My Brilliant Friend Series-Finale Recap: Mothers and Daughters

As a literature enthusiast with a penchant for Italian novels, I must say that the ending of “My Brilliant Friend” left me with a mix of emotions. On one hand, it was heartwarming to see Lenù and Lila’s friendship reaching its climax, with a tender moment devoid of any ulterior motives or calculations. On the other hand, as someone who values closure in stories, I found the grandiosity of the final scene a tad excessive.

The story “My Brilliant Friend” completes its circle, returning to the moment where it initially started. After four seasons and six years, the narrative returns to the midnight phone call Lenù receives in Turin, informing her of Gennaro’s missing mother. In the opening sequence, we see Lenù harshly rebuking the distraught Gennaro for his friend Lila’s disappearance, which she interprets as a personal affront despite years apart. This perceived slight sparks Lenù to write the story that we read and watch, breaking a promise made to Lila not to publish her tale.

The world of “My Brilliant Friend” immerses you so deeply that Lenù’s voice-over narration, consistently set in the past tense, seamlessly blends into the narrative’s cosmos. The story’s mindset serves no other purpose than it must be shared. However, as the final act unfolds, we are subtly reminded that the writing we encounter is driven by truth and anger. If Lenù’s voice had become so familiar that we accepted her words without question, Ferrante gently warns us in the closing lines of “The Story of the Lost Child” that “life, once it has ended, leans toward ambiguity, not clarity.” After all these years, the bond between Lenù and Lila remains a puzzle: the decades-long contemplation that produced the Neapolitan quartet yielded no conclusive answers, no definitive resolution. Tina is gone now, and so is Lila — her whereabouts remain a mystery to all.

After a certain period since Tina’s disappearance, when we delve into the topic of Restitution, Lenù sports a stylish bob hairstyle. Lila appears to be on the verge of giving up entirely. She bestows upon Lenù and her daughters her personal computer from Basic Sight office and makes it clear that she is relinquishing control over the business. Enzo can either manage it single-handedly or sell it, but she has no intention of returning. Moreover, Lila is ending her relationship with Enzo as well, desiring complete solitude. Lenù advises her friend to seek new interests and activities, but Lila seems content with simply passing the time.

After the earthquake, when Lila shared with Lenù her fear of blurred boundaries, she attempted to express the immense strength required for her to exist within society. She struggles to maintain order and contain everything within set limits, but in the wake of Tina’s disappearance, Lila surrenders without resistance. Everything – people, objects, feelings – blends together. The restraint she once had has vanished. Upon seeing Lenù wearing Immacolata’s bracelet, which the jeweler returned with a posthumous message from Marcello – “I’m sorry,” written in childlike script – Lila warns it will bring misfortune. When Carmen arrives to inform them that Nadia has been arrested, fearing Pasquale might now be caught forever and potentially killed, both Lenù and Carmen contemplate that it would be safer for him to surrender to the authorities and serve time instead of risking his life. However, Lila has little tolerance for compromise or moderation. In her opinion, Lenù and Carmen, her longtime and cherished friends, are both “foolish women” and “cowardly wimps.

The question about where Lila goes after shutting the door, as well as her usual whereabouts when she’s not at home, intrigues Lenù, hinting at Lila’s eventual disappearance later on. Carmen believes that Lila is mourning Tina by visiting a random girl’s grave in a local cemetery, but Lenù considers this idea too morbid. Lila, however, claims she simply wanders around the city. This claim will be validated by Imma years later. As a teenager, Imma tells Lenù that Lila has explored Naples with an historian’s passion, uncovering myths and legends hidden beneath old structures, making the entire city a story waiting to be told.

Currently, Lenù shifts her focus elsewhere: towards Dede and Gennaro, who exchange loving glances. This episode underscores the idea that while Lenù was engrossed in her relationship with Nino, her career, and her attempts to grasp Lila’s life, her daughters’ lives carried on independently from her curiosity. Now that Lila is less present, Lenù endeavors to make up for lost time. Over a pizza one evening, Lenù directly asks Dede if she’s in love with Gennaro. Her response is affirmative, but she doubts whether he feels the same way. However, before Lenù can truly immerse herself in her daughter’s life – an aspect of motherhood that has always eluded her – news on television announces that Pasquale has been apprehended.

This development preoccupies Lenù “more than Dede’s exams.” Pasquale’s charges don’t include the Solaras’ murder –– for which Lenù and Carmen have become convinced he is responsible –– and seeking to help her friend, Lenù makes an appointment with none but the Honorable Nino Sarratore. In the marbled halls of Parliament, their footsteps echoing, Nino makes a show out of his affection for Imma. What follows is a conversation gnarled with subtext; Lenù wants Nino to help Pasquale –– who, unlike Nadia, refuses to collaborate with the authorities –– but also wants to denounce the use of privilege as a path to impunity. When Nino tells Imma that if she ever has a problem in her school, she should call him, Lenù objects: she should learn how to take care of herself. But if the causal relationship between action and consequence is so important for Lenù, how come she is here, meeting with him, asking him to find a way for Pasquale?

Despite Lenù’s distaste for Nino’s political maneuvering, by noon their conversation escalates into open conflict. Arrogantly, Nino asserts that Lenù has always been clueless about politics; she should stick to her petty literature hobbies instead. As the years pass and his hair turns gray, Nino reveals his true self: a bitter, spiteful man who isn’t afraid to do whatever is necessary to outshine others, even if it means compromising his principles. In the end, this attitude sends him to prison. Eventually, news reports reveal that the Honorable Sarratore was arrested for corruption, suggesting he never left the place where Lenù and Imma grew up.

Later on, when Lenù returns home following her visit to Nino at the Parliament, a more pressing matter has arisen. Lila informs Lenù simply that Gennaro has departed from their household. This immediately triggers concern in Lenù, as she fears he might have taken Dede with him. However, Lenù breathes a sigh of relief upon discovering her daughter downstairs. Yet, Dede is still sobbing in a fetal position, and Lenù receives a note from Elsa instead. It’s an apology for having feelings that couldn’t be contained, causing her to withdraw from school. The exact nature of what Elsa and Gennaro intend to do (such as acting or starting a band) isn’t clear, but they plan to do it somewhere other than Naples. Lila is so surprised that it was Elsa who left with Gennaro that she finds herself laughing, but Lenù doesn’t find this amusing –– instead, she considers contacting the police as Gennaro has taken a minor, which could be considered kidnapping.

Lenù becomes extremely upset. She searches through Elsa’s room looking for any hint of their whereabouts, finding instead that Elsa has taken all her valuables. In her fury, Lenù accuses Dede of being careless for not realizing that her sister would take everything she owned. Eventually, Dede reveals a phone number, believed to be the location of a man’s house in Bologna they might have gone to. Lenù decides to investigate and asks Lila to accompany her. However, after Lenù has threatened to involve the police with Lila’s son and suggested that the greatest misfortune for Lila’s daughter would be marrying Gennaro, Lila feels uncomfortable being around Lenù. Lila points out to Lenù that while Gennaro may be uneducated and an addict, it is Elsa who deceives and steals.

In an emotionally poignant scene, it’s Enzo who accompanies Lenù to Bologna. As a child working for his parents’ produce cart, Enzo has always been reserved, characterized by a quiet yet resilient belief and unassuming loyalty towards those dear to him. Even after revealing his own grief over his daughter’s disappearance, he demonstrates genuine concern for Lenù’s life and career. He himself is planning to leave the neighborhood, seeking employment in Milan. His romantic relationship with Lila has ended, but he shows enough concern to ask Lenù to support her friend during what will likely be a challenging old age. Essentially, Enzo feels that Lila has filled the void left by their daughter’s absence.

In Bologna, there’s a boy who seems a bit threatening but has a punk-like attitude, he allows Lenù and Enzo to explore. However, Elsa and Gennaro are not present. Enzo contacts Lila, who instructs Lenù to reach out to Dede, who has important information. Firstly, she’s decided to relocate to the United States, where Pietro resides, to study since it appears that she can no longer live with her sister under the same roof. Secondly, Elsa, whom Lila refers to as a “bitch”, is currently at Adele and Guido’s residence. What could be a better escape destination than one’s grandparents’ luxurious house, a place where just hearing your mother’s name causes immediate anger?

As Lenù becomes increasingly involved in this game of cat and mouse, she repeatedly tucks and untucks her shirt from her skirt, a clear sign of her exhaustion. Upon reaching the Airotas, Adele greets her with an unusual warm embrace. The impudent Elsa dons Lenù’s mother’s bracelet and reacts childishly, throwing a dramatic fit when told she must return home. They eventually strike a deal: Elsa can stay with Gennaro at the Airotas during summer, and upon returning to school in the fall, Gennaro will live with Lenù’s family in their apartment. This arrangement seems excessively generous to me, not something earned; I felt Lenù was overly lenient towards Elsa, avoiding a discussion about how she betrayed her sister or what changes are needed for home to feel like a sanctuary instead of a jail. Just as Lenù’s focus shifts from Dede’s exams, Elsa’s inner world – similar in its intensity to the obsessive passion Lenù felt for Nino – fails to captivate her attention as intensely as Lila’s does.

While Lenù may struggle to recognize her role in Elsa’s misconduct, Pietro seems more aware. Over the phone, he notes that neither of them have consistently offered their daughters the comfort needed to feel secure in their bond. Before Dede departs to reunite with Pietro in the U.S., she experiences a fit of hyperventilation at the dinner table. Seeking her mother’s lap for the first time since childhood, Dede expresses trust and affection, but Lenù misinterprets this gesture. One thing that sets Dede apart is her sincerity. “All you seem to care about is Aunt Lila and work,” she tells her mother at the airport. “The true penalty for Elsa is to remain here.” Dede reserves all of her warmth and kindness for Imma; for Lenù, there’s only a frosty farewell.

In less than a week, Lenù bluntly informs Lila that she’s seemingly lost both her daughters. However, Lila corrects her, explaining that they aren’t actually lost. Instead, Lila’s son has moved in downstairs, and he plans to stay even after his brief romance with Elsa ends. This was two years ago, and the son is still there, going about his business. Meanwhile, Elsa, like her elder sister, resides in America, and Lila maintains a close bond with Imma, taking her on city tours. Gennaro shares with Lenù that Lila spends all day at the computer, typing away. This disclosure leaves Lenù quite unsettled; after all, the last time Lila penned anything down, years ago with “The Blue Fairy,” it significantly impacted Lenù’s life. With Lila now an accomplished author, could she handle another transformation?

Lenù ascends the stairs to converse with Lila. Before discussing anything else, she intends to share some important news – Lenù and Imma are planning to depart soon, bound for Turin. This revelation leads Lila to express affectionate sentiments about Imma, as well as a theory that she’s harbored for quite some time: Tina was substituted with Imma when she went missing.

The series gives a slightly over-dramatic touch to their conversation, implying it’s their final heartfelt talk although Lenù wouldn’t have known that. It leaves us feeling somewhat off-balance because we’re only privy to Lenù’s knowledge, and the perspective shift feels abrupt. Lenù believes Lila is criticizing Imma and Tina as a form of punishment for her decision to leave Naples. However, unlike usual, Lila doesn’t defend herself. Instead, she expresses regret: “Only in poor novels do people say and do the right things,” she says, offering an explanation. This moment signifies the end of their friendship on the show, as we’ve never seen Lila this subdued before.

Lenù urgently asks Lila to read whatever she’s penned down – it could be a diary, random thoughts, or a story; what matters is that Lenù wishes to read and publish it. However, Lila dismisses the idea; she claims she isn’t writing anything. “Writing requires a desire for something to outlast you,” Lila remarks solemnly. “I don’t even have the will to live.” This foreboding statement explains why Lenù eventually accepts Lila vanishing without a trace. Lila expresses regret about her magazine comment and everything else, advising Lenù to seek better opportunities in Turin, thanking her genuinely, and softly touching her face. They share one embrace mechanically, and another sincerely. “I’m grateful we’ve been friends all this time and that we still are,” Lila says.

Despite finding this scene seeming overly contrived, I found myself tearing up slightly as it was a heartfelt embrace between two women, devoid of any hidden motives or manipulation – an expression of genuine affection. This moment struck me deeply because I’m not heartless, but I couldn’t shake off the feeling of extravagance when the essence of this narrative lies in revealing that such neat conclusions – those which offer a sense of completion and resolution – are merely illusions. It was during Imma and Lenù’s train journey from Naples to Turin that the screen faded to black, transporting us back to where we started: with a call from Gennaro alerting Lenù about Lila’s disappearance.

In addition, I find this conclusion unsatisfying as it tidies up some of the more complex issues presented in “The Story of the Lost Child.” Following a period when Lenù and Imma settle in Turin, but prior to Lila’s vanishing act, Lenù pens another book after experiencing a decline in popularity. Titled “A Friendship,” this work revolves around Tina’s mysterious disappearance, a narrative Lenù crafts during a gloomy trip to Naples. The novel becomes a massive hit, reviving Lenù’s loyal fanbase, and infuriating Lila, who never communicates with Lenù again. Despite Lenù repeatedly trying to reach out to her, Lila consistently ignores her calls, so by the time Lila chooses to disappear for good, several years have passed since she was absent from Lenù’s life.

One ordinary day, returning from a walk with her dog, Lenù discovers a package in her mailbox wrapped in newspaper. Inside are the dolls, Tina and Nu, that had sparked everything off. Lenù rushes outside to see if she can still find Lila, who must have been the one to leave them there. Ever since she was young, Lenù believed that those dolls were hidden beneath Don Achille’s house, and now, due to her long-standing anger with Lila, she initially thinks Lila has manipulated and deceived her all these years. However, a different perspective is that Lila cares for her deeply and wishes her well; sending the dolls is an expression of her affection for Lenù, even if it sometimes wanes. “Now that Lila has revealed herself so plainly,” Lenù reflects, “I must accept that I’ll never see her again.” A solitary tear trickles down Lenù’s face, but she smiles. It feels like a burden lifted.

2024-11-12 07:55

My Brilliant Friend Series-Finale Recap: Mothers and Daughters

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