Watched My Brilliant Friend last night, my favorite series since Shtisel. Shtisel was about “love, loss, and the doldrums of everyday life” and My Brilliant Friend is somewhat the same, though with some violence thrown in (thanks to the Mafia and the fascists) plus lessons on Italian political and social movements of the ’60s and ’70s. But the story – of two bright young women who become friends in childhood and then follow very different paths in life – is one that Americans seem unable to do. Even our shows that revel in the everyday (Big Little Lies, Breaking Bad, Killing Eve) usually contain some contrived dramatic element, most often a crime (murder, drug manufacturing), to keep viewers interested. Not always, of course: Succession and Ted Lasso are both free of graphic illicit activity, but both are equally removed from reality.
