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| Adam Driver (back) and Lena Dunham |
Welcome back to the TV Recap column for the Golden Globe-winning HBO series Girls. Join me as I capture the exploits of the Lena Dunham-penned series as it ventures through another season of scandal, accidents, and life in general. Will it be another great season for the Tiny Furniture director and her growing cast of friends? Tune back every Friday to find out more.
**Here we are at the end of another fantastic season of Girls. What a rocky season it has been where the show has hit new highs and lows while giving us a trilogy of navel gazing. For my entire thoughts on the season as a whole, please tune back next week for my two part recap in which I share my thoughts as well as rank the episodes with brief opinions of each. Expect them on Thursday and Saturday.
What is most impressive about this season was not where it started, but where it ended. When "It's About Time" premiered, there was high hopes that it would just be another season of infidelity and possibly seeing Marnie (Allison Williams) hook up with Elijah and Adam (Adam Driver) would somehow just be written off the show. By the end, everybody seems radically different, whether it is because of relationship woes or just because life handed them a bad deal. "Together" is an episode that tries to wrap everything up nicely, and instead it just makes me more excited for season three.
The episode begins with Hannah (Lena Dunham) as she wallows around her apartment, which is a big, empty mess of clothes and dishes on the table. Covered in blankets, she seems unkempt and not ready to do anything. She spends a good portion Googling medical symptoms involving ears, microbes, and sanity. When she gets a call from her boss (John Cameron Mitchell), she discovers that if she doesn't write the book and since she potentially spent the advancement check, she could be sued. She decides to make it her goal to write a book in a day.
After calling her father (Peter Scolari), she tries to force him to forward her money to cover the advancement check. However, it only gives him a chance to finally vent. Hannah has been this way since she was a kid, faking scarlet fever (which she diagnosed herself from a Louisa May Alcott novel) to get out of school. Also, Hannah has always been manipulative and has made him look like a fool. As the conversation ends, there is a sense that she needs to grow up.
Everyone else is having varying degrees of sex. Adam and Natalia (Shiri Appleby) are discussing the ways that she can be attracted to his penis without being a whore. Ray (Alex Karpovsky) and Shoshanna (Zosia Mamet) are having trouble, as she is not into it anymore. Marnie and Charlie (Christopher Abbott) are just trying to make the best of it while Marnie interrupts Charlie giving her oral sex to wonder how he got so good. Of this group, we do not see what happens to Natalia, as she disappears for the rest of the episode.
After sex, Charlie and Marnie are out eating. Charlie reveals just how wealthy the Forbid app has made him. Also, he reveals that he only thought of Marnie as a casual sex partner. This sends her off the rails and as she walks out, she tells him that this is his last chance. If she leaves, they will never be together again. After a few moments, the two end up kissing and promise to be together for a long, long time. Of course, it is possible that while Marnie claims to not love him for his money, that she is using him to get further in life than her mundane condition right now seems to be.
Upon a conversation between Shoshanna and Ray about Ray's motivation in life, he goes to work to talk to the manager (Colin Quinn). He claims that he wants to have a different shift so that he can go back to school and focus on his PHD in Latin studies. His manager gets all annoyed that she is just using him and that Latin is a dead end. This leads to a possibility of him working at a Grumpy's that is opening in a very classy part of Manhattan. Ray accepts, hoping that this will impress Shoshanna.
It doesn't. When they meet up later, Shoshanna reveals her entire reason for not being attracted to him. She feels that he is too dark hearted and doesn't like anything except her. He tries to defend himself, claiming that it is critical thinking and not hatred. Still, Shoshanna wants to live, and she feels that Ray is not going to let her do that. The two break up and the first thing that Ray grabs on his way out the door is his Andy Kaufman cut-out that has been sitting behind the couch.
Hannah, refusing to write the book, is now trying to give herself a great new haircut. However, this immediately goes wrong as she cuts her bangs. In self denial, she convinces herself that it looks fine. However, she calls Laird (Jon Glaser) to cut the back of her head to shape it properly with a pair of cutting scissors. He feels like he did a great job. As he finishes, he watches Hannah fall on the floor in a nervous breakdown, complaining about how nobody respects her. This only gives him a chance to ventilate and claim that she is the most self involved person he knew. However, he also does claim that he used to have feelings for her at one point.
When all hope is gone and a voice message left on Jessa (Jemima Kirke, voice only) turns into her complaining that no one will talk to her, she calls Adam. He knows what's up as he watches her twitch her head and do OCD stuff. He decides to abandon his post in his apartment, which involved breaking wood, and run shirtless towards her apartment with his shirt off and his phone connected to her's. When he gets there, he busts down the door and grabs her in his arms, cuddling her. The episode ends with him saying that he has always been there for her.
Rating: 4.5 out of 5
What an amazing last batch of episodes it has been this season. It is also amazing how the show has managed to come back to certain concepts. For starters, the very end in which Adam busts into Hannah's apartment is reflective of "I Get Ideas," in which he desperately sneaks in to mess with. This time, it is to comfort her. It only makes me more confused on what their exact relationship is like, and I am even more confused on whether I should respect or despise Adam. He seems to be the most week-to-week polarizing character. As it stands, I am throwing out the potential rape concept, as the sex scene with Natalia wasn't exactly as uncomfortable as that number. Still, it is interesting that she is gone at the end of the episode and Adam is just tearing apart wood. Maybe no correlation exists, but he has been known to get aggressive when he's angry.
What is most impressive about this season was not where it started, but where it ended. When "It's About Time" premiered, there was high hopes that it would just be another season of infidelity and possibly seeing Marnie (Allison Williams) hook up with Elijah and Adam (Adam Driver) would somehow just be written off the show. By the end, everybody seems radically different, whether it is because of relationship woes or just because life handed them a bad deal. "Together" is an episode that tries to wrap everything up nicely, and instead it just makes me more excited for season three.
The episode begins with Hannah (Lena Dunham) as she wallows around her apartment, which is a big, empty mess of clothes and dishes on the table. Covered in blankets, she seems unkempt and not ready to do anything. She spends a good portion Googling medical symptoms involving ears, microbes, and sanity. When she gets a call from her boss (John Cameron Mitchell), she discovers that if she doesn't write the book and since she potentially spent the advancement check, she could be sued. She decides to make it her goal to write a book in a day.
After calling her father (Peter Scolari), she tries to force him to forward her money to cover the advancement check. However, it only gives him a chance to finally vent. Hannah has been this way since she was a kid, faking scarlet fever (which she diagnosed herself from a Louisa May Alcott novel) to get out of school. Also, Hannah has always been manipulative and has made him look like a fool. As the conversation ends, there is a sense that she needs to grow up.
Everyone else is having varying degrees of sex. Adam and Natalia (Shiri Appleby) are discussing the ways that she can be attracted to his penis without being a whore. Ray (Alex Karpovsky) and Shoshanna (Zosia Mamet) are having trouble, as she is not into it anymore. Marnie and Charlie (Christopher Abbott) are just trying to make the best of it while Marnie interrupts Charlie giving her oral sex to wonder how he got so good. Of this group, we do not see what happens to Natalia, as she disappears for the rest of the episode.
After sex, Charlie and Marnie are out eating. Charlie reveals just how wealthy the Forbid app has made him. Also, he reveals that he only thought of Marnie as a casual sex partner. This sends her off the rails and as she walks out, she tells him that this is his last chance. If she leaves, they will never be together again. After a few moments, the two end up kissing and promise to be together for a long, long time. Of course, it is possible that while Marnie claims to not love him for his money, that she is using him to get further in life than her mundane condition right now seems to be.
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| Alex Karpovsky |
It doesn't. When they meet up later, Shoshanna reveals her entire reason for not being attracted to him. She feels that he is too dark hearted and doesn't like anything except her. He tries to defend himself, claiming that it is critical thinking and not hatred. Still, Shoshanna wants to live, and she feels that Ray is not going to let her do that. The two break up and the first thing that Ray grabs on his way out the door is his Andy Kaufman cut-out that has been sitting behind the couch.
Hannah, refusing to write the book, is now trying to give herself a great new haircut. However, this immediately goes wrong as she cuts her bangs. In self denial, she convinces herself that it looks fine. However, she calls Laird (Jon Glaser) to cut the back of her head to shape it properly with a pair of cutting scissors. He feels like he did a great job. As he finishes, he watches Hannah fall on the floor in a nervous breakdown, complaining about how nobody respects her. This only gives him a chance to ventilate and claim that she is the most self involved person he knew. However, he also does claim that he used to have feelings for her at one point.
When all hope is gone and a voice message left on Jessa (Jemima Kirke, voice only) turns into her complaining that no one will talk to her, she calls Adam. He knows what's up as he watches her twitch her head and do OCD stuff. He decides to abandon his post in his apartment, which involved breaking wood, and run shirtless towards her apartment with his shirt off and his phone connected to her's. When he gets there, he busts down the door and grabs her in his arms, cuddling her. The episode ends with him saying that he has always been there for her.
Rating: 4.5 out of 5
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| Dunham |
Also, there is a great moment in the show because we finally get a chance to have a daughter-father chat. Usually it has been filtered through the mother, and as a result, he has come across somewhat aloof and supportive over Hannah's nonsense. We have gotten a sense that he has cared about her, but never without a censored version of the mother calling her out on nonsense. Still, as tragic as this conversation ends, it is a nice touch to know that the father is a caring figure, but not quite as simple minded as he was originally written as. He cares about her well being, but he cannot be there for her financially at every turn.
I enjoy that Ray's first prized possession remains that Andy Kaufman cutout. He mentioned it in "It's a Shame About Ray," and it has been in the background for a few episodes. Seeing him grab it was a subtle yet funny recurring gag. However, I am going to miss the Ray/Shoshanna dynamic. I admit that the reasons are justified that Shoshanna would leave him. He is kind of too critical of the world for her, though my expectations that he would change her wasn't entirely ignored this season. It was there. I must say, I am impressed that Shoshanna is the most evolved character this season.
However, dumping Ray right as he is trying to get his life together just seems like an odd choice. Will that mean that we see Shoshanna become even more promiscuous and realistic? Will Ray actually go back to school or take that job at the new Grumpy's? Will he just become more of a secondary character now? Also, is he at all involved with getting Marnie a singing career?
Speaking of, is that concept just going to be dumped come next season? Maybe Marnie has had a secret intention of only using it to get Charlie back, but it seemed like an interesting story line nonetheless. While it is iffy that they ended up back together, it is an odd twist, considering in "It's a Shame About Ray," Charlie clearly wanted her gone. Of course, his "Indian" girlfriend has disappeared as well without a mention. Will we be seeing her next season?
Hannah has been a fascinating character this past season, if just because of Lena Dunham's dedication to the character. The small OCD development and her slow descent into madness was crazy. I know that she isn't supposed to be likable, but I can definitely sympathize with her theoretically. As a writer, the deadline stuff is stressful, but still, the way that she handled it was hard to watch, even though it has given us rich material for her story. It is kind of sad to see where she was last season as she is to now. The question now is if the show will continue to send her to the looney bin, or if we'll see her get better. Something tells me with an impending lawsuit (or at very least, I am sure something plagiarized), season three is going to have to finally admit that Girls is a drama.
Of course, the most interesting picture is that everyone is back at the "Pilot" square one. Marnie and Charlie are together, though admittedly reversed in terms of success. Hannah and Adam are together. Hannah is asking her parents for money. Jessa (with a clever cameo by voice mail) is nonexistent. Shoshanna seems to be the only one who has evolved. She started off the series as the virgin friend and while again single, at least seems to be hooking up with blonde men in bars. Maybe this was meant as a way to create a circular effect if the show was cancelled, but it just makes season three a more interesting prospect.
On top of having a 13 episode order, season three has already announced the return of Elijah and a lot of dark, dark stuff. I would love to see Laird back doing something, as he unfortunately was in the worst episode and only got to shine here because he spoke for the audience. I wonder if Natalia is still a character to worry about. I speculate quite a bit about where this show will go, however, I didn't predict last time that we would be here in the abyss with everyone suffering in dark places.
Overall, this has been an amazing season of television. With a few bumps along the way, Girls officially enters a pantheon of great HBO programs. I am also looking forward to next season on the sole purpose that it will be the longest running Judd Apatow produced TV show. Up until this point, we had Undeclared at 21 episodes. After two more episodes, we'll have achieved something amazing. Here's to another great season, and I'll see you next week for the two part recap on Thursday and Saturday.
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