'My Brilliant Friend' Episode 4: Beach sensuality turns tragic for Lenu as Lila channels rage into duplicity
What happens in Ischia, stays in Ischia. There is always something about a summer holiday, especially a languorous beach vacation, that makes normal societal rules seem superfluous.
The color scheme in this episode reflects this escape from the gray neighborhood that Nino literally runs away from in the last few minutes of last week's episode. The gorgeous blues of the sea mix with the girls' colorful swimsuits as they run around with Nino and Bruno.
The sand shifts through restless fingers, the chit-chat turns to light-hearted banter and flirting, and the innocent games turn to full body-tackles and contact which would otherwise be forbidden in polite society. A restless sort of energy, full of longing, suffuses the air and all three girls on holiday are affected by it. Pregnant Pinuccia opens up to Bruno -- the cheerful fool, to Nino's haughty prince. For her, it is the last chance for some light-hearted fun and flirting before she becomes a mother. It is only when she starts enjoying herself a bit too much, that she starts getting anxious.
Lila and Lenu compete, as they always have about everything in their lives -- but this time it's for Nino's attention. Lila is initially not interested in Nino. Her rage, however, has been building for a while. Her body, thin and whip-like, has been the object of constant and public disparagement in her neighborhood for not being full-figured enough to carry a child. She has learned to suppress her rebellious nature and smile on command for Stephano to escape his beatings, and her estrangement from Lenu means she has had no one to talk to before she comes to Ischia.
This suppressed rage turns on Lenu the minute they hit Ischia when she realizes that Lenu has come to Ischia, not for her, but Nino. She barks at her, "I didn't pay you to come here to have fun."
But after that, her efforts to make Lenu miserable become more subtle. She starts with reading books to impress Nino precisely because she knows how much it irritates Lenu. But then, as the sun and sand work their magic, Nino, the nerdy beach god of the party, also relaxes and takes a break from his intellectual monologues. He stares down brightly at Lenu and says how glad he is that she's there, kissing her on the cheek, before also kissing Lila.
The love triangle maintains itself as Nino, attracted to Lila, channels his interest through Lenu. However, Lenu doesn't realize that she is the conduit rather than the object of his attraction. She is the excuse that allows Nino to get close to Lila, the married woman. Lenu's freedom facilitates Lila's freedom at Ischia. But she realizes this too late after a moment of pure happiness as she dives into the sea holding hands with Lila and Nino. When she surfaces, she realizes Nino and Lila have left her behind, crossing the imaginary "safe" distance from the beach.
With that, the spell of the beach is broken. Lenu is no longer required as a conduit as Lila decides to break all the rules of friendship, of marriage as she charts unknown waters with Nino. She tells Lenu that Nino had kissed her after they came out of the water. What she doesn't tell her is that right after telling him never to do that again, she kisses him right back.
Lila's revenge on Lenu is complete for abandoning her and it has the added bonus of cuckolding Stephano. How much she actually like Nino is up for debate. For Lenu, it is heartbreak and betrayal wrapped together into one tight package as her beach romance turns into a tragedy.
'My Brilliant Friend' airs on HBO at 10 pm ET on Mondays.