Watch: Pine Barrens' Russian: The Mystery That Never Ends

Paulie and Christopher took a Russian named Valery into the Pine Barrens to bury him, and instead he became the most famous loose end in television history. Watch the video above for the story, then read the full explainer: what happened to the Russian in Pine Barrens.

Valery survives a beating, a ride in a trunk and a gunshot, then vanishes into the snow without a body, a trace, or a resolution, in this episode or any other. The genius of the choice is that it never pays off. Life, David Chase has argued, does not resolve everything, and the hanging threat of Valery, that he might have survived, reached Slava, and started a war, hangs over the DiMeo family forever. Fans have demanded an answer for over two decades. The show's silence is the answer.

Quick answer: The show never confirms whether Valery lived or died. No body is ever found, and the mystery is deliberately left open.

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