‘The Lying Life Of Adults’ Episode 6: Recap And Ending, Explained: Does Giovanna Get Her Freedom?

Previously on “The Lying Life of Adults,” Giovanna broke off her friendship with Angela and decided to stick with Giuliana. She reads the gospel just so she can have a conversation with Roberto and impresses him with her eloquent words. Vittoria is terribly angry with her for trying to get with Roberto, and she sees what’s in her mind very clearly. Giovanna is starting to forgive her parents and understand adult life a little better. Tonino has left without telling anyone except Giovanna, and Giovanna has finally stepped away from Corrado and Rosario, moving towards bettering herself. Will she go to Milan with Giuliana and, most importantly, steal Roberto from her? Is Vittoria in the right for hurling insults at Giovanna in front of everybody? Let’s find out.

Spoilers Ahead


What Happens In ‘The Lying Life of Adults’ Episode 6?

Giuliana and Giovanna make the trip to Milan, and on the way, on the train, Giuliana tells Giovanna she admires her for being intelligent and a non-conformist. She tells her that it’s interesting how Roberto insists that Giovanna come with her to Milan. It turns out Vittoria has given the bracelet to Giuliana, who feels burdened to wear it because, although it was Giovanna’s grandmother’s bracelet, it was stolen from Margherita’s mother and given to her. Giuliana says Vittoria would never suffer; she is the one who makes others suffer. Giuliana finally says she thinks the bracelet brings her bad luck but decides to put it on anyway. They reach the place where Roberto is a professor, and everyone seems to be very impressed by him. It seems evident from the start that Giuliana is very intimidated by Roberto’s work and the kind of person he is. He has some work to do and asks them to wait outside of his room, which makes Giuliana mad and also uncomfortable. Meanwhile, Vittoria and Andrea have a word and get into a physical fight. He tells her that he has an offer from a wealthy household for her to be a maid. She gets furious, and they start to fight. Vittoria wants to be a hard worker but is jealous of Andrea for getting everything he wants. Andrea was too busy pushing her away and calling her a monster to actually help her out.

Giovanna, Giuliana, and Roberto reach his home. He tells them the window must be kept open because of a gas leak. He invites them to meet his friends and colleagues. Giovanna politely declines but is then persuaded to come along by Roberto. Vittoria and Andrea seem to get over their fight, and he gives her the number for the job. At the dinner, Giovanna and Giuliana are like misfits, and Roberto’s friends are all intellectuals but also have different schools of thought from them. Giovanna ends up talking, though, and finds her way into the conversation, while Giuliana feels inferior, especially due to one of Roberto’s female colleagues. Later, they celebrate Giovanna’s 16th birthday with Roberto’s friends, and all seems well. Giovanna sleeps in the living room where the window is open, but since it is freezing, she decides to close it anyway. Giovanna wakes up and makes coffee for all of them before heading to their room. Giuliana is over the moon, saying she’s never had a happier morning. On the way back, Giuliana is vulnerable with Giovanna and tells her that she really loves Roberto because he lifted her from a place she was supposed to be stuck in and put her by his side, but he can have any of the many girls in Milan who are smarter and prettier than her. Giuliana feels like she cannot live without Roberto; it will destroy her if he leaves her. Then she realizes her bracelet is missing. Giovanna tells her not to panic and that she will find the bracelet for her. When they arrive in Naples, they make a call to Roberto, asking if the bracelet is there, and it is. Giovanna tells Giuliana she will bring the bracelet for her and that she should not panic.

Giovanna calls Roberto, telling him she will be back the same night, but when she arrives, he isn’t there to pick her up. At his home, Giovanna asks him why he didn’t show up, and he says he lost track of time due to work. Giovanna and Roberto talk, and she says if she can’t understand God, then she’s not interested in him. Roberto asks Giovanna if she will sleep with him in his room; she refuses, and he asks her why she came, to which she replies that she’s not sure anymore. What Giovanna realizes is that Roberto isn’t bothered at all by Giuliana when she isn’t there. She realizes she doesn’t need a man who will treat her that way and chooses to stay in the living room. When she returns, she goes to give the bracelet to Vittoria directly. Vittoria tells her she’s moving into the wealthy society as she has a new job now. She tells Giovanna that her father may not be that bad after all, as he has made Giovanna the perfect child that she is. Accepting that she had made a mistake and realizing her loyalty to Giuliana. Vittoria tells Giovanna that she should not waste her virginity and choose a person who is good and wait. They talk a little more and share a cigarette. Giovanna meets Corrado and asks him why he isn’t leaving when everyone else is. He explains that he and his mother are the kind of people who accept everything as it is and cannot do anything to change things. She then takes Roasrio’s number from him and leaves. Giovanna finds a handwritten diary from Ida on her Vespa. Ida tells her that her parents don’t appreciate her anymore and that she’s a disappointment. She says that she had sex to get over it and that she even wrote a novel about it that Giovanna couldn’t read until she’d had sex, too, because she’d be disgusted by it. Giovanna goes to Rosario’s home, and they have sex. Giovanna leaves the bracelet at his home and leaves. Giovanna meets Ida, and they leave with their bags on a bus.


Episode 6: Ending Explained – Does Giovanna Get Her Freedom?

Vittoria told Giovanna that she had never been with another man since Enzo died, but when she came to return the bracelet, Vittoria told Giovanna that she had, in fact, been with many men since he died, but the lie was beautiful, so she let her believe it. Giovanna found herself in a unique situation ever since Vittoria entered her life. She chose to like Vittoria because the perfect life that her parents had taught her to live had crumbled so quickly. Vittoria showed Giovanna a different side of life, as she seemed the kind of person who would never go after wealth, unlike Andrea, Giovanna’s father. Even after all that, in the end, when she is given the opportunity to move, she takes it, making it clear that nothing is certain, and everybody lies. A bracelet is a central object of the story because it was passed down by so many people, but every step of the way was another lie. Giovanna never felt like it belonged to her, just as freedom never belonged to her in Naples.

By deciding to move with Ida, she decides to get that freedom for herself, and leaving the bracelet at Rosario’s is a symbol of leaving everything that was bad for her behind, including all the adults and their fabricated ideas of life behind them, just like the bracelet itself. Giovanna’s revenge for all the lies Vittoria fed her was Giovanna sleeping with Rosario. Giovanna, who is also deeply infatuated with Roberto, realizes that he, too, has a fake personality and does what he does for the appreciation and idolization of other people, but he himself truly doesn’t understand God. Finally, it seems apt that Giovanna would leave with Ida because she is a reflection of herself. Ida shares her fear of disappointing her parents and the lack of freedom she receives at home. They both resent their parents for lying to them their whole lives and decide to create their own paths by leaving the city behind. In the end, both of them use their first sexual encounters as an initiation into adult life, not as something special but as something they chose to do as an act of rebellion. As they get on the bus and smile as they head off together, they are finally free to lead their own lies.


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Ruchika Bhat
Ruchika Bhat
Ruchika, or "Ru," is a fashion designer and stylist by day and a serial binge-watcher by night. She dabbles in writing when she has the chance and loves to entertain herself with reading, K-pop dancing, and the occasional hangout with friends.

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