TV Retrospective: "Girls" - Season 5 (Part 1)

Lena Dunham
When we last left off with Girls, there was a sense that the series' best days were behind them. For starters, most of the characters had reached a breaking point of even being remotely likable. Hannah (Lena Dunham) was failing to grow up, and she finally broke it off with her problematic boyfriend Adam (Adam Driver). There was a lot that looked like season five would be a rebound season, or at least less insufferable than Marnie (Allison Williams) and Desi's (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) almost exclusively plot-free existence. Since it was announced in between seasons that this was to be the penultimate season, there was a new found desire for things to start finding a purpose. By some luck, the show not only managed to improve in unsuspecting ways, but it managed to turn in one of its best seasons period.
By the start of season five, there was already a dreadful sense that the Girls characters would never grow up and escape their childish ways. While Marnie's choice to marry Desi may seem like a mature decision, it only caused her to fall into a bigger existential crisis. By the end of the first episode, there was a lot of unassuming groundwork set, even if all of the characters still seemed to be a pile of mistake-prone women incapable of living successful lives. For the most part, the characters were true to form this season. However, the show itself managed to explore the shifts with a certain clarity that the previous seasons hadn't allowed. While we had seen most of this cast separated for large stretches of time, this was the first that felt like it incorporated it effectively into the plot.
While Girls has always been a compelling show, there's a certain disorientation that comes with watching a show that doesn't embrace progressive plots. While stories evolve, the average season is more a jumble of stories than one cohesive narrative. While season four began to play with this, season five actually chose to apply things with a literally novel approach. With the final image of the season being Hannah running in a 400 Blows-esque freeze frame; finally free of Adam's hold on her; the series reflected the growth in characters that audiences likely felt that they were promised all along. While "Can't Take My Eyes Off of You" played, a montage of images accompanied with a beautiful clarity that only worked because of everything that had come before. The show was no longer just about Hannah's struggles. It was about everyone's and, for the first time, everyone felt just as important to the show's existence.
The underlying theme of every characters' existence is the sense of loneliness. While Hannah seemed to move on with Fran (Jake Lacey), she was inevitably using him as a rebound boyfriend whom she never saw eye-to-eye with. She was struggling with the jealousy of her best friend Jessa (Jemima Kirke) dating Adam. Meanwhile, Marnie had to deal with her stagnant life, which was only made more clear with the return of Charlie (Christopher Abbott) in one of the series' best episodes. If any episode embodies the loneliness that the late-20-something characters feel, it is "A Panic in Central Park." The exuberance of joy that Marnie feels as she does mundane things with her ex reflects the certain ecstasy that everyone strives for. It wasn't achieved by going to Japan, as Shoshanna (Zosia Mamet) would discover. It was about finding that one person that you bonded with and shared an unconditional love for. Sometimes it worked, but most times it only added to one's motivation to remain aimless.
What is possibly the most impressive thing is that technically, this was a season that lacked as much direction as any other. No character necessarily had any major change in their life. They were all still meandering in the ways they always had. However, there was a certain understanding as to why they never quite made it big. Ray (Alex Karpovsky) never made it onto council, instead having to deal with a rival coffee shop for hipsters. As shown with Marnie, even when there's a quest to change, there's inevitably something holding you back. Hannah's mom (Becky Ann Baker) comes to terms with dying alone; married to a man (Peter Scolari) who is gay and suddenly incompatible emotionally. As rich as the tapestry is for the show, it's essentially a quest to make it through life and find purpose. Even if Hannah's goal is the anticlimactic choice to become a writer again, what makes it work is the exuberance that she shows in "I Love You Baby." Telling her personal life in whimsical detail gives her a certain joy that has been missing for most of the season. Even if she's still at square one, there's something to seeing her full of potential yet again.
So, what is the lasting impact of Girls going to be? For a show that hasn't had much of a point for most of its run, it is hard to tell. Beyond upsetting the internet with controversial statements, Lena Dunham's voice is likely to remain divisive for the rest of her career. Hannah isn't necessarily a pleasant woman, nor does she take criticism well. However, the shameless performance that gives her character life is so authentic and pure. The whole show reflects a certain downside to growing up and not knowing how to progress in your career. What it does have is a lot of raw honesty and sometimes it's just done in unpleasant ways. Thankfully, when the show has heart - it has power. Girls is already an impressive achievement in naturalism and exploration of narcissism and creativity. It deconstructed the Sex and the City model and gave us something more worthy of the "warts and all" moniker.
Girls' penultimate season is probably a good sign of things to come. It managed to succeed by condensing all of its stories into weekly themes and finding the humanity at the core of its characters. While the show isn't likely to win over fans this time around, it definitely works thanks to a strong cast who continue to go in interesting directions. This season reflected a lot of high points for the series, and it's largely thanks to the underlying theme of loneliness and desire to find hope in daily life. It isn't always successful, but it manages to reflect why Dunham is an invaluable gift to pop culture. One can only hope that she's saving the best for last.

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