The Sopranos Swipe

One editing choice has bewildered fans for 20 years. Creator David Chase and director Mike Figgis finally address “Cold Cuts.” Video: HBO

Every year or so, a new Sopranos fan tweets or starts a Reddit thread to discuss the show’s most mystifying moment. It’s not an unexpected character revelation or a shocking plot twist. It’s an editing choice at the end of one scene in the middle of an episode. It lasts only a few seconds; it’s not even the episode’s parting shot.

The most common fan reaction is confusion: “Thought it was a streaming error. Not a good glitch like a dream sequence.” “Was this an editing mistake? A subtle motif? Why does this happen?!?!” “It was straight out of an early 2000’s teen comedy where the opening shot freeze frames on a character doing something ridiculous and the voiceover says, ‘You’re probably wondering how I got here.’” Occasionally, you’ll find somebody full of admiration (“Such a hilariously blatant parody of sitcom television”), but the emotions mostly range from incredulity to hostility. The moment is discussed so often that people complain that it’s discussed so often. “I can’t have this conversation again,” one redditor said in a thread with 76 comments including “If I had a nickel for every time this post comes up since I subbed, I’d have a private jet on 24-hour standby.” They’re vexed.

The controversial edit happens in “Cold Cuts,” the tenth episode of The Sopranos’s fifth season, written by regular Sopranos screenwriters Robin Green and Mitchell Burgess and directed by Mike Figgis (Leaving Las Vegas, Timecode).