‘Girls’ Review: Hannah’s Future Comes Faster Than She Expected As Her Past Gathers One More Time
LAST WEEK’S REVIEW: Adam and Hannah Play Out A Fantasy As Jessa’s Nightmare Comes True
Love Her or Hate Her
This entire season has been about Hannah finding a new level of maturity knowing that a baby is on the way, but up until this episode she’s always assumed she’d have the baby and live with it in New York. With Elijah, probably, in their tiny two-bedroom apartment. But with the months closing in and no real financial options presenting themselves, Hannah had to wrestle with whether or not to accept a position “teaching the Internet” at a swanky school upstate (and work for guest star Ann Dowd!) or to stay where she was with no real options. It was obvious what she was going to do from the second she was offered the job, but it made for an interesting 24-hour period of coincidences and farewells. Hey, when you need a push, sometimes you just need a push.
The Return of Shoshanna
Just when Hannah was starting to miss her close friendships (namely with Marnie), she realized that they’ve become a nostalgic memory rather than her present reality. That realization set in hard when she went to call Shoshanna, only to find out that she’d changed her number. But it especially set in when she showed up at her former friend’s apartment and accidentally crashed her engagement party.
We’ve been wondering why Shoshanna has been so absent this season of “Girls;” as it turns out that was for a pretty big payoff. Not only had Shoshanna moved on from her thing with Ray (whatever that really was in the first place), but she found a guy to marry. She failed to tell Hannah or invite her to the party because Hannah had pretty much eliminated Shosh from her life, and as viewers it’s Hannah’s journey we’re following. But that didn’t mean everyone else wasn’t in the know…
One Final Reunion
Adding salt to the wound of accidentally showing up to an engagement party in overalls was the fact that Elijah, Marnie and Jessa were all invited to the soiree. It led to one last hot New York minute with the original four girls in the bathroom, where Shoshanna laid down the harsh truth as only she can. It brought us right back to the “Beach House” episode.
“This is the reason that we can’t hang out together anymore,” she said. “We can’t hang out together anymore because we can’t be in the same room anymore without one person making it all about themselves.”
It was a statement that pretty much summed up the whole series at this point, especially given the lack of time devoted to the female friendships the past couple of seasons. That’s life though, as everyone eventually has to go his or her own way. At some point people tend to realize that everyone is the hero in his or her own story, and your friends aren’t just a supporting cast.
Make Ups and Break Ups
Whether Jessa and Adam are still together remains to be seen; he wasn’t at Shoshanna’s party and neither was Ray. So while we can only make up reasons as to why those guys weren’t there, we do know that Jessa finally took a good, hard look in the mirror and didn’t like what she saw. It was enough for her and Hannah to finally reconcile and at least leave each other in peace as they both go on to their next chapters. At this point we know that means teaching upstate for Hannah, but in true Jessa fashion her future was left unknown. Somehow that seems appropriate.
Something to Sniffle About
That final scene in the apartment where Elijah sings to Hannah in order to help her fall asleep was a heavy one for sure. Even though Hannah hadn’t technically made up her mind about leaving yet, both she and Elijah knew that she was going to. And that meant their days together in the apartment together were now numbered. Cue the waterworks.
Sometimes to Cringe About
Subway pickups are not a stellar idea on the best of days, never mind on a day when you’re making one of the most important decisions of your future child’s life. Luckily that ride didn’t last long and the guy realized Hannah was pregnant. We agree, though, his “ma’am” was a little much.
Something Else to Cringe About
Marnie’s oblivion about life continues to reign supreme. “You’re moving upstate and you didn’t even bother to tell me one-on-one?” she accused Hannah. Um, yes. Hannah tried calling you a million times and left several voicemails specifically saying that she had a huge thing to talk over with you. Looks like Marnie living with her mother didn’t really change her narcissistic behavior after all.
Preparing For the End
The final scenes in which Hannah watched her friends dance the night away during the present and then unpacked her new home in the future were a perfect marriage. In fact, had Hannah not been pregnant, that episode could have easily served as a series finale. Elijah got his part in “White Men Can’t Jump,” Hannah moved out, Shoshanna got her guy, job and friends with purses, and Marnie got… well who knows what she got. Do we even care at this point? Even Caroline (Gabby Hoffman) got a happy ending of sorts, when she returned to reveal that she’s figured out her postpartum depression.
It would have all been a nice, tidy little ending — save for that ever-growing baby bump. There’s no way Lena Dunham and co could have ended the show without the baby coming, and so that’s what we’ll all anticipate now heading into next week’s big conclusion.
Grade: A
Next week: It all comes to an end with the big series finale.
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