce new characters to the narrative at the end, when those characters don't contribute to the plot. Therefore, it is likely that we simply were not shown the replacements for those who died, simply because the story focused solely on the people we do know and whose story we follow.

That doesn't mean that there weren't any replacements in-universe, it just means that the story likely didn't bother with them as they did not factor into the planned narrative.