My Brilliant Friend
Save this article to read it later.
Find this story in your accountsSaved for Latersection.
Lenu and Lila endure the tremor together, without their kids or husbands for once.
Lila, so often implacable and invulnerable, is scared and uncertain.
There was New Years Eve 1958 when the Solaras shot fireworks at their group and Lila lost her balance.
More recently, her body nearly collapsed under hard labor at the Soccavo factory.
Whatever the interval between them, Lilas meltdowns are always seismic, one with their environment.
But Im getting ahead of myself the earthquake doesnt happen until about halfway through the episode.
That sense deepens when Lila suggestively tells Alfonso she needs to be sure her dress suits her well.
Eagerly standing up, Alfonso tries the dress on himself, mesmerized by his own image.
Walking home arm in arm, Lenu and Lila giggle like schoolgirls, giddy with their proximity to transgression.
Nevertheless, what she says bothers Lila.
By the end of their conversation, she has bent a teaspoon almost in half.
Now, years later at the gynecologist, she agonizes.
Her belly is too big; it makes her feel weak and annoys her.
The doctor learned this from their mutual friend, Nino, who recommended they come to this practice.
Finding out about this connection angers Lila.
Your lover is certainly not my friend, she tells Lenu.
And in my view, hes not your friend, either.
When Nino gets home (again late and again already fed), Lenu is pissed.
Calling out Ninos apparently uncontrollable tendency to flirt leads Lenu to wonder out loud why she endures their relationship.
Who am I to you?
Why do I put up with this situation?
Neither of them can answer these questions.
Though we all know Nino is aliarand acheater, I think Lenu is being slightly paranoid.
But Lenu is convinced theres somethingmorebehind it, as if thereneedsto be something more the guy has two families!
Lenu wont be deterred, so she goes to Lilas office to ask her directly whats going on.
In the waiting room is a gruff Rino, whom Lenu hasnt seen in ages.
He is coarse, paranoid, and squirmy, with scabs up and down his arms.
Its all enough to signal to Lenu thatsomethingis up.
This is one of Lilas central moments as a character in all of the tetralogy.
It also gives context to Lilas volatility and her oscillation between certainty and doubt.
Lila lives in constant fear of this dissolution.
This is why she is always so focused so she can hold everything together.
The men with whom she becomes intensely involved are used as shields to protect her from these shattering moments.
Too powerful and intense, she destroys things that are delicate, like love and friendship.
To be privy to the workings of Lilas brain is something Lenu has always wanted.
When Lenu wakes up in the car, Lila isnt there.
The whole neighborhood is camping out, waiting until it feels safe to go inside.
With a classic mischievous glint in her eye, Lila tells Lenu to try Eleonora but nothing either.
Lila suggests they drive to Ninos house, but Lenu is reluctant.
She calls Pietro first, who is an absolute sweetie.
Lila overhears Lenus mention of Avellino, but Lenu lies that its nothing.
They go look for Nino instead.
The world has returned to its place, Lenu mumbles to herself.
I was thinking of this as NinosForce Majeuremoment another failure to rise to the occasion.
Lila once again returns to her post in control.
When Lenu finally gets home, the apartment is eerily quiet in its state of disorder.
Will it be him?
He says he has been trying to contact her from Eleonoras familys villa in Minturno.
When the earthquake struck, he freaked out and left withhiskids.
As Lenu listens to this, she sheds a quiet, single tear.
Its obvious that something has cracked in the structure of her life.
The question is whether its possible to patch it up.
