MY BRILLIANT FRIEND HBO Max Show

It's on my list, but there's a bazillion things ahead of it.

Is anyone watching? I loved the first two seasons but felt like season 3 took a dip in quality. Season 4 seems to be an even bigger dip for me. Barely any Lila in the first two episodes and Elena has become an insufferable idiot. If this wasn’t the last season I’m not even sure I’d keep watching.

Much like r1, it's eternally on my to-watch list.

I watched a couple of episodes in season one, but the poverty of it all brought up too many painful memories for me, also a poor person from roughly that region, and so I had to stop.

It’s a fantastic series, and follows the novels closely.

Stick with season three, there are some hair-raisingly good scenes and some surprising plot turns.

My problem with season four so far is that I had gotten very attached to the actress playing Elena in the first three seaons. She has exactly the kind of looks that would cause old ladies to pinch her cheek and tell her how beautiful she is. She suggests intelligence but also sweetness, warmth and femininity, with her round face and curves.

But the actress playing Elena in season four is all hard angles, cold where the other actress was warm, witchy-looking where there was a surface niceness. I get that Elena has gone through some big, traumatic changes in her self-actualization, but this seems like a different character, as do many of the others. I find myself clinging to the actresses playing mothers, as they are the same who have played them throughout.

But I assume I’ll get used to the new actors in time. It is a really singular and remarkable TV series in it’s sense of detail mixed with the panorama of cultural and political life over decades.

I totally agree about the actress playing Elena in season 4 R4. She just isn’t working in this role. And so far not enough Lila this season.

I have a quick question about the episode "The Earthquake." Did Lila really say that Marcello, because he couldn't have her, was sleeping with Alfonso who was made up to look pretty much like her?

I always had trouble with all of the names anyway, and now that there are new actors playing these characters, it is all more confusing.

It’s a great show. I’m almost done season three.

Book was dull.

Too much Lenu (and, ugh, Nino) in S4 and not enough Lila (and Enzo, pretty much the only decent man on the show). I think the series has largely been very good, especially the first two seasons, but agree with R6 in that having to recast the actors and the year-long gap between seasons has made it difficult to remember who the secondary and tertiary characters are. (I only read the first book.)

I hate Nino, and always have. Like father, like son. Seasons 1 and 2 were mesmerizing—brilliant casting. Season 3 dipped a bit—agreed. Season 4 has been fantastic. Admit it, even if you think the actress playing Lenu is not satisfying, the same actress has been our narrator (it’s her voice) from the very beginning; I love that part of it.

What I love even more, now, is the actress playing Lila. Every look, every nuance, even her speaking voice, are so in synch with the younger Lila. Her breakdown in the aftermath of the 1980 earthquake was incredible. You come to realize the nature and scope of her mental health issues—I couldn’t not watch. When she told Lena she was bad, just like La maestra said all those years ago—just wow.

And the actress still playing Lenu’s mother after all these years!

Why this series never hit any Emmy love?! I guess because it was done, mostly, in dialect. Too much work for Emmy voters.

I tried to like it but I couldn't. I loved Gomorrah, also set in Naples.

Can some please answer my question! Did Lila say Marcello was fucking Alfonso because he couldn’t have her? Marcello was always hot to me. Will this be a part of an AIDS storyline with its breakout in ‘83? I never read the books.

No.

No.

Maybe.

I’m going to miss this when it’s done. It’s been so good.

I watched the opening of the first episode of the first season again. It’s set “now”. I am curious to see what’s going to happen to make those scenes make sense.

R13 - I believe Marcello is fucking Alfonso. Alfonso suggested that I think in last week's episode. That's why he's copied Lila's look.

The actor playing the younger Marcello was sexy, but the Season 4 guy is really unattractive and looks nothing like the younger version.

In fact it's the miscasting that's really a distraction for me with Season 4. With the exception of the actress playing Lila - who's perfectly Lula - I don't care don't care for any of the replacement actors. For example, Nino now seems more like a younger version of his father than an older version of Nino. And everything R4 says about Lenu is accurate.

But I do want to say this: the actress who's been playing Lenu's mother Immaculata for 4 seasons is nothing less than phenomenal. What a complicated character she's been, and what a heartbreaking storyline she's had this season. (I haven't seen tonight's episode yet.)

Oops - meant to say "who's perfectly Lila" @ R16.

Now I can see what Mari Shriver had to go through 🤢

I hate Nino but I also can’t stand Elena at this point. Why she’s stayed with Nino this long is inexplicable and makes her seem like an idiot.

She writes about it—that’s it.

I still find it fascinating no one knows who Elena Ferrante is or if she is even a man or a woman. Very Thomas Pinchon.

I've been on DL too long. After watching the most recent episode all I could think was, Man, Nino needs to die in a grease fire.

Is it possible that the 2 girls are one in the same? I've never read the books, but I have seen the trailer. I just wondered if any of think it's possible le?

R23, I guess this is technically a spoiler but this is no “ Fight Club” — Elena and Lila are not the sake person, there are no figments of the imagination or imaginary best friends here. They are tow women locked in a love-hate-love friendship.

Episode 6 was just outstanding. Really brought the themes and events of this season into sharp focus.

They are not the SAME person, They are TWO women . . .

What a dumb thought—honestly.

The open question is: who is my brilliant friend? Is it our narrator, Lenú, describing Lila, or is it a coda from Lila to Lenú?

Immaculata’s death and funeral was such good tv…there they all were—back at the beginning—right where we first met them.

Does Lenu EVER actually write anymore? She meets with publishers/agents and talks about it and seems to have some level of fame as a writer, but we never see her actually writing, at least not this season, which has largely been Nino-centric (when I wish it had been more Lila-centric). I realize the creative writing process is dull to film -- it's not sculpting, painting, dancing, etc. -- but, c'mon, show, she could at least be interrupted revising proofs by some Nino-nonsense. (Girl. WHAT do you see in him?)

It’s such a great series. So beautifully done down to every detail: casting, writing, production design, costumes, score. One of the best productions…ever really. The masses haven’t taken to it. Well it’s not for them - not for the ‘plebes’ as you will learn when you watch it. Books are great too of course.

I watched 3 seasons of it. Brilliant.

[quote]They are tow women locked in a love-hate-love friendship.

Sounds like lesbian drama…

The crazy thing I read is that neither actresses portraying Lila and Lenu seasons 1-3 had acted before this show.

The funny thing r31 is that I started rewatching the series with my very conservative mom. Everything third episode, it seemed, she would as me, “they don’t turn out to be lesbians, do they?”

R26 — I think it’s both, earlier in the series Lila encouraged Elena to go all the way with her education and her writing because Lila wasn’t able to do so.

But a case can certainly be made that Lila has a far more brilliant and original mind, given how she was able to remake herself and become a force to reckon with in her community. And Elena knows this very well, also knows Elen’s successful books have grown out of thoughts and observations Lila has made to her.

Certainly both love, are proud of and are jealous of each other. It’s complicated. And that ‘s the point of this portrait of a long friendship.

I agree. It’s part of what makes this story so worthy.

[quote]The open question is: who is my brilliant friend? Is it our narrator, Lenú, describing Lila, or is it a coda from Lila to Lenú?

To me it's clear that Lenu is smart, talented, but Lila is the Brilliant Friend. From the very first show Lila was the one setup with the intelligence beyond her years and the capability to deal with situations well beyond her years. It was her writing that showed Lenu what real writing looked like. Lila just "picked up" latin, teaching herself while, Lenu struggled with it in school. It was then Lila who sat Lenu down and taught her how to look at Latin and improve her grade. Lila is brilliant and self-taught in a way that surpasses most of the educated people in the story.

One question. Do we believe Lila when she "confesses" to Lena that Nino has tried to start something with her? Or is she lying? Also, when they take Lena's mother to the hospital, we see Nino trying to get close to her and also (in the car) Lila seems to want him. However, I thought those were Lenu's thoughts/nightmares about what might happen.... It was not clear if it was real or that whole sequence was visualized through Lenu's fears?

I think those scenes were Lenu's fears but Lila confirmed to her that Nino has been hitting on her. I believe Lila because she doesn't seem the type to make shit up.

We are not seeing feelings. We see real events. The visuals are never imagined—unless expresssly stated.

Nino is the asshole of his generation.

It was obvious Lenu was imagining Lila wanting Nino, but the reality is only Nino feels that way toward Lila and not vise versa.

All if those scenes with the two of them were intercut with Lenu by herself and looking distraught - with Lenu imagining a worst case scenario. So yes we get to see her feelings, unfounded though they are.

Lila told Lenu at the end of season 3 that she was making a big mistake leaving Pietro and running off with Nino because she knew he was a loser. And clearly her feelings toward him haven't changed.

Nino is as despicable as Lenu is clueless.

Thank you R24. I'll give it a watch!

I don’t think Lenu is clueless I think she is in denial and addicted to Nino. Wasn’t he the little kid in the first show that stopped her in the stairway and said - you are going to marry me? She has been hooked on him ever since then. Lenu becomes hopelessly attached to people who see something in her that she doesn’t see, believe, in herself. It’s the foundation of both of her two most important relationships - even if it’s to her detriment. She will hunt down these people to give herself confirmation that she is good OR confirm she is terrible.

Thanks R39 and R40 I was surprised how gross the scene between Nino and the maid was. They had to make Nino look like a pig and they finally succeeded. Lenu finally saw it. I should have rewatched seasons 2 and 3 because I hardly remember who all these adults characters are.

AS I feel the new Lenu doesn't feel like a continuation of the younger version, I feel the same way about the new Nino. Besides the fact that he doesn't look anything like the younger version, he's not very attractive either.

I don’t care for the adult Lenu, either. Her eyes are completely wrong and she almost takes me out of the story. She is all wrong.

What is going on with Alfonso, Lila and Michele? I feel like I missed an episode. Alfonso becoming Lila? What is Lila’s job? Is she crooked? I’m lost. Also, what is wrong with Lenu’s daughter?

Ditto to everything you said r45. The new Lenu isn’t a bad actress at all, but she’s so different than the last actress. Which daughter are you talking about?

Her youngest with Nino, Imma. They’re making a point to show her clingy, sad, passive, to what end?

Alfonso hardly had a plot line the first 3 seasons and now he’s a major part and they made him a quivering mess. I watched it again and it’s like they’re alluding to Alfonso becoming a stand in for Lila and is Michele’s boy toy, but that seems out of character for Michele. None of it makes sense.

I gather that in the book the Alfonso storyline is better developed and the character is supposed to look a lot like Lila. If that’s the case, the casting here is bad because the actor looks nothing like Lila.

I also do not understand what is wrong with Lenu and Nino's daughter. I used to love this show but it needs better editing. That whole scene with Antonio was badly acted and poorly edited. At this point, I really do not care. I guess Alfonso will die. I think it has been heavily implied that he was Michele's lover.

I guess no one on the last posters read me at R6. Lola clearly said Marcello was fucking Alfonso because he looked like her but he couldn’t have her. There is the whole clothing store scene where Lila wants Alfonso to try on a dress so she could see what SHE would look like in it.

I’m really going to miss this series so much. I know it has had some renown, but it should be more widely beloved.

Seeing as there will not be a season 5, I think it was a mistake to recast all the characters. Would it have really been so bad to have them play a couple of years older? It's not like they were in their 40s at the end of the season. It would have been far better. I couldn't even remember some of the secondary characters from the new actors playing them.

That's my one problem with the series -- with the long span of time between seasons and the recasting of actors I've often forgotten who the secondary and tertiary characters were/are (Antonio being a prime example; it took me awhile to remember he and Lenu used to hook up in... a basement? At least I think that was him). I don't have the time/bandwidth/interest to rewatch the previous seasons before each new season's release (and I only read the first book).

The original Michele had striking blue eyes and unusual brown lips; Marcello was attractive, darker and the new version is shorter and uglier; they showed a brief glimpse of Stefano Carracci which they could’ve used the younger actor made to look old. What makes it worse is the flashbacks where they show young, tanned and doll-like Lenu, and then cut to the older version. The older version has chronically chapped lips and swollen eyes. Nino was much more interesting as a young man.

I really loved the first 3 seasons. This 4th while good, is just not on par.

I think they covered everyone and their story line—Rino, his dad, Lenu’s family and spoke of Pasquale, Ada, Melissa and showed others at the funeral.

It's a great show. I'm enjoying it.

In other news: Drugs Are Bad.

The last two episodes have been very poorly produced. It feels like if a different team is in charge. The acting is not that great, the rhythm is off...and it is just so boring.

Can someone please explain Marcello, Michael and Alfonso. I thought Marcello was the one getting with Alfonso because he was in love with Lila. So what is the tension between Michael and Alfonso? So Marcello married Lenu’s sister?

I found the finale kind of disappointing. There were some nice Lenu/Lila moments but overall it still felt like the friendship got backburnered this season. I also hate that it ended with “and I never saw her again.” Not that I needed them to still be in each other’s lives at the end, but it seemed rather anticlimactic. I also gather in the book that the two were estranged for years due to Lenu publishing a novella about Tina’s disappearance but that’s totally left out of the show.

Agree with your post, R59, except I would change "finale" in the first sentence to "final season."