"The Sopranos" Eloise (TV Episode 2002) Poster

(TV Series)

(2002)

User Reviews

Review this title
9 Reviews
Sort by:
Filter by Rating:
7/10
Furio was one of my favorite characters. I missed him when he moved away
Neptune16516 July 2022
Warning: Spoilers
One thing I think that's really interesting about this episode is the difference between furio and Tony. Furio realizes that if him and Carmela were to pursue a relationship of any kind he would be putting both of them in danger, and leaves before anything can happen to them, showing he's able to make sacrifices for the well-being of a person he cares about. In the same episode Tony goes to dinner at meadows apartment in the city, immediately after retaliating against Carmine. Obviously he knows it's unlikely Carmine would do anything drastic in reaction to that and also wouldn't likely do anything with his family around but it just shows that Tony is completely careless with the safety of his family to have his whole family with him on the turf of someone he just made a a move against. I like to think we saw the Furio storyline finished properly via Boardwalk Empire. For those who don't know, the series creator was Terrence Winter who was a writer/producer on the Sopranos. One of the main characters in Season 3 is Owen, an Irish import that Nucky brings over after making an alliance with the IRA, who falls in love with Nucky's wife. On Boardwalk though they take it to the next level and begin an affair. It doesn't end well. I think This is Terrence finishing a plot line they dropped and wrote out Furio.
2 out of 2 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
8/10
Eloise (#4.12)
ComedyFan201019 March 2014
Warning: Spoilers
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.
6 out of 13 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
8/10
Too much Carmela acting like a school girl
jcsvba10 May 2020
Paulie's character is in for quite a surprise and then does something surprising, good drama. John and Tony are interesting as always. Now for the boring: Carmela and her school girl crush and Meadow is as dull as always. If only the Sopranos kids would just disappear!
12 out of 49 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
10/10
"She's the Don's wife"
MaxBorg8912 May 2008
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!
38 out of 47 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
10/10
A Carmella Episode
julienlegiletier10 July 2020
Carmella is unfairly described by many critics, and yet treated too kindly by others. She is not childish necessarily as much as she is desperate, and either too stupid to realise the implications of her actions for other people (ie Furio and that DIY guy from the previous season) or selfish enough to knowingly bring them into a dangerous situation. You could certainly make the argument that her dissatisfaction is such that she doesn't care much about implications, but I think this is probably something most people deal with. This episode is prime Carmella material and Edie Falco is stellar. Probably one of the best in this season.

Side note: I have never seen a hangover represented as well as Gandolfini when does it in one short scene in this episode. I can feel his feelings in this moment.
14 out of 17 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
10/10
Epic
cnba_cnba1 August 2008
Warning: Spoilers
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.
17 out of 22 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
10/10
You're not?!
snoozejonc13 September 2022
Carmela suffers emotionally and directs her anger at others, whilst Tony's issues with the New York family continue.

This is a very strong episode with great performances and characters moments.

The plot is focussed on characters like Carmela, Tony, Meadow, Paulie, and Furio. With the strongest scenes for me involving Carmela. There are some brilliantly written scenes where her unhappiness comes out quite bitterly and her interactions with people are excruciating to watch.

Edie Falco and Jamie-Lynn Sigler are awesome throughout the episode. Falco is an incredible actress with phenomenal range and Sigler holds her own with energy and intensity. They are so realistic as mother and daughter my head is always in my hands listening to them in certain scenes.

This is the worst episode of the worst season for the soullessly selfish behaviour of Paulie Wallnuts. Aside from all the fickleness and backstabbing, he does something truly reprehensible. There are still humorous aspects to the portrayal, but the writers do a good job of making the character less appealing to audiences than during previous seasons.

More than anything Eloise does an exceptionally good job of setting up a pretty explosive season finale. Everything we see Carmela go through is key for what happens next.

Some of the cinematography is exceptionally good, particularly one shot of a character looking into an empty house.

For me it's a 9.5/10 but I round upwards.
4 out of 4 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
Margetis Review - The Sopranos, Episode 51 "Eloise"
MichaelMargetis11 February 2006
Warning: Spoilers
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
12 out of 20 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
8/10
Childhood Redemption
josephcasillas16 March 2021
I saw this episode when I was a kid and it took me over 10 years to finally see it in order. They set up this Carmela - Meadow storyline in the pilot, by the way!
3 out of 11 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

See also

Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews


Recently Viewed