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Elena Ferrante made a surprise appearance in Yellowjacketsin 2022.

The Italian author behind My Brilliant Friend, which just wrapped its third season on HBO Max, gets a shoutout in Showtime’s high school horror drama when the mother of deceased Jackie (Ella Purnell) commemorates her daughter’s birthday with her living best friend Shauna (Melanie Lynskey). 

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“We’re reading Elena Ferrante in my book club,” she says. “And it reminds me so much of you girls."

The show never does specify whichFerrante, but my mind went immediately to My Brilliant Friend, which starts out as the story of luminous Lila (Gaia Girace) and her oft-eclipsed best friend Elena (Margherita Mazzucco). Growing up in the same neighborhood outside Naples, the girls are so entwined in each other’s lives that they are essentially family, competing and bickering and bonding like sisters pitted against each other even when they resist.

The Yellowjacketsparallel becomes clear within a few episodes of My Brilliant Friend. As they mature, Elena and Lila are still firmly at each other’s sides, but their community views them less and less as two peas in a pod. Men in the neighborhood can't resist Lila — either for love or for lust, and often a tornado of both that she dispassionately dismisses. She becomes known for her boldness, her sharp tongue, the fact that even when she cannot advance in school or is forced into work and marriage, she is still the smartest person any of them will meet in their lives. Elena herself is intelligent, engaging, and desirable, but not until leaving the neighborhood as an adult does she come anywhere close to believing that and shedding the role of sidekick.

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"I can't imagine how exhausting it must've been, always comparing yourself to someone so beautiful and smart," Jackie's mother goes on to say.

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She might want to keep reading.

Teen Lila and Lenu in summertime. Credit: HBO

In Season 3, which concluded on Monday, Elena is fully out of her shell and out of Lila's shadow. In fact, Elena and Lila barely interact this season, which draws unique performances from Mazzucco and Girace, who spent the majority of their scenes together in early seasons. Lila is borderline bored with her partner Enzo, the nicest man she's ever been with, but a symbol of stability, settlement, and age. She needles and sometimes overtly resents Lenu for marrying Pietro Airota, a kind professor who genuinely seems to recognize her merits. Lila's life is not easy by any stretch — she toils in a factory, deals with an abusive boss, and raises a child allegedly born out of wedlock — so the jealousy is more than justified. But she gets under Lenu's skin just like she always has, immediately sending her friend into a spiral of self-doubt and feeling inferior, unworthy, and like she must drop the entire life she built to support and listen to Lila.

Conversely, Lenu now appears to be thriving. Out of Lila's shadow and in her own spotlight, she finds fame and acclaim for writing her first book, then freelances for newspapers where she realizes her voice can make a difference. People of all ages and classes are in awe of her, from fellow literati to those who have known her since childhood. Even the costumes, hair, and makeup show a woman blossoming into her prime with the confidence she long witnessed from someone else — but can now claim as her own.

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As the friends see less and less of each other, Lila's voice fades from Lenu's mind. They share a phone call now and then, which points to mutual maturity; they still treat each other like close confidantes, but also stand firm and challenge each other. Both actresses deftly convey the simmering of their continued acquaintance with loaded looks and pregnant silence. Over the years, this friendship has become a ticking time bomb, and it is sharp relief when Pietro, of all people, recognizes the toxicity. The distance between the women grows.

Would let this man ruin my life — and Elena still might! Credit: HBO

And then there is Nino.

A boy who grew up in the neighborhood, part of the girls’ community but never their immediate social circle, Nino Sarratore (Francesco Serpico) has fascinated Lenu since the moment she first laid eyes on him. Precocious, pretentious, and entirely aware of his brooding appeal, Nino paid her minimal attention and eventually became besotted with Lila. The affair tested Lenu’s loyalty, especially when Nino abandoned Lila, and years later she regresses completely when he reenters her life.

Without spoiling Season 3’s tumultuous emotional finale, let's just say that Nino remains a pivotal figure not only in Lenu’s life, but in her relationship to Lila. Despite all her growth, there is part of Lenu that feels this is the ultimate victory, to hold the respect and attention of a childhood crush who for years chose her best friend before her. It's uncomfortable yet morbidly fascinating to see the effect he has on them, on Lenu as soon as she lays eyes on him and Lila when she hears his name over the phone, across space and time. But it is also a time-honored story of old flames and old friends that plays out across television, literature, and life.

HBO and Rai have renewed My Brilliant Friendfor a fourth season, which means the twisted tale of Lila, Lenu, and Nino has more ground to cover before it ends. In the Season 3 finale, Lenu faces critical choices that could make or unmake her future, a world she dreamed of and built since she was young. Ferrante readers can skip ahead, while those of us who watch the series will remain transfixed at this woman's journey continues.

My Brilliant Friendis now streaming on HBO Max.

Topics Books HBO Streaming