We’re back in Naples for the final season of My Brilliant Friend. With a lucky 10 episodes this season, I’m eagerly awaiting each twist and turn of this multi-decade friendship. The ups and downs of life, love, and womanhood have joined us together for three seasons and it will be so hard to say goodbye. Ciao, but not just yet…
- Compromises
Elena (Alba Rohrwacher) returns to the neighborhood after 6 years. Crazy how things can change in half a decade. She hasn’t spoken to her mother since Immacolata (Annarita Vitolo) smacked her for ruining her marriage to Pietro (Matteo Cecchi) a year prior. Lila (Irene Maiorino) is at Imma’s and helping her out. Imma adores Lila and sees in her what Elena is lacking. Again, how things can change…Lila is the neighborhood savior and she wants Lenu to come back. And not just back to the nice part of Naples. Back to the neighborhood.
Meanwhile, it’s BS from Nino (Fabrizio Gifuni, on the right) already but he does care for the girls. We see him interact with them. He’s not just ignoring them the way other men would. Elena is hoping the girls can stay with Lila while she flits away. “Your girls mean more to me than my own kid.” Well, that certainly answers that question. But it’s the ball waiting to drop for both of them. Both have stork visits to expect again. I suspect their pregnancy experiences will be similar to last time.
When Elena gets back from her time away, she hears her daughters parroting Lila’s words. Little feminists in the making; you love to see it. What I don’t love seeing is Elena making a scene in front of Nino and his wife. My god, Lenu. What are you doing? Does this make you feel better that you’re always second fiddle? I mean seriously, you signed up for this, remember? Plus being with him means dinner at his parents’ place and having to see Donato (Emanuele Valenti, on the left). I’m sorry, but that alone is reason enough for me to not be with Nino. No one else in the room knows their past, but god, the tension is unnerving. But the hardest hit was Immacolata’s diagnosis, though she’s less worried. “When you can endure it, the angel of death respects you,” she says speaking of fighting off an illness that nearly killed her as a child. I hope so, Imma. I hope so.
- The Earthquake
The girls, sporting baby bellies now, go shopping with Alfonso (Renato De Simone). He’s practically Lila’s double and she knows it. In fact, she uses Alfonso to annoy Michele Solara (Edoardo Pesce). So everyone wins! Alfonso gets to be himself, and Lila has a decoy to bother the enemy. Ok, Michele doesn’t win but that’s the point. Those brothers could use going down a notch or two. More annoying to Lila is having to watch Elena’s double identity. Sorry, Elena. I’m Team Lila on this one. Nino clearly doesn’t really care. I’m not sure what you need to see to really get it, but this boy is no different from the father he grew up hating. “Your lover isn’t my friend, and I don’t think he’s yours either.” Amen, girl.
Lila certainly doesn’t need Nino’s friendship either, given how well her company is doing and how she’s pretty much the neighborhood savior and the one person holding off the Solara’s from completely destroying everything. Well, Enzo (Pio Stellaccio) is there too. But he doesn’t annoy Michele as much as Lila does. Her sass levels don’t help but sometimes, you just gotta be sassy. And as much as she might be sassy, the neighborhood needs her. It needs to be saved. The Solara’s brought drugs in, roping members of both Lila and Elena’s families into it. It’s no wonder Imma is so desperate to get the boys out from under their thumb and working for Lila who would actually have their best interest at heart. Though she’s emotional in her own ways right now. Hormones will do that, plus when you don’t like being pregnant you get grouchy. Listen, I can’t speak to the experience. I’ve never done it. But I can imagine, given hearing about the discomfort and pain, that some women would not find the whole experience a bouquet of roses. And in the case of the girls, one of them found it a joy and one of them didn’t. 50/50 split seems pretty reasonable to me on the experience.
To make matters worse, the title event occurs. An earthquake hits the neighborhood and panic ensues. The streets are chaos. Elena gets them into Lila’s car for safety while the craze passes. But Lila is going down her own little spiral. It’s made appearances before. But we see the cracks break open a little more. The next morning, Elena is desperate for news of Nino. Unshockingly, he’s with his family. Lenu, I need you to wake up. Please. Can you not see that this man does not respect you? It’s so obvious. You are a convenient lay and excuse for him to get away from his wife who he’s clearly still with. Lucky for Lila, Enzo and her son Genno are okay. Elena goes back to the apartment. And that cracked ceiling really says it all. You can’t play family when you’re not.
