What's Wrong with 'My Brilliant Friend' S4?

"My Brilliant Friend S4" has reached its fourth episode, and it has experienced a significant drop in ratings compared to the previous three seasons.

At first, the drop seemed to be attributed to the change in actors. Viewers who'd grown accustomed to the former cast might feel a sense of disconnection and unfamiliarity with the entirely new ensemble. However, as the plot progresses to the fifth episode, I realize that the shortcomings of the fourth season aren't solely due to the change in actors, but rather Alba Rochrwacher's portrayal of the main character, Lenu.

I've read the original four-part novel series. Therefore, when watching the TV series, I noticed that the first three seasons have a strong literary quality. In terms of narrative style, character portrayal, and artistic pacing, they all aimed to convey the emotions and atmosphere presented in the original work, rather than merely recreating the plot. Even Rochrwacher's voiceover for the TV series is highly consistent with the story's atmosphere.

However, in the fourth season, this literary quality seems to have disappeared. Although it still adapts the plot from the original work, the focus of expression seems different from what the audience expected and what they were interested in during the first three seasons.

The casting for the first three seasons was very successful (you can see my article on this). All the characters align with the atmosphere of the Neapolitan slums that the original work aimed to portray. The first three seasons clearly showcase how people stay resilient and keep on struggling in such an environment. Each character's external appearance is highly consistent with his or her inner personality. For example, Lenu's father is neither tall nor short. His mediocre stature matches his weak presence and ineffectual personality. Meanwhile, her mother's limp eye and sunken mouth correspond with her rough and stubborn personality. But in the fourth season, the characters' portrayals become blurred and less convincing. It isn't just about the actors' appearances, but also the presence and emotional states they convey. Notably, the change in Lenu is the most obvious.

In the first three seasons, Lenu, whether as a child or in her youth, always has a determined look in her eyes and carried stable emotions. She deals with people and situations calmly, and walks and talks without panic or confusion. Even when it comes to Nino, whom she cares about the most, she'd hide her emotions to maintain her dignity and decorum, and her inner self isn't easily shaken. As the narrator of the TV series, she's also an observer. She brings the audience's attention to everything happening in the community. Through her doubts, thoughts, statements and summaries, the audience is placed in Lenu's position and experiences the historical changes and human relationships in the community and small town.

But in the fourth season, Rochrwacher's interpretation has shaken Lenu's steadfast character foundation. Her eyes are always wandering, and she displays chaotic emotions.

The focus is placed heavily on her anxiety in her relationship with Nino, while completely ignoring her core motivation to experience this relationship, which is the same as her drive to do everything in the first three seasons: observing others and realizing herself.

To some extent, Lenu should be hypocritical; from her husband to her daughter, she has ulterior motives in dealing with those around her. But on the other hand, she's also honest. She dares to face her own selfishness and hypocrisy by recording and presenting it to the audience. But in the fourth season, Lenu's no longer hypocritical; her desires have broken through her restraint. And the audience cannot understand why such a sudden change has occurred.

Nino's love has never been the goal of Lenu's pursuit, but rather a tool for her to pursue her goals. In the original work, the audience can see very clearly that Lenu has always been examining her feelings for Nino. For readers, Lenu's extramarital affair with Nino is a catalyst for her to break free from her marriage to Pietro and escape her family predicament. The ultimate desired outcome is not to be with Nino, but to be a more independent version of herself.

However, in the fourth season, there's too little display of Lenu's self-reflection and examination of this relationship. Her all-consuming desire and subsequent anxiety make the audience feel disconnected: she's no longer the determined yet hypocritical Lenu from before. Rochrwacher's persistent shifting gaze creates an atmosphere of self-pity and melancholy.

Only in the fourth episode, when she returns home and orders her family to send her collapsed mother to the hospital, does Lenu seem to return to her former state: determined, decisive, with a hidden roughness.

So, as a reader of the novel and a loyal viewer of the first three seasons, I'm not angry or disappointed about Lenu's infatuation with Nino: this is something I already knew. But I'm dismayed that the actors' and director's understanding and grasp of Lenu's true psychology in the fourth season diverges largely from her usual stable core. It has also shaken the theme of the entire story, which uses countless people's stories to show the historical changes and the main characters' self-exploration.

Of course, I'll continue watching the latest season, but I don't expect the last four episodes to turn things around. Perhaps after the finale, I'll revisit the novel. In my view, this isn't just a story that happens in Naples, Italy, but it also has countless commonalities with everything I'm experiencing in my life. If the TV series cannot present a satisfactory ending, then I'm willing to return to the world described by the text and picture a more fitting ending.