Hannah gets into grad school, Adam’s show opens, and all the girls have absolute travesties in timing. Girls Season 3 ends on a definite progression compared to previous season finales, but it’s still got that feeling of aimlessness that I wish had disappeared from the show a long time ago.
In Which Hannah Makes A Genuine Decision Not Based On Selfishness
Hannah getting into grad school is a swerve that I didn’t really see coming, but it allows for different avenues of the show to open that aren’t based in confrontation, which can get a little repetitive. Instead of a big break-up fight, Hannah & Adam really need to evaluate where they are in each other lives after what could be considered as an unpleasant disagreement rather than a full-on fight. That was interesting. The phone conversation Hannah has with her parents was really telling when the words “Well, the last four years of my life have been kind of a wash,” were said; and it feels like Lena Dunham has just been playing her audience for three years. And Lena knows it. And Lena doesn’t care. It really shows how life imitates art.
It was frustrating, but fulfilling to see Adam finally lose his shit a bit. I don’t really know why Hannah decided to share the Iowa news before Adam went onstage. Timing plays a very genuine part in this episode, and while Adam and Hannah were probably the most predictable; I can’t sit up here and say that I really support either side of the argument. It was seriously a conversation that should have been saved for a later time. Adam should have basked in his Broadway moment, no matter what Hannah said. Hannah should have been more support than girlfriend. However, Adam shouldn’t have flipped out like that and automatically assumed that Hannah was ‘leaving him.’ He reverted back to an Adam that I personally thought he had grown out of. It’ll be intriguing to see where they pick up the Hannah & Adam story next season. Will it be the summer post-Hannah’s first year of grad school? Or when she’s leaving for her first semester? Or will it be after Adam’s show closes? However that plays out will dictate a major plotline in season four.
In Which Shoshanna + Ray Had The Best Scene of the Entire Season
Shoshanna stole the show once again, and I really wish someone took a count of how much screen-time Shosh gets compared to Marnie (we’ll get to her later). Shoshanna not only has to take a summer class for 3 credits in order to graduate, but Marnie comes over at that exact time of rage (by “rage” I mean: destroying her apartment to some thrash punk. TOTAL SWOON.) and decides to tell her she slept with Ray. Shoshanna’s blank death stare before literally attacking Marnie was maybe the reaction face to sum up this entire season of Girls. (Can I get a GIF of this, please?) You process a lot, but you watch with dead eyes.
However, Shoshanna’s confession to Ray about how she loves him was maybe the most genuine and pure thing that I’ve seen on the show since their previous heart to heart on a subway bench. Ray’s just in a different place. Ray doesn’t know how to handle Shoshanna because of very valid reasons of moving on and moving forward. You can tell in his eyes he has a better answer than he was getting, but he was still shocked by the brunt force Shoshanna was delivering. Her eyes through the conversation spoke to me. I don’t know. Maybe it’s because I pay attention extra hard when Shoshanna is on-screen because she really is just that good. Hopefully, next season she’ll get more of a spotlight the way Marnie did this season.
In Which Marnie Stayed Pretty Normal
Marnie makes out with the singer dude after telling Shoshanna that she slept with Ray. It made sense. Marnie’s all about avoiding her problems this season. It was par for the course. But when singer-dude’s wife Clementine straight up lays the smack down on Marnie while washing her hands in a bathroom, it was so brutal. When you see Marnie at the end of the episode halfway stalking them; you wouldn’t expect her to do anything less. Hopefully, Marnie finds love already in between seasons and we don’t get any more of this. That way, her character will hopefully keep evolving. Marnie held her own this season, and I can’t say she was the weak link at all, which is a complete shock. She’s easily the most realistic (to me) of the bunch.
Other than that, Jessa kind of helped a woman try to kill herself, and we finally saw that Adam’s play was kind of a period piece. Jessa is pointless and I hate her and I hope that she gets arrested for her fake assisted-suicide so we don’t have to deal with her next season. That’s all I have to say about that.
Girls Season 3 was stronger than I expected based off of the last two years. I definitely didn’t hate-watch it as much (with the exception of Jessa) as I did last season. As a guy, I actually feel like maybe I learned a thing or two instead of just ragging on the outlandish and pointless bullshit that’s used to fill up episodes. Maybe it’s because Lena Dunham’s writing better. Maybe it’s because I’m getting older, but either way, I’ll probably wind up watching Girls Season 4 and not regretting it.
Theo Jones works in movie and television marketing. Not to humblebrag, but you’ve probably seen some of the movies he’s worked on. He’s a behind-the-scenes guy. He’s CC’s resident bro-nerd (a term he came up with himself) and has a vast, albeit useless knowledge of the most random pieces of pop culture in his brain. If you like, test him with a random game of Six Degrees of Whoever You Want. We dare you. Find him on Twitter and Tumblr.
