My Brilliant Friend: 3x8

Those Who Leave, Those Who Stay

This episode gave me full body chills, butterflies in my stomach, anxiety, hope and made me cry many a times. THIS is good television, television that makes you feel a *lot* in the best way possible. The acting, the imagery, the dialogue, the editing – it all comes together in such harmony and leaves you baffled at how affected you become.As someone who has loyally been glued to the screen since the first season of My Brilliant Friend was released, I’m heavily invested in all the different characters – but especially Elena. She is so easy to relate to and, as someone else pointed out in the comments of HBO Nordic’s Instagram post, so educational as well. Whenever you fear that she is going to make the wrong call, cave, and fulfill all of the tropes that you have seen in television a thousand times before, she doesn’t. She’s surprising because she isn’t consistently this or that, subdued or superwoman, she is fluid when it comes to her decision making and direction. Her unpredictability is one of the many things that makes her an exciting and magnetic character. Of course, you sympathise heavily with her as well, as one should when it comes to protagonists.What I’m trying to say here is: This series, this season, but above all this specific episode, is as good as it gets when it comes to drama TV series (in my humble opinion).