TV Recap: Girls - "Weirdos Need Girlfriends Too"

Left to Right: Chis O'Dowd, Jemima Kirke, Allison Williams

I am going to attempt to keep up a weekly entry recapping the brand new HBO comedy series Girls, written, starring, and directed by Lena Dunham of Tiny Furniture fame. While the episodes usually premiere on Sundays, my entries will be posted towards the end of the weeks, usually on Thursdays or Fridays. This is more of a time convenience as I hope to take this new venture seriously and take time to review each episode. If this goes over well, I will continue to do more of these. I was going to do Bob's Burgers, but the idea came a few episodes too late. However, I am still considering doing Louie, whose previous season remains the best 30 minutes of TV each week.

If this show has improved in one way, it is in creating characters with a strong dynamic. Looking back at the first few episodes, I never thought that I would sympathize with Adam (Adam Driver), whose minimal use resulted in the appearance of an abusive relationship. However, since "the Return," things have been looking up and we slowly have gotten a soul. A charming person lies under the sex addiction and isolationist tactics that make up his life.

Which makes this episode a nice addition to the evolution of the Adam character. The episode opens with an array of scattered items on the floor of an apartment, including used condoms and a jar of peanut butter. Adam is in bed with Hannah (Lena Dunham) watching a projector showing videos onto the ceiling. They are of Adam as a younger child, where Hannah teases about his big ears and how charming he looks. This leads to impromptu sex in which they arouse each other by stating how attractive they were as children.

In an adjacent room is Marnie (Allison Williams), who is still depressed over the break-up that she had with Charlie (Christopher Abbott), who has now gone to Paris with the girl presented in "Welcome to Bushwick a.k.a the Crackcident." She is seen looking through photos on her Facebook page while playing Demi Lovato's "Skyscraper." When she hears Adam and Hannah having sex, she tries to shut them up by promptly slamming her door as an indication.

The rest of the episode takes two paths: Adam and Hannah, and Marnie and Jessa (Jemima Kirke). Marnie becomes even more depressed to see Adam and Hannah having a fulfilling, happy relationship in their apartment. Sometime after Adam and Hannah take off, Jessa shows up. She supposedly has plans with Hannah to console her recent firing from her job. This leads to a conversation in which they dish out the imperfections of Hannah's life, including her shiny forehead and her unreliable nature. They eventually come to the point where they decide to go out and get away from their problems.

Meanwhile Adam and Hannah are seen exercising together. Hannah is of course out of shape and Adam is trying to motivate her to keep going. They decide to get ice cream afterwards, which Adam refers to as white mucus. However, they enjoy eating it together. Over a conversation, they decide to see a play that Adam is putting on with a man named Gavin (Henry Zebrowski). It involves a monologue about Adam having sex with a girl he knew in sixth grade. It continues to a canoe scene which doesn't play out because Gavin improvises some ridiculous character traits.

This causes Adam to stop the show and get into an argument with him. He insists that Gavin should have stuck to the script and that he should let the audience have a moment to take in the empathy. Adam insists that his performance art is real, but Gavin is still wanting there to be a more broad comical appeal. It is later revealed that while Adam wrote the project, Gavin funded $2000, which places them into corners, causing Adam to threaten to leave the project, as he doesn't want to be attached to mediocrity on account that it is his integrity.

This is an undercurrent theme through the rest of the episode as Adam tries to figure out if he should leave. Hannah insists that he should stay. To make matters worse, he walks in front of a moving car, which causes him to yell at the driver and slam on the car's hood. He becomes really frustrated by the time that they get back to the apartment.

Hannah decides to take a shower. While she is there, naked, Adam walks in quietly and very creepily stares at her. Without saying much, he continues to offer her soap and shampoo as requested. Things are going all right until Adam begins peeing on her. Adam finds it hilarious, but when he won't stop, Hannah just runs out, scared and annoyed by the incident. 

Meanwhile Jessa and Marnie are at a bar just chatting it up. In the course of the night, someone orders them drinks. It turns out to be Thomas (Chris O'Dowd), who is a charming businessman in a suit. He continues over to the table to flirt with them claiming that he is new in town. He also says that he has a bottle of red wine that he is saving for a rainy day or night, which prompts Jessa to point out that it isn't raining. Marnie is sort of into it, so they decide to go back to his apartment.

The apartment is lush and really nice looking. Thomas is in the middle of a mash-up album, which he samples in the episode. From the sound of it, all he does is take a popular song like Len's "Steal my Sunshine" and attaches ominous sounds to it, like children in a field. It isn't great, though it is also claimed to not be finished yet either.

During the course of the night, Marnie and Jessa, who have drank a little bit of the wine, decide to  kiss each other. Thomas is all excited and tries to join in by fondling Marnie's breast. This makes her panic, causing her glass to be knocked onto a really expensive rug. Marnie tries to apologize, but Thomas goes on about how much work he does and how expensive the rug is. He is mostly upset about the rug, though he does show some anger in not getting to have a good time with the girls. This causes them to eventually leave.

Meanwhile Hannah and Adam are back at the apartment having conversations about the play. As the night goes on, Hannah is asleep in a jumpsuit looking nightgown. Adam wakes her up to go outside. There he reveals that he has been posting signs that say "I'm Sorry" on a brick wall on the street where he yelled at the car. After pasting a few more up, they decide to take off and go have sex, thus ending the episode.

Left to Right: Lena Dunham, Adam Driver

While this episode is by no means a terrible episode, it is one of the weaker ones, if just because the story lines don't balance that well. I really enjoyed the continuing complexity of the Adam character, but the plot line with Marnie, Jessa, and Thomas didn't have a fulfilling follow through. While I think that the relationship with Thomas could reflect Marnie's insecurity to move on, I think that it is possible that we got a subtle hint into Jessa.

As stated in the beginning of the episode, Jessa recently got fired from her job as a maid. We are aware that she is into males. However, when Thomas asks to have fun with them, Marnie insists that she is not gay. Jessa replies that she is not gay, though in reference to Marnie. While it seems far fetched and such a trope idea, this could be the new phase of the Jessa character. She didn't not admit that she was gay, so maybe she was sort of into it. I would hate for things to devolve to that, but maybe Marnie and Jessa will hook up after their feelings become complicated?

However, I think that it was a nice relief for them to have a plot together. We've been experiencing most weeks the girls going off on their own journeys, which are fun, but it is not the same as "Vagina Panic" and watching them bounce ideas off of each other. Here we at least get to see what Jessa and Marnie feel like when left together. It is fun, and there is a lot to dissect. I also enjoy the subtle change between Marnie and Jessa as the voice of reason on the show, especially after that first conversation in "Pilot."

So what lies in store for Jessa? Will she go gay? Will she try and get her job back? She seems too nonchalant about everything for this to actually happen. However, where will things take her, and will she get in a relationship with her new boss? As she stated in "Hard Being Easy," she is kind of into the whole harassment thing. Also, will she progress on a journey towards responsibility, or will she go back to just being lazy? With that said, will we ever get another chance to see Hannah have another crack at work that actually sticks? Will we actually get anything involving her writing as a central plot line, or was that all reserved for "Hannah's Diary"?

Marnie is also in a weird place. After initiating the break-up in "Hard Being Easy," she hasn't taken it well. She spends the first half of this episode mourning the new relationship that Charlie has. Will she find a replacement (or go gay) or will she just become an emotional wreck of a character? I like to think that she will pull through, though I am of the mindset that maybe Jessa will be that guiding light.

Despite all of this, I don't feel like their plot was all that interesting this week. It could all be set-up that puts it into justification, but for now, it feels like time filler. Meanwhile, the relationship between Adam and Hannah makes this episode really strong. We don't get too much new out of Hannah, but we begin to understand Adam a lot more. We understand all of his ticks and his passions. We discover that he is an artist who wants to be great, but has trouble collaborating. He is flawed and deeply neurotic, but he became a full-on human this week.

I feel like Adam fully redeemed himself with this episode. Even though I foolishly wished for a flashback episode, having him on screen for more than 5 minutes an episode is a nice relief. Hopefully he'll become more of a central cast member in the last two episodes to come. Also, it is sweet how he treats Hannah, especially now that he is revealed to have a social life. The simple factor of them communicating has made them seem like a totally different, nice couple. I think that it is great counterbalance to how Marnie and Charlie's relationship ended up after one feud.

With all of this said, I think that the show has found it's footing quite nicely. However, as the episodes have progressed, I have found myself less and less interested in Shoshanna (Zosia Mamet), who wasn't even in this week's episode (making 4 out of 8 to date), While it has been established that she is a virgin, and her persona is a nice offset to everything else, she hasn't really brought any naive insight into the show. Maybe she will pull an Adam and redeem herself soon, but at least Adam factored in every week. Shoshanna hasn't been more than a punchline in some way. While I would love to see her hook up with Ray (Alex Karpovsky), which seems plausible after "Welcome to Bushwick, a.k.a. the Crackcident," I don't feel like it will be realized enough to make it worthwhile. 

As a fan of Bridesmaids and the IT Crowd, I am also a little disappointed in the Chris O'Dowd cameo. While it is nice to see him playing a more vulnerable character, he didn't really contribute much to the episode that felt necessary. While his mash-ups were endearingly depressing, there wasn't much else to take away. Like Shoshanna in "Hard Being Easy," he just feels like a prop to move someone else's story forward. While it is unlikely that he will ever return, I hope that he does because I feel like there is more to offer.

Overall, this wasn't the best episode, but features many traits that puts it on par with "the Return." There is the humanity and personal realizations of inferiority. We may also be getting foreshadowing to deeper, complicated humans. Maybe we'll get payoff, but there are plenty of endearing moments that remind me why I like this show. Most of all, I am glad that Adam is still around and having a more significant part in everything. 

Also, the closing song by the Vaccines called "Wreckin' Bar" was really catchy. I don't know if this means we'll be getting a bummer episode like "Hannah's Diary," after the upbeat "All Adventurous Women Do," but the song is just so much fun.

Favorite moment: It would easily have to be the shower scene with Adam and Hannah. Where five episodes ago, this would have seemed rude and aggressive, it now feels like a sweet moment gone wrong. Adam's glare for the entire scene is very creepy and only makes the final moments of him peeing on her seem funnier. We also get the sense that his abusive nature in the earlier episodes is just some dark form of endearment, and possible fodder to dissect in episodes to come. I also love how quickly that it can go from being sweet to awkward without much effort.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

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