About Girls

Have you been watching HBO's Girls?

All I can say about the season finale is...wow.  But "wow" in the kind of way your friend would say to you after you did something monumentally dumb...in the cafeteria...in front of the whole school.  *If you aren't caught up, I'd advise to skip this post from here on out!*

First of all, I grew up on the weekly escapades of the four friends in Sex and the City.  I was a teenager when I started "learning" about what being in your 30s was all about.  Not only was Sex and the City a total fantasy world, it never got really ugly.  Yes, the characters had to deal with some serious stuff, but these issues were always handled in next season's Balenciaga and a great coat of lip gloss.  Girls is the antithesis of Sex and the City.  The camera never wavers from these girls, even when all you can do is look away yourself.

The season finale found (most) of the girls right back where they had started at the beginning of the season, but much worse for the wear.  Marnie, hardly the self-made woman she set out to be, ends right back up in her ex-boyfriend's arms...who is now rich and successful and all of a sudden meets Marnie's qualifications for a "man."  Jessa has run off for another spirit quest and Hannah, oh dear lord, Hannah is a total wreck.

The only girl I feel that has broken out of her rut is Shoshanna, who was extremely one dimensional in the first season.  This season we find her gaining confidence and having insight well beyond her years (and her peers, for that matter!)  When she tells her 30-year old boyfriend as she is breaking up with him that she, "can't be the only thing [he] likes," I was almost shocked at the profound nature of that statement.  Shosh has been given the comic relief bit for too much of the show and I was so glad she was finally gifted some meaty material...even if it still had to be peppered with a million "likes."

But Hannah.  We have to talk about Hannah.  AND Adam.  These are textbook cases of misery loving company.  Hannah, who seems to be on the upswing for half of the season, bottoms out with the ear cleaning that was heard round the world.  Her obsessive-compulsive behaviors are back with a vengeance and isolate Hannah even further from the only things that truly sustain her.  Hannah really is nothing without an audience and we see this sad state progress as fewer and fewer of her friends and family have time for her manipulative ways.

What makes me feel for Hannah is that I truly believe a part of her does not know that she is manipulative.  Hearing her druggie neighbor tell her she is self-involved stings because this is the first time we, and probably Hannah, have heard this point-blank.  

And, to the rescue, comes Adam.  Who HAD what seemed like an amazing, communicative girlfriend, but he throws that away as soon as the codependent Hannah "facespaces" him.  I get that this last scene was a cliche, but I still was so grossed out by the return of shirtless-Adam.  This is the Adam that feeds off of Hannah's manipulation and self-obsession.  This Adam ain't healthy.

So, what are your thoughts on this train wreck?  Can't look away?  Neither can I!  And I can't wait for next season!