AllMovie

A fantasy woman leads to a therapeutic breakthrough for a mob chieftain, as his family crumbles around him in the penultimate episode of the HBO series' freshman season. Briefly confined to his bed by depression, New Jersey Mafia boss Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) begins having hallucinogenic dreams about a beautiful neighbor named Isabella, who he believes to be a foreign exchange student living at his neighbor Cusamano's house. After Tony's cousin and soldier Christopher Moltisanti (Michael Imperioli) unwittingly prevents a first hit attempt on Tony, a pair of assassins nearly manage to kill the crime boss, but Tony gets away with only minor wounds. While he's recovering at the hospital, Tony is visited by the FBI, who tries in vain to recruit him as a federal witness. Tony also receives visits from his lieutenants, who vow revenge, and his uncle Junior (Dominic Chianese), whom he correctly suspects ordered the botched slaying. Tony discovers that there is no Isabella and that the gorgeous girl he envisioned suckling a baby was a figment of his imagination. While consulting with his psychiatrist, Dr. Jennifer Melfi (Lorraine Bracco), to see if she's the one who leaked information about him, Tony comes to the conclusion that his dreams about Isabella are significantly related to his lack of childhood nurturing and mothering. Isabella aired March 29, 1999.