"Isabella" is the 12th episode of the HBO original series The Sopranos. Written by Robin Green and Mitchell Burgess, and directed by Allen Coulter, it originally aired on March 28, 1999. Starring James Gandolfini as Tony Soprano Lorraine Bracco as Dr. Jennifer Melfi Edie Falco as Carmela Soprano Michael Imperioli as Christopher Moltisanti Dominic Chianese as Corrado Soprano, Jr. Vincent Pastore as Pussy Bonpensiero * Steven Van Zandt as Silvio Dante Tony Sirico as Paulie Gualtieri Robert Iler as Anthony Soprano, Jr. Jamie-Lynn Sigler as Meadow Soprano Nancy Marchand as Livia Soprano * = credit only Guest starring Synopsis Tony is deeply depressed after Pussy's unexplained disappearance. He sees a beautiful Italian woman in the Cusamanos' backyard next door. She tells him her name is Isabella and that she is a foreign exchange student staying there while the Cusamanos are away. He takes her out to lunch and she describes the beauty of Avellino, where Tony's grandfather came from. He has a daydream about Isabella in a rocking chair in a village house, nursing a baby named Antonio. One day Isabella is no longer there. When the Cusamanos return Tony asks about her and realizes he has been hallucinating. Dr. Melfi instructs him to stop taking lithium, and theorizes that Isabella was an idealized maternal figure. Mikey, acting through Donnie Paduana, contracts two black gunmen to carry out the hit on Tony. Junior cannot bear to hear the details of the plan when Mikey tries to report. Chris is concerned about his boss's emotional state and secretly follows him; he unknowingly prevents the hit when he pulls his car up next to the assassins', blocking their view of Tony. Mikey and Donnie urgently meet on the streets about the failed attempt, with Junior hiding in the back seat of Mikey's car. Donnie promises the hit will be the next day and casually remarks that even Tony's mother wants him dead. Junior, fearing Donnie's "big mouth", gestures to Mikey that he should kill Donnie. He does it. The next day, the assassins make their move. In a ferocious struggle, one of them is killed and the other is briefly dragged along the street as Tony drives away. Elated, he can't help crashing into a parked car. In the hospital, Tony says that his injuries, only minor, occurred in an attempted carjacking, a story that not even A.J. believes. FBI Agent Harris