Anna Rita Vitolo's portrayal as Lenu's mother is brilliant. As she shows the different seasons of Immaculata's life, we see her as a fiery mother who can't understand her daughter's need to advance in life to a woman who takes a train from Naples to Pisa to care for her child when she's sick. Her happiness with her daughter's position as a wife, mother and author makes her glow even though she knows her daughter is somewhat embarrassed by her mother's Neapolitan ways. This episode was so heartbreaking but also very raw with Lila lying next to Immaculata in her hospital bed, I know that there was so much going on in this episode but those scenes were incredibly poignant. Thank you again for your terrific recap.
Thank you ! I think Anna is wonderful . She loves her daughter and respects her for everything shes done but still feels afraid for her We have never seen her so scared which made the scene with Elena even more powerful .
I read the 4 books in the series B4 watching TV portrayal. Books are page turners & powerful. I'm loving series ...the music by Max Richter is soul searing. I play all the time. Elena was raised in a repressive family... expectations for her were high & she met them all. Married a man without passion & then had her adolescent rebellion mid life. Yes, Nino is a womanizing dirt bag like his father. Don't want any of this to end! 😢
The books offer so much more depth into Elena mind and I think makes it easier for us to empathize with her decisions whereas in the series we want to shame her being with Nino The actor who plays Nino is so good. I’m triggered every time I see him
Another great recap and excellent insights! This episode was, indeed, superb from the storyline to the acting...and especially the directing. Lenu's paranoia was mesmerizing; we viewers experienced the delusions along with her. So much to comment on, but I'll be as succinct as possible. I lived in Italy in the late 70's so I can attest to this show's accuracy especially where the healthcare system and the emergence of "women's lib" are concerned. But the 3 scenes that resonated the most for me are 1)the foolishness of Lenu, supposedly a smart woman, driving herself to deliver her baby. 2) the sensitivity-- or is it manipulation-- of Nino's enthusiasm over naming the baby after Lenu's mother. 3) and the most gripping scene among so many during that episode is when the very pregnant and undeniably exhausted Lila climbs back up the stairs to that horror show of a hospital group room and crawls into bed to soothe her childhood friend's mother. I know I can't be the only woman out there who cried at this scene, as I loved a childhood friend's mother that way, too, and probably would have done the same thing. Even though I read all four books, this series still surprises, amazes and moves me to tears. Grazie, Elena Ferrante, whoever you are!
Thank you for this comment 💕 im glad you mentioned ninos reaction to naming the baby after her mother. The scene with Lila waiting for marchello to leave was shot perfectly. Elena mother would’ve been terrified if she had to spend the night alone. It was such a subtle scene . Especially when she hugs her. Lila is also pregnant so this was not the most comfortable night for her but it was a blessing for Elena mom .
I have so much empathy for lenu in this addictive relationship. She was so heartbroken by Nino and Lila as a girl when she experienced that feeling of first love for him. Now that she finally has him, she can't imagine this being less than what she dreamed of and she's isolating their relationship to try to protect it. I feel like even though he shows up at night most of the time that he does shower her with love and is very present in her life when he has a whole family at home. It's confusing to me to see how open he is about their relationship. I don't think Lila would ever go near Nino again and that all those scenes of them together were purely in lenu's head. I hope she can eventually pull herself out of this, but I understand the breadcrumbs and love bombs that she continues to hold on you in order to keep this fantasy alive. It's heartbreaking.
I love the books and series. The casting is great. Nino is so shady with Lenu. Why would such an intelligent woman put up with someone who treats her like an after thought? I like Lenu, but you're right about the respect being lost towards her. Lila is and always has been the stronger of the two. Maybe that's why Lenu admires her so much, I think. I could have strangled Nino when he mentions that when they were younger and he asked Lenu to write a story about her conflict with the teacher, but he lied to her about why it wasn't published. I think he said that he threw her article away because he realized that she was a greater than him. What a jerk! Ugh, Lenu, someone needs to knock some sense in her! lol
You make many great points! I think Elena respects Lila ability to always find a way out and not succumb to the pressures around her. It feels like this whole neighbourhood has lost respect for her but they tolerate her and Nino since they are rarely ever seen together.
"Why would such an intelligent woman put up with someone" who treats her like shit? I mean, we all have friends who are with people they absolutely know better than to be with, who treat them terribly. There are a lot of reasons for it. Yes, Lenu has a fantasy version of Nino that is slowly falling apart-- but as you point out, she is WAY too smart to believe such a fairy tale. Deep down, she knows full well what he is up to. Her friend told her a while back that he was always going to be fucking other women. She avoided Lila's calls bc she knew she would hear the truth. And that's because her fantasy, on the one hand, gives her "the man of her dreams"-- PRECISELY because he is treating her horribly. Lenu has low self-esteem because her mother was abusive and always questioned every desire she had and choice she made. So her own desires are contradictory. She wants to succeed but she self-sabotages. She wants a good man but she bails on bourgeois academic life-- deep down, she didn't feel she deserved it. In many ways, she is at war with herself. The earth literally quaking with rage is the perfect metaphor for her inner state.
In Italy the wife does not change her last name after married like in the USA. The baby is named after the father, you have to understand that divorce was only legal in Italy since 1970 which is only 10 years from this episode. This was relatively still new and still rare so the doctor was kinda agitated he had this rising situation during this formality.
I thought they explained the hospital thing pretty well in the episode. Marcello thinks that money solves everything, hence he wants Immacolata in a private hospital, but the public hospital has the doctors who tended to Immacolata before and they know her medical history better. Your reviews are great, I just discovered you after the Earthquake episode and you are spot on about everything. Subbed immediately.
After reading some reactions I thought I would be mad at Lenu But I am not The direction of this episode made me feel for her, not judge her Loved the scene with Lila and Lenu's mom. ❤ Imacolata's relief when she recognized Lila😢 The sweetest moment
Lenu is so obsessed with Nino that she doesn't realize that, for Lila, Nino doesn't have the same seductive effect he has on her. She doesn't even notice that Lila actually doesn't like Nino; Lila has realized long ago that he is not a good man and is a hypocrite. And Nino super gaslights Lenu calling her stupid when she listens to Lila. And Lenu is just imagining, theres nothing going on between Lila and Nino, is Lenus paranoia, because in her mind how not to be crazy about Nino? How Lila could not love him anymore right? Lenu cant understand the concept of a woman who doesnt love Nino.
Exactly. Nino is annoyed Lila sees right through him . She doesn’t buy his act at all . I think elena knows on a deep level he doesn’t love her as much as she loves him . As a result she is always hyper focused on the women he interacts with and not him
Lenù's daughters feel secure and open with Nino, highlighting his approving influence. Dede's perceptive nature and warmth around Nino underscore his confirming presence. Pietro's lack of opposition to Nino's involvement with his daughters indicates his trust.
You’re right. If he was a danger they would not have let the children near him especially pietro who seems to have a good read on people I think Nino is the type of dad that drops by with presents but plays no part in raising kids
Elena used to be my favorite character, but not anymore. I don't feel sorry for her in anyway like other people do. She is a selfish individual that treated her family, children, and best friend horribly over a guy in which her infatuation fades once she got to know him better.
Thank you for your insights! I cried my eyes out when Lenu was driving alone, in labour to the hospital. As a woman who went twice throgh labour and postpartum depresion...I feel Lenu's loneliness, despair and paranoia. She is slowly starting to see and understand how immature her complete isolation from the neighborhood was, and above all how flawed Nino trully is. I don t think Nino is right to insinuate that it's all on her and that she becomes more "stupid". Again...this is a pregnant woman who destroyed her previous life thinking she is doing it all for true love(even though she might have left Pietro either way in time....I don't think she would have. She would have had affairs yes. But in the end it was Nino who completely destroyed Pietro in her eyes and added to her many frustrations before). Nino never said from the begining(at least I don t remember) when she left her familly that he would be living a double life. She only found out after from someone else. Eventually the pain of dissapointment ( imagine this: she is been loving this man from childhood and idealising him) made her shut down to reality. Now it's all unraveling and she keeps asking him these questions because she starts really seeing IT. He will eventually be just as uninvolved as with his other child. He is only involeved with the children he has with his wife who is afluent. I did judge Lenu very harshly because it reminds me of myself. Nino as a young man is actualy very similar to the guy I first really cared for. This type of person can be really really genuinly good and caring and wonderful now and in just a couple of months after the honeymoon fase is over, they will quicly move on to someone or something else. And never think it to be strange. Or immature. Like Michele says about him to Lenu:" This man if he doesn t do what he wants ,he feels ill". Really heart breaking episode especially because again you have here an incredibly tired woman who just gave birth. The hormones in that state are not your friends. Nino is so perfectly hiding his intentions to my mind that it's like I wish the Solaras whould hit his face at keast once. He is hiding something definetly and what makes it worst is that he hides it under this facade of goodness. Just like his father who all women found to be so gentleman and u like the other men at the time and yet, he was so disgusting
Thank you for this beautiful comment! You’re right about Nino. He never promised her anything and he’s been very transparent about staying with his wife and kids. With Nino it’s hard because we all know a Nino . I get how men like that are able to slowly break a woman down. I think giving birth may open her eyes. Towards the end of her pregnancy she was starting to be disgusted by him. She’s slowly becoming less fixated on him.
@@billfraser9731I too was really dissappinted that Lenu did this to herself especially since this kind of stuff really does happen in reality as well. I have seen it and also, anecdotaly, I am on mums groups and if I had a pound for every time a woman writes that she is unhappy (in a marriage ) and other women tell her to divorce and go find herself ....I would be rich!!! In Great Expectations I remeber there was a line whoch stuck with me that says something like:" the lies others tell us are nothing compared to the lies we tell ourseves".😢
70's and 80's Italy seems similar to nowadays Romania, my country. If this is so, then private clinics are great at treating mild to moderate medical cases, whereas more severe cases would be treated in a public hospital.
Yees, that was all I could think of, the hospital looked exactly like in Romania; the hallways are a bit nicer but the rooms are basically the same. and a lot of people keep wanting to go to private clinics for the comfort (totally understandable), and as a doctor myself I keep telling them, clinics are for scheduled consults/surgeries not for severe cases. In fact I know of several instances where clinics sent pacients back to the hospital because they were too sick and didn t want them dying on their watch.
Ooowee...Elena's insecurity & obsession with Nino & Lila, both individually & what she conjured up about their interactions in her mind is toxic AF! Those last 10 minutes or so showed how twisted she is - her mama was being rushed to the hospital, but all she was worried about was Lila's proximity to her piece of that womanizing clown.
Yes I didn’t realize how bad it was. She was literally losing her head over that rag doll of a man. She was more concerned about him then her mother it was crazy
@monicad99 She had sex with the father of her new baby's father whom she admitted she loves more than her own children. He has a whole wife and family while she has the audacity to be a jealous side piece that feels special when he decides to use her to fill in the blanks and stroke his ego and she's NOT twisted? Ok
@@trmartin6821 never underestimate society’s ability to judge women. also, the puritanism and lack of empathy. especially towards people who leave their spouses. especially to women who leave their husbands for other men.well, judge away.
He already is, with respect to his other son. Lenú senses that her daughter might undergo the same treatment, hence the confrontation with Nino about it.
I think Lila and Nino are attracted to each other but Lila will not give into that. Nino is basically weak and Lila is strong. Lila learned at an early age not to trust men. Even her father and brother betrayed her going all the way back to the pair of shoes she made in season 1. Nino basically betrayed Lenu by taking her mother and Lila away. It was like he wedged himself between her and her mother, taking over. It was a doubly rotten thing to do.
I think lila trust for men ended when her father threw her out the window. Nino constantly tries to draw these wedges between women and he gets off on people fighting for his attention
I did not have an adverse reaction to Nino in this episode. Even though Lenù and Nino's relationship is complex, actions consistently speak louder than words, especially in male behavior. Lenù's mother's tolerance of their relationship's inconsistencies reinforced my perspective. This behavior is not unusual. Given Nino and Lila's history, Lenù's fanciful thinking is understandable. Moreover, our minds often deceive us. Many women would have terminated the conversation with Lila to prevent Nino from interfering, but this episode was remarkable. I am relieved that Immacolata’s health remained stable. ❤ As always, this was a fantastic review.
Thank you autumn 💕 I also was not as disgusted by Nino. I was surprised he stayed in the apartment and seemed very caring towards the mother . As you said her mother’s tolerance suggests that these types of relationships are not abnormal. Watching Elena I think she’s always been a victim of her own mind. Nothing she was thinking was even remotely possible but she believed it so deeply
I have found so painful and almost unbearable to watch Lenu being so dependent on Nino, so dumb. When will she wake up? Please. Nothing happens in 5 episodes.
Lenu's paranoia has reach full pitch. They should have all went to the hospital - that would have helped her psyche. Now, I do believe that the mom is better suited at the clinic due to the healthcare but a battle of powers / class are active. The white collar in Nino vs the powerful neighborhood crook, Marchello. I don't think there exists any chemistry between Lila and Nino but Lenu is the one believing something still exists. It all stems from that summer on the beach. Now can someone remind me -- that why in the sea of questionable characters does this town not like Nino and the Sarratore family? Lastly, is it Miguel or Michele?
They don’t like him because of his father. When the family lived in the neighborhood , one of the women (mother of Antionio?. Maybe) was infatuated or had an affair with Nino’s father. It was a very ugly situation. Others may remember this better than I.
I love this show but it's difficult to watch through Lenù's pov I can't stand her ignorant infatuation with Nino it makes no logical sense why she's drawn to this man 😑
Was it in Elenas head that Lila and Nino were flirting? Lila was so sweet to help her mother. I loved this episode I thought the last two were dull, but this made up for it. 🔥
I felt like it was a directorial decision to blur the lines between Lenu's imagination and reality. But I also feel like Lenu is torn in between tending to her newborn, her ill mother and having control over Nino. And I also suspect this whole situation draws her into post-partum psychosis.
At least here in Spain, you get better care at public hospitals because the state has put more funding into them and they are harder to get hired onto. At least that's what my husband has always told me!
When Lenu's brother responds to her comment about them dealing drugs, he tells her that the money they're making is paying for their mother's treatment. Lenu without Pietro's financial support probably can not afford the private doctors. In some countries, the doctors who serve the poor are excellent. It was probably a hospital that was closer to her home (husband, sons, daughters). All this is speculation on my part.
She asks as first thing how did he know to come to the hospital and he explains that stopped by in the morning to talk to her, to kiss her and found the apartment empty and the girls with the neighbour that told him that Elena went to the hospital to gave birth.
Everytime Immocalata is in the scene my heart hurts. FUcking bawling.. Pleassseee I hope Lenu turns around. I am starting to despise her.. My Ghad this episode!!!!!!!! I went straight here after watching episode 5.. fuckkkk.
The Catholic church has always influenced societal stigmas in addition to Italian lawmaking. Catholicism has always condemned children being born out of wedlock - they are considered illegitimate in the eyes of God - as a result, children born out of wedlock did not have the same legal rights as those born within marriage, including inheritance + parental rights. Nino, lied about being married + gave Immacolata his last name so their child would not be considered a bastard socially + would be given legal equity, same as, his children born within wed lock. Catholic guilt + the fear of a child being born to not only unwed parents but unwed parents also committing adultery 😬 ... he was trying to save his own soul + save the baby's soul from eternal damnation.... this is also why he was pressing Lenu do hard to have the baby christened after she was born.
Thank you for this explanation. I thought it was strange he wanted to go through these motions despite the child being born out of wetlock. He seemed genuinely eager to give her his last name and take care of her . I also think as you said the guilt plays a huge part. He’s assumed responsibility for the child from the beginning and he at least followed through on some of his promises
Lenu's mother is literally bleeding in the room and all Lenu can worry about is whether Nino and Lila will hook up - pardon me, but I wanted to stab her. Priorities!! If, in dire moments, the most important people - your dying mother, your newborn baby, your VERY pregnant friend - are not the FIRST you think about, then you, yes YOU, are the problem, never mind the waste of space you seem to have placed on a pedestal. I'm curious as to how Ferrante will enlighten Elena from her ostrich head in the sand situation because no matter how much Lenu seems to want answers (she keeps asking!!), she digs her grave even deeper. The only person I have any respect for has almost no screen time (yes, it's Pietro, Mr. I'm putting everyone but myself first, I hope his girlfriend is taking care of him!). Almost everyone else (save for Enzo and Gennaro) seem to have issues related to living/growing up in that neighborhood and/or the pressures of the drug trade and poverty. I did notice when Immacolata started bleeding, Lila froze and possibly had one of those thread of life moments (that she talked about in the car/previous episode). She seemed to pull herself together though when she decidedly walked up the hospital stairs and climbed into the hospital bed to comfort Immacolata - she showed strength under pressure. The birth registrar scene was hilarious but actually not as it will have consequences for an illegitimate Imma in her later years. Nino may have a string of bastards, what do we know? Lenu brings up one that we know that he already discounts, but you (and we) already suspect he's a serial philanderer, with women in their neighborhood! Ugh. BTW Michele (Mi-ke-le), not Miguel, is Marcello's brother (someone in your comments asked). One last comment: Lenu driving herself to the hospital when she was in labor. Remember when her mother spoke to her in the car on the way back from her diagnosis about the angel of death and how one endures suffering so that death respects you. I felt Lenu needed to prove something to herself, that she could somehow be as strong as her mother. The stunt was utterly foolish, putting not only herself but the baby at risk, and it also showed Lenu's mental faculties are not all there and her priorities are so jumbled. Every subsequent time she held the baby or the baby was sleeping on her, I feared for the baby's life, I had such a knot in my stomach. I don't feel that way about Dede and Elsa, I think because I know Pietro is in their life. Thank you again for your reactions, I literally come straight here after I watch the episode!
Thank you for this comment . It’s becoming very difficult to empathize with her. Her mother was sick and as you said her mind was on Nino. It’s always been about Nino . Lila reaction was very telling. Her conversation last episode in the car did reveal how scared she is at times. I don’t think she knows what to do with death. Nino definitely has a string of children he never sees. I wonder when he cuts off the relationship . From what I see of Nino he never leaves anyone. He just keeps coming back until you stop him. Also excellent comment about why she drove herself to the hospital. She tortured herself to prove a point. As always thanks for coming back to me with incredible insight
Honestly the 2nd half of this episode, I just started laughing 🤣 coz what is going on. like is she alright? No hate, but I can't stand her (this is coming from the perspective of me shouting "you can leave" in my head. ) (anyways haven't watched ur review yet just flew to the comments after finishing it)
Anna Rita Vitolo's portrayal as Lenu's mother is brilliant. As she shows the different seasons of Immaculata's life, we see her as a fiery mother who can't understand her daughter's need to advance in life to a woman who takes a train from Naples to Pisa to care for her child when she's sick. Her happiness with her daughter's position as a wife, mother and author makes her glow even though she knows her daughter is somewhat embarrassed by her mother's Neapolitan ways. This episode was so heartbreaking but also very raw with Lila lying next to Immaculata in her hospital bed, I know that there was so much going on in this episode but those scenes were incredibly poignant. Thank you again for your terrific recap.
Thank you ! I think Anna is wonderful . She loves her daughter and respects her for everything shes done but still feels afraid for her
We have never seen her so scared which made the scene with Elena even more powerful .
I read the 4 books in the series B4 watching TV portrayal. Books are page turners & powerful. I'm loving series ...the music by Max Richter is soul searing. I play all the time. Elena was raised in a repressive family... expectations for her were high & she met them all. Married a man without passion & then had her adolescent rebellion mid life. Yes, Nino is a womanizing dirt bag like his father. Don't want any of this to end! 😢
The books offer so much more depth into Elena mind and I think makes it easier for us to empathize with her decisions whereas in the series we want to shame her being with Nino
The actor who plays Nino is so good. I’m triggered every time I see him
Another great recap and excellent insights! This episode was, indeed, superb from the storyline to the acting...and especially the directing. Lenu's paranoia was mesmerizing; we viewers experienced the delusions along with her. So much to comment on, but I'll be as succinct as possible. I lived in Italy in the late 70's so I can attest to this show's accuracy especially where the healthcare system and the emergence of "women's lib" are concerned. But the 3 scenes that resonated the most for me are 1)the foolishness of Lenu, supposedly a smart woman, driving herself to deliver her baby. 2) the sensitivity-- or is it manipulation-- of Nino's enthusiasm over naming the baby after Lenu's mother. 3) and the most gripping scene among so many during that episode is when the very pregnant and undeniably exhausted Lila climbs back up the stairs to that horror show of a hospital group room and crawls into bed to soothe her childhood friend's mother. I know I can't be the only woman out there who cried at this scene, as I loved a childhood friend's mother that way, too, and probably would have done the same thing. Even though I read all four books, this series still surprises, amazes and moves me to tears. Grazie, Elena Ferrante, whoever you are!
Thank you for this comment 💕 im glad you mentioned ninos reaction to naming the baby after her mother.
The scene with Lila waiting for marchello to leave was shot perfectly. Elena mother would’ve been terrified if she had to spend the night alone. It was such a subtle scene . Especially when she hugs her. Lila is also pregnant so this was not the most comfortable night for her but it was a blessing for Elena mom .
who was supposed to drive her? nino? he was probably in a conference with the professor from utrecht. important stuff.
I have so much empathy for lenu in this addictive relationship. She was so heartbroken by Nino and Lila as a girl when she experienced that feeling of first love for him. Now that she finally has him, she can't imagine this being less than what she dreamed of and she's isolating their relationship to try to protect it. I feel like even though he shows up at night most of the time that he does shower her with love and is very present in her life when he has a whole family at home. It's confusing to me to see how open he is about their relationship. I don't think Lila would ever go near Nino again and that all those scenes of them together were purely in lenu's head. I hope she can eventually pull herself out of this, but I understand the breadcrumbs and love bombs that she continues to hold on you in order to keep this fantasy alive. It's heartbreaking.
I love the books and series. The casting is great. Nino is so shady with Lenu. Why would such an intelligent woman put up with someone who treats her like an after thought? I like Lenu, but you're right about the respect being lost towards her. Lila is and always has been the stronger of the two. Maybe that's why Lenu admires her so much, I think. I could have strangled Nino when he mentions that when they were younger and he asked Lenu to write a story about her conflict with the teacher, but he lied to her about why it wasn't published. I think he said that he threw her article away because he realized that she was a greater than him. What a jerk! Ugh, Lenu, someone needs to knock some sense in her! lol
You make many great points! I think Elena respects Lila ability to always find a way out and not succumb to the pressures around her.
It feels like this whole neighbourhood has lost respect for her but they tolerate her and Nino since they are rarely ever seen together.
"Why would such an intelligent woman put up with someone" who treats her like shit? I mean, we all have friends who are with people they absolutely know better than to be with, who treat them terribly. There are a lot of reasons for it. Yes, Lenu has a fantasy version of Nino that is slowly falling apart-- but as you point out, she is WAY too smart to believe such a fairy tale. Deep down, she knows full well what he is up to. Her friend told her a while back that he was always going to be fucking other women. She avoided Lila's calls bc she knew she would hear the truth. And that's because her fantasy, on the one hand, gives her "the man of her dreams"-- PRECISELY because he is treating her horribly. Lenu has low self-esteem because her mother was abusive and always questioned every desire she had and choice she made. So her own desires are contradictory. She wants to succeed but she self-sabotages. She wants a good man but she bails on bourgeois academic life-- deep down, she didn't feel she deserved it. In many ways, she is at war with herself. The earth literally quaking with rage is the perfect metaphor for her inner state.
In Italy the wife does not change her last name after married like in the USA. The baby is named after the father, you have to understand that divorce was only legal in Italy since 1970 which is only 10 years from this episode. This was relatively still new and still rare so the doctor was kinda agitated he had this rising situation during this formality.
I thought they explained the hospital thing pretty well in the episode. Marcello thinks that money solves everything, hence he wants Immacolata in a private hospital, but the public hospital has the doctors who tended to Immacolata before and they know her medical history better.
Your reviews are great, I just discovered you after the Earthquake episode and you are spot on about everything. Subbed immediately.
Thank you and welcome to the channel 🙏🏾
@@alwayswatching2295 Just discovered you with this past episode. I love your latest video, after this one: "TRASH!" 🤣🤣🤣🤣 No spoilers tho 😎
After reading some reactions I thought I would be mad at Lenu But I am not The direction of this episode made me feel for her, not judge her
Loved the scene with Lila and Lenu's mom. ❤ Imacolata's relief when she recognized Lila😢 The sweetest moment
Great recap- such good analysis of their behaviors!
Thank you 🙏🏾
I have been looking for Someone who is covering My Brilliant Friend 🎉
This is your one stop shop ! Welcome 🙏🏾🙏🏾
Love your video Analysis as always but how sudden you end your videos always kills me 😂 keep it up
Lolol thank you 🙏🏾 😂
Lenu is so obsessed with Nino that she doesn't realize that, for Lila, Nino doesn't have the same seductive effect he has on her. She doesn't even notice that Lila actually doesn't like Nino; Lila has realized long ago that he is not a good man and is a hypocrite. And Nino super gaslights Lenu calling her stupid when she listens to Lila. And Lenu is just imagining, theres nothing going on between Lila and Nino, is Lenus paranoia, because in her mind how not to be crazy about Nino? How Lila could not love him anymore right? Lenu cant understand the concept of a woman who doesnt love Nino.
Exactly. Nino is annoyed Lila sees right through him . She doesn’t buy his act at all .
I think elena knows on a deep level he doesn’t love her as much as she loves him . As a result she is always hyper focused on the women he interacts with and not him
Lenù's daughters feel secure and open with Nino, highlighting his approving influence. Dede's perceptive nature and warmth around Nino underscore his confirming presence. Pietro's lack of opposition to Nino's involvement with his daughters indicates his trust.
You’re right. If he was a danger they would not have let the children near him especially pietro who seems to have a good read on people
I think Nino is the type of dad that drops by with presents but plays no part in raising kids
Elena used to be my favorite character, but not anymore. I don't feel sorry for her in anyway like other people do. She is a selfish individual that treated her family, children, and best friend horribly over a guy in which her infatuation fades once she got to know him better.
Thank you for your insights!
I cried my eyes out when Lenu was driving alone, in labour to the hospital. As a woman who went twice throgh labour and postpartum depresion...I feel Lenu's loneliness, despair and paranoia.
She is slowly starting to see and understand how immature her complete isolation from the neighborhood was, and above all how flawed Nino trully is. I don t think Nino is right to insinuate that it's all on her and that she becomes more "stupid". Again...this is a pregnant woman who destroyed her previous life thinking she is doing it all for true love(even though she might have left Pietro either way in time....I don't think she would have. She would have had affairs yes. But in the end it was Nino who completely destroyed Pietro in her eyes and added to her many frustrations before).
Nino never said from the begining(at least I don t remember) when she left her familly that he would be living a double life. She only found out after from someone else.
Eventually the pain of dissapointment ( imagine this: she is been loving this man from childhood and idealising him) made her shut down to reality.
Now it's all unraveling and she keeps asking him these questions because she starts really seeing IT. He will eventually be just as uninvolved as with his other child. He is only involeved with the children he has with his wife who is afluent.
I did judge Lenu very harshly because it reminds me of myself. Nino as a young man is actualy very similar to the guy I first really cared for. This type of person can be really really genuinly good and caring and wonderful now and in just a couple of months after the honeymoon fase is over, they will quicly move on to someone or something else. And never think it to be strange. Or immature. Like Michele says about him to Lenu:" This man if he doesn t do what he wants ,he feels ill".
Really heart breaking episode especially because again you have here an incredibly tired woman who just gave birth. The hormones in that state are not your friends.
Nino is so perfectly hiding his intentions to my mind that it's like I wish the Solaras whould hit his face at keast once. He is hiding something definetly and what makes it worst is that he hides it under this facade of goodness. Just like his father who all women found to be so gentleman and u like the other men at the time and yet, he was so disgusting
Thank you for this beautiful comment! You’re right about Nino. He never promised her anything and he’s been very transparent about staying with his wife and kids.
With Nino it’s hard because we all know a Nino . I get how men like that are able to slowly break a woman down.
I think giving birth may open her eyes. Towards the end of her pregnancy she was starting to be disgusted by him. She’s slowly becoming less fixated on him.
She only has herself in blame for her unhappiness. I hate season 4 and seeing people blow up their lives
@@billfraser9731I too was really dissappinted that Lenu did this to herself especially since this kind of stuff really does happen in reality as well.
I have seen it and also, anecdotaly, I am on mums groups and if I had a pound for every time a woman writes that she is unhappy (in a marriage ) and other women tell her to divorce and go find herself ....I would be rich!!!
In Great Expectations I remeber there was a line whoch stuck with me that says something like:" the lies others tell us are nothing compared to the lies we tell ourseves".😢
Love your reviews and look forward to them every week. Great analysis of each episode.
Thank you 🙏🏾
70's and 80's Italy seems similar to nowadays Romania, my country. If this is so, then private clinics are great at treating mild to moderate medical cases, whereas more severe cases would be treated in a public hospital.
Thank you for this !!
Yees, that was all I could think of, the hospital looked exactly like in Romania; the hallways are a bit nicer but the rooms are basically the same. and a lot of people keep wanting to go to private clinics for the comfort (totally understandable), and as a doctor myself I keep telling them, clinics are for scheduled consults/surgeries not for severe cases. In fact I know of several instances where clinics sent pacients back to the hospital because they were too sick and didn t want them dying on their watch.
Ooowee...Elena's insecurity & obsession with Nino & Lila, both individually & what she conjured up about their interactions in her mind is toxic AF! Those last 10 minutes or so showed how twisted she is - her mama was being rushed to the hospital, but all she was worried about was Lila's proximity to her piece of that womanizing clown.
Yes I didn’t realize how bad it was. She was literally losing her head over that rag doll of a man. She was more concerned about him then her mother it was crazy
She’s even admitted she loved him more than her own daughters. It’s so sad.
she’s not twisted at all. all of her fears have a basis in reality. she’s stupid she hasn’t left him yet, but she’ll wake up soon enough.
@monicad99 She had sex with the father of her new baby's father whom she admitted she loves more than her own children. He has a whole wife and family while she has the audacity to be a jealous side piece that feels special when he decides to use her to fill in the blanks and stroke his ego and she's NOT twisted? Ok
@@trmartin6821 never underestimate society’s ability to judge women. also, the puritanism and lack of empathy. especially towards people who leave their spouses. especially to women who leave their husbands for other men.well, judge away.
He didn't become an absentee father yet But there is still time😂
With Nino it’s only a matter of time 😂
LOL
yeah, i mean he IS there when he remembers to be….and of course, the baby has just been born.
He already is, with respect to his other son. Lenú senses that her daughter might undergo the same treatment, hence the confrontation with Nino about it.
Hamza, great review as always and so glad people are finding your channel. Need to read these books!💗
Thank you Riva 🔥🔥🔥
I think Lila and Nino are attracted to each other but Lila will not give into that. Nino is basically weak and Lila is strong. Lila learned at an early age not to trust men. Even her father and brother betrayed her going all the way back to the pair of shoes she made in season 1. Nino basically betrayed Lenu by taking her mother and Lila away. It was like he wedged himself between her and her mother, taking over. It was a doubly rotten thing to do.
I think lila trust for men ended when her father threw her out the window.
Nino constantly tries to draw these wedges between women and he gets off on people fighting for his attention
I did not have an adverse reaction to Nino in this episode. Even though Lenù and Nino's relationship is complex, actions consistently speak louder than words, especially in male behavior. Lenù's mother's tolerance of their relationship's inconsistencies reinforced my perspective. This behavior is not unusual. Given Nino and Lila's history, Lenù's fanciful thinking is understandable.
Moreover, our minds often deceive us. Many women would have terminated the conversation with Lila to prevent Nino from interfering, but this episode was remarkable. I am relieved that Immacolata’s health remained stable. ❤ As always, this was a fantastic review.
Thank you autumn 💕 I also was not as disgusted by Nino. I was surprised he stayed in the apartment and seemed very caring towards the mother .
As you said her mother’s tolerance suggests that these types of relationships are not abnormal.
Watching Elena I think she’s always been a victim of her own mind. Nothing she was thinking was even remotely possible but she believed it so deeply
I have found so painful and almost unbearable to watch Lenu being so dependent on Nino, so dumb. When will she wake up? Please. Nothing happens in 5 episodes.
It is not paranoia when it is true 😢
Lenu's paranoia has reach full pitch. They should have all went to the hospital - that would have helped her psyche. Now, I do believe that the mom is better suited at the clinic due to the healthcare but a battle of powers / class are active. The white collar in Nino vs the powerful neighborhood crook, Marchello.
I don't think there exists any chemistry between Lila and Nino but Lenu is the one believing something still exists. It all stems from that summer on the beach.
Now can someone remind me -- that why in the sea of questionable characters does this town not like Nino and the Sarratore family?
Lastly, is it Miguel or Michele?
They don’t like him because of his father. When the family lived in the neighborhood , one of the women (mother of Antionio?. Maybe) was infatuated or had an affair with Nino’s father. It was a very ugly situation. Others may remember this better than I.
I love this show but it's difficult to watch through Lenù's pov I can't stand her ignorant infatuation with Nino it makes no logical sense why she's drawn to this man 😑
It would take a miracle at this point to end this obsession
Was it in Elenas head that Lila and Nino were flirting? Lila was so sweet to help her mother. I loved this episode I thought the last two were dull, but this made up for it. 🔥
It was so hard to tell. I felt as paranoid as Elena . This episode was one of the best so far 🔥
I felt like it was a directorial decision to blur the lines between Lenu's imagination and reality. But I also feel like Lenu is torn in between tending to her newborn, her ill mother and having control over Nino. And I also suspect this whole situation draws her into post-partum psychosis.
Great takes!
Thank you 🙏🏾
At least here in Spain, you get better care at public hospitals because the state has put more funding into them and they are harder to get hired onto. At least that's what my husband has always told me!
When Lenu's brother responds to her comment about them dealing drugs, he tells her that the money they're making is paying for their mother's treatment. Lenu without Pietro's financial support probably can not afford the private doctors. In some countries, the doctors who serve the poor are excellent. It was probably a hospital that was closer to her home (husband, sons, daughters). All this is speculation on my part.
Hi Emmy . I think you’re a right a few people have commented that public health care is often better for more serious illnesses
She asks as first thing how did he know to come to the hospital and he explains that stopped by in the morning to talk to her, to kiss her and found the apartment empty and the girls with the neighbour that told him that Elena went to the hospital to gave birth.
Im not sure I believe him. We have never seen Nino at her place during the day
Everytime Immocalata is in the scene my heart hurts. FUcking bawling.. Pleassseee I hope Lenu turns around. I am starting to despise her.. My Ghad this episode!!!!!!!! I went straight here after watching episode 5.. fuckkkk.
Thank you for coming back to me 💕
The Catholic church has always influenced societal stigmas in addition to Italian lawmaking.
Catholicism has always condemned children being born out of wedlock - they are considered illegitimate in the eyes of God - as a result, children born out of wedlock did not have the same legal rights as those born within marriage, including inheritance + parental rights.
Nino, lied about being married + gave Immacolata his last name so their child would not be considered a bastard socially + would be given legal equity, same as, his children born within wed lock.
Catholic guilt + the fear of a child being born to not only unwed parents but unwed parents also committing adultery 😬 ...
he was trying to save his own soul + save the baby's soul from eternal damnation.... this is also why he was pressing Lenu do hard to have the baby christened after she was born.
Thank you for this explanation. I thought it was strange he wanted to go through these motions despite the child being born out of wetlock. He seemed genuinely eager to give her his last name and take care of her .
I also think as you said the guilt plays a huge part. He’s assumed responsibility for the child from the beginning and he at least followed through on some of his promises
I didn’t read the books but I can’t recall any part in this past season when they mentioned Lunu’s dad had died. When abd from what did he die of?
I read the book some time back and I don’t recall the exact reason.
I saw him only once this season and he was still alive
Lenu's mother is literally bleeding in the room and all Lenu can worry about is whether Nino and Lila will hook up - pardon me, but I wanted to stab her. Priorities!! If, in dire moments, the most important people - your dying mother, your newborn baby, your VERY pregnant friend - are not the FIRST you think about, then you, yes YOU, are the problem, never mind the waste of space you seem to have placed on a pedestal. I'm curious as to how Ferrante will enlighten Elena from her ostrich head in the sand situation because no matter how much Lenu seems to want answers (she keeps asking!!), she digs her grave even deeper. The only person I have any respect for has almost no screen time (yes, it's Pietro, Mr. I'm putting everyone but myself first, I hope his girlfriend is taking care of him!). Almost everyone else (save for Enzo and Gennaro) seem to have issues related to living/growing up in that neighborhood and/or the pressures of the drug trade and poverty. I did notice when Immacolata started bleeding, Lila froze and possibly had one of those thread of life moments (that she talked about in the car/previous episode). She seemed to pull herself together though when she decidedly walked up the hospital stairs and climbed into the hospital bed to comfort Immacolata - she showed strength under pressure. The birth registrar scene was hilarious but actually not as it will have consequences for an illegitimate Imma in her later years. Nino may have a string of bastards, what do we know? Lenu brings up one that we know that he already discounts, but you (and we) already suspect he's a serial philanderer, with women in their neighborhood! Ugh. BTW Michele (Mi-ke-le), not Miguel, is Marcello's brother (someone in your comments asked). One last comment: Lenu driving herself to the hospital when she was in labor. Remember when her mother spoke to her in the car on the way back from her diagnosis about the angel of death and how one endures suffering so that death respects you. I felt Lenu needed to prove something to herself, that she could somehow be as strong as her mother. The stunt was utterly foolish, putting not only herself but the baby at risk, and it also showed Lenu's mental faculties are not all there and her priorities are so jumbled. Every subsequent time she held the baby or the baby was sleeping on her, I feared for the baby's life, I had such a knot in my stomach. I don't feel that way about Dede and Elsa, I think because I know Pietro is in their life. Thank you again for your reactions, I literally come straight here after I watch the episode!
Thank you for this comment . It’s becoming very difficult to empathize with her.
Her mother was sick and as you said her mind was on Nino. It’s always been about Nino .
Lila reaction was very telling. Her conversation last episode in the car did reveal how scared she is at times. I don’t think she knows what to do with death.
Nino definitely has a string of children he never sees. I wonder when he cuts off the relationship . From what I see of Nino he never leaves anyone. He just keeps coming back until you stop him.
Also excellent comment about why she drove herself to the hospital. She tortured herself to prove a point.
As always thanks for coming back to me with incredible insight
Wow very insightful
Thank you 🙏🏾
Honestly the 2nd half of this episode, I just started laughing 🤣 coz what is going on. like is she alright? No hate, but I can't stand her (this is coming from the perspective of me shouting "you can leave" in my head. )
(anyways haven't watched ur review yet just flew to the comments after finishing it)
She is becoming unbearable
I HATE Nino, never liked that character.
He is the worst