4x12 Eloise

I have to admit, I got tired of the Carmella-Furio storyline. They make goo goo eyes at each other, mope, and nothing really happens. This is the would-be culmination of that storyline, with Furio coming the closest he ever would to taking out a soused Tony. And then leaving forever. But as usual Edie Falco makes it great, with her funk and sickness afterwards. Her two meals with Meadow were amazing scenes of with blistering text and heartbreaking subtext.

I was very surprised to learn that the contemporaneous fans of the show didn't like Carmela. I understand that she's an obstacle to Tony and that audiences rarely like to see their protagonists thwarted, no matter how bad that protagonist may be, but I've always enjoyed her arc of trying to resolve who she is and where her lifestyle comes from with the fact that she's removed from it and powerless in a way Tony isn't. Her only option is, as the psychiatrist Melfi recommended notes, just leaving and taking the kids with her. Tony, on the other hand, could maybe never join witness protection, but he at least makes more deliberate choices in who he is and what his business entails (though prior episodes like "College" suggest that he was more or less led by the nose into the mob from family and community expectations. I'm not saying that either character's arcs in this vein are better than the other's, but they're different, and I always appreciated the exploration of Carmela's position as much as I did Tony's.

If anything, my only beef was that they tended to hit the same notes repeatedly with Carmela, without really letting the story progress and change. But here, we start to finally see things boiling over for her. Her scenes with Meadow, where she so clearly resents her daughter for being the type of person on the cusp of the kind of life that Carmela always wanted for herself is striking. The effect that Furio's leaving has on Carmella, where she's clearly devastated but in a way she can't vocalize to anyone but Rosalie, and so her heartbreak comes out in other ways, is remarkable writing, that still wouldn't work without the supreme talent of Edie Falco.

On a very different note, Paulie is hilarious and awful at the same time. His mannerisms never cease to make me chuckle, but he does such ridiculous, awful stuff. The way he realizes that Johnny Sac has been buttering him up this whole time and changes his tune so quickly in response is great stuff. And all the business with the old ladies is quality as well. Paulie is always horrible, and the show tries to have the audience see that fact, but damnit, it's all so Paulie.

I also loved the scene with Carmine Jr., and how he started trying to mend things with his Dad and how quickly he turned on Tony after he heard his father compliment Tony by saying he wishes he had a son like that. John Sac's eyes told the story.