The Sopranos Eloise (1999–2007) Online

It is an essential characteristic of any respectable gangster epic that one of the main players cheats on the missus. The Sopranos is no exception, with only Bobby Baccala sticking with one woman at a time. The penultimate episode of Season Four, written by the talented Terence Winter, reverses the template by having the frustrated Carmela Soprano fantasizing about another man.

The man she pines for is Furio Giunta (Federico Castelluccio), Tony's henchman who moved to Jersey from Naples back in Season 2, and the attraction appears to be mutual. However, Furio has either too much respect for Tony, or too much fear, to the point that he profits from the opportunity to return to Italy for a funeral to seek some interior peace and sound advice on how to behave. Speaking of inner turmoil, Paulie's experiencing one with a vengeance, as he thinks he is an important member of the crew and discovers Carmine doesn't even know who he is, despite his connection with Johnny Sack.

Juggling poetry and foul-mouthed comedy, Eloise piles up material for the finale, and the two following seasons, with precise elegance, the belly-laughs of Paulie's misadventure perfectly balancing Carmela's aching heart. The latter subplot is especially poignant as it sets a fundamental point: no matter what you do, if you're a gangster's wife you will always be nothing more than that, meaning you won't get everything you desire. However, Carm has always proved to be her husband's match, so upcoming events are likely to get fiery. Ouch!

A great episode that opens a lot of doors for next week's season extended season finale. I found the most shocking and vulgar part of the episode was when Paulie smothered an old woman to with a pillow for her money (since he was having a hard time earning.) It was also funny to see the surprised and scared look on Paulie's face when he confronted Carmine at a party about Johnny Sack talking about him, and he had no idea what Paulie was talking about. The episode kind of moved slow in the middle, though, but I was really surprised when Furio disappeared into Naples. I thought one of the episode's only flaws was that it spent too much time on Carmela's love fantasy with Furio. Written by Terence Winter ; Directed by James Hayman. My Rating: 8/10

This episode makes way for the following, as the tense relationship between Carmela and Furio comes to an end. The scene where Tony, Furio and Carmela's cousin take the helicopter is magnificent. The loud noise of the helicopter is like a representation of the feelings of Furio toward his boss, when he sees the chance to be next to Carmela, but decides not to take it. When the helicopter flies away, you can see the expression on Furio's face, and that tells you that he has decide to resign to be with the woman she loves.

Then, to Carmela. After hearing of Furio's return to Italy, and seeing her daughter so happily in love with her boyfriend, she is devastated. So she engages in a stupid fight with Meadow over Billy Bud, acting like a child. And this continues when the two of them have tea at the room with the Eloise picture, in a great reference to the pilot episode, when Meadow didn't want to go to the Plaza for her birthday tradition. At the end of the episode, Carmela is growing a fever, probably due to the recent events in her life.

And the conversation between Tony and Johnny Sack about Carmine is fantastic. "Yeah, he's healthy. Thank God". Only a mobster could say that and be thinking of the opposite.

The feelings between Carmela and Furio get stronger. When he goes away with Tony he seems to be angry watching Tony with other women. And there is a moment when he almost does something. But then he just leaves back to Italy without saying good bye. And Paulie is having a very bad time both not being recognized and killing his mom's friend.

I have to admit I was a bit bored by the Carmela/Furio story. All those "affairs" where nothing is even said is not my thing even though it is kind of original. But I did enjoy the episode. Great acting on both parts. I was actually believing them even though I found the storyline ridiculous.

The Sopranos

A classic take on the most beloved genre which clearly suggests the crazy love it received from the audience but also left a long lasting impression on critics and awards shows where it took away five justified Golden Globes to its home. The Sopranos is a character driven series about a family that basically runs the whole town, just illegally.

The writing is adaptive, gripping and ground-breaking on terms of its structure that is so eerily easy as it slips away from the audience like some jelly; it is sweet, nutritious and immensely pleasing. It is rich on technical aspects like its metaphorical cinematography, sharp sound effects and up beating songs along with palpable background score. The series is shot beautifully, each and every color sparks up neatly; especially the visuals that are taken in sunny days are amazing.

The performance by the cast is plausible since the effort is clearly visible but Gandolfini, Bracco, Falco and Imperioli stands alone due to their easiness in their acts. Gandolfini; at the heart of it, oozes power and the aegis nature which is what helps makers keep the audience rooting for the character.

The relationship between Gandolfini and Bracco is the highlight of the series due its fragile tone which is soothing to experience as it lights up the series in a whole new way. Pragmatic conversations, three dimensional character, gut-wrenching politics, brawny dialogues and brilliant execution are the high points of the feature that makes it one of the best series.

Season 04

This fourth act is more professional and business than personal and yet it is more emotionally competent, if not among the best. But with new additions of characters and expected threat, it has got the right amount of crispiness as much as it is husky.

Eloise

It is disappointingly a slower and frizzier vision with an appreciative mature take that surprisingly this time isn't cinematic enough to keep the crisp alive for the audience to root or care for this so called case.