Girls: Love Stories

April 17, 2016 9:57 PM - Season 5, Episode 9

Hannah meets an old rival and does some soul-searching, Shoshanna goes undercover to help Ray's struggling coffeeshop, Elijah makes a heart-felt confession, and Marnie rediscovers an old passion through a bizarre dream.
posted by permiechickie (10 comments total)

I was pretty harsh on Girls and Lena Dunham last week, but I loved this episode so, so, much, and Jenny Slate's amazing cameo was a big part of it. Hannah opening up to her about how crazy she was feeling because of Jessa and Adam, and how hard it was to keep it together made her callous behavior in the episode before this click into place.

I wonder if Tally's ballad of woe on how hard it is to be a creative gifted with early success is in part autobiographical for Dunham herself, and it kind of brought the whole series into focus for me. Hannah's bizarre and sometimes awful choices continually deny her any type of success that she could point out to other people, but they're continuing fodder for a book of essays she will hopefully write someday. I haven't watched the finale yet, but I'm hoping that somehow Tally's essay book assignment will fall (willingly on Tally's part) to Hannah and she can finally tell the stories she's been living.

"what the fuck am I going to write an essay on? all I do is google myself, and smoke weed, and um, masturbate with an electric toothbrush."
"...you could afford a vibrator"
"I know. I really don't want one, and that makes me feel mentally ill."

I've been there, sister

(also, my first FanFare post, apologies if I have fucked it up!)
posted by permiechickie at 10:06 PM on April 17, 2016 [7 favorites]

I am going to make the bold claim that season five is the best season of Girls yet.
posted by Literaryhero at 10:43 PM on April 17, 2016 [9 favorites]

To expand on that, because people seem to think that Hannah is become a caricature of a human being, I actually know multiple people who act exactly the way she acts in this show. Like people who were doing these hurtful, horrible things to everyone around them and then blaming others for their own problems. In real life it is hardly funny, but Lena Dunham manages to perfectly nail the overindulged, entitled and insecure early twenties mindset in a way that has me rolling around on the floor laughing so hard that I have to pause every episode.

I guess people are expecting the show to have dramatic undertones which makes it hard to watch, but I take it as straight up satire and it is so dead on it kills me every time.
posted by Literaryhero at 10:57 PM on April 17, 2016 [3 favorites]

I found myself wondering if Shosh went out and bought her spy outfit or if she already owned those things. I bet if Shosh and Alison from Orphan Black became friends their nearness would cause a black hole to form.

That's a really good observation about Tally & Lena & gives me something to think about.
posted by bleep at 11:00 PM on April 17, 2016

I found myself wondering if Shosh went out and bought her spy outfit or if she already owned those things.
Shosh is the kind of person that would buy that trenchcoat and hat to look inconspicuous, knowing it would have the exact opposite effect.

Also, another beautifully directed episode (this time by Alex Karpovsky)
posted by lmfsilva at 5:15 AM on April 18, 2016 [1 favorite]

And yet it seems equally likely she already had an appropriate ensemble from some previous caper!

Also Lena Dunham had some great face acting in this one and the last one. It seems like no matter what Hannah does I am with her just because I identify with her face emotions.
posted by bleep at 8:00 AM on April 18, 2016 [1 favorite]

and he seemed so Kylo Ren to me

That whole scene is fodder for the people that do Kylo Ren / Adam mashups.
posted by lmfsilva at 8:58 AM on April 18, 2016

Oh poor Elijah, when his face crumpled in the embrace, and he got it back together so Dill wouldn't see he was about to cry.

I really liked this episode. I thought Lena Dunham's acting was superb. As bleep said, her facial expressions are wonderful.
posted by essexjan at 4:06 PM on April 18, 2016

The episode gave more context to Fran-as-jerk, that I liked.
posted by armacy at 4:18 PM on April 18, 2016

It did help put the Fran-as-jerk thing into context from Hannah's perspective. However, I think that if that was a normal relationship and she was a normal person, then he wouldn't have been such a "jerk" in her eyes. I mean, she flashed her genitals at her boss and then got mad at Fran for getting mad at her about it. Which really just means they shouldn't have been together. He needs to find someone who operates within and understands the normal rules of society and she needs someone who will indulge her weirdo tendencies.
posted by LizBoBiz at 6:08 AM on April 19, 2016