User Reviews

The black dog has obviously sunk it's teeth deep into Tony Soprano as we first stumble across him as an unshaven lump buried under his bedsheets. As we will soon discover, he should have a lot more to be depressed about when his mother's attempted hit on him goes awry. And it is a cocktail of this repressed matriarchal yearning and lithium that sends him off to la-la land for a short, episode-long stay. Like Melfi, Father Phil and Carmela were in 'College'; Tony's down with his own toxic virus. He tells Dr Melfi of his lack of identity ("I'm not a father to my kids") much like Christopher expressed to Tone in 'The Legend of Tennessee Moltisanti'.

Meanwhile, Uncle Junior is gazing into a more literal black hole at the funeral of Mariolina Capuano, where he muses of how the deceased once gave him hand-jobs in some Newark alleyway. His suspicions of Jimmy Altieri are heightened when the chubby mobster tells of how Brendan Filone's mother cried at his funeral (in sharp contrast to Livia's probable lack of sorrow). It seems that Mikey and Junior might have more than one Soprano crew member below their axe when Junior later confirms his nephew's proposed rat extermination.

Back in T's dream world, he's taking next door's Italian housekeeper and dental student out to lunch. Here, he daydreams of her breast-feeding a baby boy called Antonio and explains some culinary differences between Italian-Americans and Italians ("Why would you call a sandwich Hero?"). She guesses correctly that his ancestors hailed from Avellino, impressing him very much. It is hinted at early on that this could all be fantasy when Carmela tells him she's going out to get his son AJ a suit for his first formal, which is then reiterated moments later by their Polish housemaid.

A humorously modern reference to another famous movie Don is made when Tony purchases orange juice at a stall, before retreating back to his Chevrolet Suburban where he sees the 'Boyz to {hit-}Men' approaching in the driver's window. Luckily for him, the Tropicana takes the first hit and the driver's window the second as he jumps in and starts the engine to Tindersticks 'Tiny Tears'. The third bullet finds its way into Petite Clayborn's head when Rasheen Ray grapples with Tony through the smashed window. Ray is also soon disposed of as TS makes his getaway, only to crash his car into another further down the road.

These events clearly prove that Tony Soprano is the Chosen One of the opening theme song. But what does that mean exactly when Livia feigns dementia in order to cleverly avoid suspicion of any involvement in the hit, leaving Junior's crew hanging in the wind as the only perpetrators? In hospital, FBI Agent Dwight Harris informs Tony and Carmela that their lives are now at risk and the Witness Protection Program may be their only option -but that'd be no way to end the show with 12 episodes. Carmela expresses concern and considers this in front of Agent Harris, much to Tony's consternation. In a private moment with his spouse, he dissuades her with tales of a life without flavourful tomatoes and evenings with nice Mormons.

Upon returning home, a supremely confident Tony is surprised to find Isabella gone and asks Doc Cusamano about her, who only frowns in bewilderment and asks Tony what he means. Over the phone Melfi analyzes for and with the viewer, summarizing his fantasy as one of matriarchal yearning for an ideal mother; Livia's fascination with infanticide in the newspapers is also hinted at as a clue to her true intentions by his psychiatrist, further implicating herself in Tony's gangsterism while consolidating her position as the most relateable character to serious viewers of the show.

The music is like a second character in Isabella. It makes you think that you're flying with Tony along the episode. In fact, by the look at his face, Tony's been flying since he saw that beautiful thing in the Cusamano's yard, named Isabella. She's, of course, Italian. And of course, Tony can't resist been attracted to her. He pictures her taking care of a young baby at a rustic home, probably very far from where he is. It takes Dr. Melfi for us to realize that that baby was Tony. He cries and shouts "Fuck" after this revelation.

Meanwhile, Junior is hoping that Tony will be soon put down to sleep, but Christopher's worried about him after seeing him in his bathrobe, unshaved at two o'clock in the afternoon, so he decides to follow him, and by pure chance, he save his life by standing in the way of the two hit men Mikey Palmice hired to do the job Junior wanted. But the next day, with the music at its highest level, they go for Tony, shooting in the middle of the street. But he survives, and there's nothing that would stop Tony from finding out who order the hit.

Tony spots a beautiful young woman next door named Isabella, a student who is staying at the Cusamano's house while they are away. Tony eventually takes her out for coffee, and her description of her native town sends the poor, stressed-out guy off into la-la-land, where he pictures Isabella sitting in a rocking chair with a small baby in her arms. The look she momentarily gives the camera is as enigmatic as Mona Lisa's smile. Or maybe Tony's mother's. Carmela discovers Tony's new interest and reads him the riot act. Later, he will discover things are not necessarily what they seem. Meanwhile, Junior's hit on Tony (triggered by Tony's indelicate remarks about Junior being a tuna eater) comes to fruition. The episode at times has a dream-like, elegiac quality and proves once again that this series can do anything it wants, thanks to smart writing and high production values.

Livy's performance alone makes this worth a 9! Her snarky comments during dinner. "Why is my son in a bathrobe?" She's sad but never stops eating! Please, she's a master manipulator. She then takes over, telling Junior how to act when their joint plan go awry and then leaves him to swing in the wind. "Who is that girl?" Junior's face reveals he knows he's on his own, Livy is all about self preservation! Even when he confronts her, she avoids responsibility. If like me, you haven't always liked Livy or seen why she gets so much screen time. You'll appreciate her and what she brings after watching this episode.

This episode felt like a movie. It's definitely the best one so far. This series has me on the edge of my seat and I can't wait to see what happens next.

The twist in this episode was incredible. This is one of the best episodes of television I've seen in a long time.

Tony is all depressed about the disappearance of Pussy. He notices in the yard of his neighbour a hot young woman When he talks to her he finds out that she is a part of a student exchange program, he has lunch with her and has a fight with Carmela about it. Later he fins out that she doesn't exist. And Junior's assault on Tony takes place only Tony survives.

An intense and great episode. The assassination of Tony was a great scene and will lead to a great finale. It is interesting if Livia losing it was genuine or as what Junior thought.

The whole story with him imagining Isabella was actually very funny, especially when he was finding out that it wasn't true and got rid of his meds.

This is, by far, the best episode of this series, and probably will be the best in all time. The performance in this episode is excellent. Moreover, the juxtaposition in this episode is just stunning.

This episode is all about Tony's depression, but jokes or juxtaposition are everywhere. At the former part of this episode, the hired hitman joked about that Tony was ordered hit by his mother, which was actually part of the truth. Later on, Tony looked for motherly love from Isabela, but his wife misunderstood it. And when the Priest came, Tony embrassed her by pointing out the stay. During the family dinner, little Antonio asked "How can it be a joke if you're crying?". After the hit went south and Tony's family gathered in the hospital, the board behind the seat where Tony's kids sat read "Safe Families. Everybody needs one". At last, the motherly love was an illusion while the hit was the reality, which is quite sarcastic: psychiatry that heals people with love failed, while the hit healed the depression of Tony.

Typically I don't interact with the content I watch, but sopranos had huge impact on life, the way depression is portrayed, etc., and I've been really enjoying your content this was a great episode. I was hooked on the show after this. I took this literally , as that Tony was experiencing psychosis at the time. There were clues that Isabella wasn't really there. She was in a white linen dress, which would be for summer, when the neighbor had a light jacket on (indicating early fall or spring). When they go out to lunch she's in the same white dress. Going out to lunch ASAP after meeting didn't make sense, and usually changes of clothing are what's used to signify a different day in TV/movie production. I honestly thought that Olivia was actually forgetting things, or does she actually do later on? I also think one small detail missed about Tony's attempted assassination; notice how very windy it is in the scene, which may have been the reason the bullets missed him.

A heavily medicated Tony is currently suffering through depression. He spends a lot of time in bed, or wandering around the house in his bathrobe. Then, while looking out his window, he spots a true vision: Isabella (Maria Grazia Cucinotta, "The World is Not Enough"), an exchange student from Italy who is house-sitting for the neighbors. He hits it off with her, and his spirits are lifted a little. But what really gets his blood pumping is when he survives a hit sanctioned by Uncle Junior. Now he's full of purpose again, determined to find out who tried to have him killed.

'Isabella' is a particularly well-written episode that has an appropriately surreal quality to it, albeit a sunny kind of surrealism that is personified in the charming, lovely Cucinotta. The episode balances this aspect quite well with the ugly reality that will soon intrude, and traditional trappings of the gangster genre come alive.

It's very much worth it to see Livia and Uncle Junior react to the news that the attempted hit was not successful. Now Uncle Junior is practically in panic mode, as he can totally understand how angry his nephew is likely to be.

One of the most successful hooks to the whole episode is its revelation late in the game: was in fact Isabella real or imagined? Dr. Melfi is quick to point out the reasons why Tony might have such a fantasy. In the end, no definite answer is provided either way. But the situation does give Tony pause. And the story ends with him vowing to get some answers, so it beautifully sets up a problem to be solved before the end of this first season.

Excellent acting all around, with Cucinotta providing a real breath of fresh air.

Eight out of 10.

A Very interesting episode .

Because this time the episode is really trough the POV of Tony and we can see how he struggled and get downed because of the medicine .

And some killers tried to get him in the streets but he gets out . We can be pretty sure its Junior who did that but we still dont really know who launch that attack and who want to see Tony down .

We got that Prozac effect mostly with that dentist student who get pretty sensual with Tony but after all this we heard that it was from the medicine . Side effects ? Anyway that woman didnt exist . Can we see trough that fantasy about Tony and that he get breastfeeded was just a lack of attention from his mother ? Or does that man need more attention ?

We dont really know but it was very interesting and love how they showed us the events . Need also to know who wanted to kill Tony : the big question.