My Brilliant Friend
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In preparation to recap this season ofMy Brilliant Friend, I rereadThe Story of the Lost Child.
I liked that they tuned into the same wavelength aslast weeksfrenzy over Immacolatas hospital admission.
Of her sons, she demands that they take the job Lila has found for them in Baiano.
If they love her so much, theyll do this for her and let her die in peace.
Of Marcello, she demands matrimony: He must marry her daughter Elisa.
Between Lenu and her mother, there remains a surprising warmth, a renewed joy at being close.
Dede and Elsa visit, and Lenu considers how quickly and unsparingly time goes by.
One is Fernando Cerullo, Lilas dad, who brings an awful vibe to the function.
There is another, perhaps more generous, way to interpret Fernandos hard truth: People seldom change.
Lila, for her part, doesnt give an inch.
On the delivery table, she seems possessed: Cut open my belly, bitch!
she barks at the nurses.
But at long last, little Tina comes along: a girl, which no one was expecting.
Lenu, for whom the creation of life is more natural, thinks her friend exaggerates.
Lila marvels at the coincidence but insists its just that.
(It trulyisinappropriate how comfortable this doctor is discussing Lilas medical situation with another patient.)
While she goes to check on Imma and get dessert for Dede and Elsa rum baba!
Finally, he tells Nino its not a good time for essays and turns to Lenu instead.
Can he schedule her book for fall publication?
Fall is too soon; she wont be ready yet.
Lenu looks nauseated, which I think is an important step in her disillusionment with Nino.
Shes come a long way from being smitten by a guy who gets booed at conferences.
Finally, she agrees to meet his fall deadline.
They toast to the good news.
Spiraling, she throws all of this in Ninos face.
In fact, she isdisgustedby her situation.
Silvana doesnt do homework with the girls.
Dede and Elsa overhear the fight from the threshold of their bedroom door, which ends at a standstill.
Dont you want to prove everyone wrong?
Enrico had asked her; everyone, in this case, probably meaning Adele.
But the fight with Nino galvanizes her.
Who does it benefit, this pretense that women are always better than men?
Surely it doesnt help raise the children or spin up the house.
Its just another way of objectifying women, making them into statues to be admired.
Has he ever met a woman, flesh and blood?
Has he ever met a bitch?
Looking all solemn, Nino nods yes: Lila.
Its a rare funny moment in the show; Lilaisa bitch.
One morning, Lenu leaves Imma with Silvana while she takes Dede and Elsa to school and Nino sleeps.
She muses that the definitive break between the two figures was generated by his love of Lila.
