Despite their Nobel Prize-winning empirical implementation, the Bell inequality interpretation remains controversial. An objective analysis of Bell's work on nonlocality shows that Bell's rationale calls for reconsidering a widespread argument on quantum nonlocality, yielding a precise formulation free from the usual obscurities that lead to misleading controversies. By dismissing unnecessary metaphysical tenets, it is possible to probe the core of the problem and determine under what rational assumptions locality or nonlocality become feasible alternatives clarifying their relation to the Bell inequality. The approach renders a more balanced perspective over a long-standing polarized interpretative debate.