What's your baggage?

I really, really enjoyed the third episode of HBO’s Girls. As we’re starting to get to know these characters better, I’m getting a better understanding of what I do and don’t like about them. I like how they talk to one another, and to other people. I loved all the conversations that took place during “All Adventurous Women Do”, I liked the subject matter of the episode and I liked how it was handled. With this third episode, I feel confident saying that I officially like this show.

“All Adventurous Women Do” picked up where the second episode left off, basically, with Hannah finding out the results of her STD test. It was (relatively) bad news. She has HPV.

This is a subject I don’t think we’ve seen a lot of shows tackle. At least not shows I watch, anyway, ones that aren’t teen nighttime soap operas. And it was fascinating to watch Hannah and her friends react to the news. Hannah was unsure of how to feel, but kept her sarcastic humor in tact. Marnie was upset. Shoshanna was optimistic and bubbly. And Jessa, not directly but via Shoshanna, was blase. Shoshanna told Hannah that Jessa also has HPV – several strains of it actually – and that she’d shrugged it off by saying “All adventurous women do.”

It’s a sentiment that I’ve essentially heard before. I know people who have said “Basically everyone our age has HPV.” I’ve heard it used as an excuse not to get tested, or as a way of coping with a diagnosis, or as a reason not to bother with the new vaccine. I’m not going to say if I agree, I’m a blogger not a healthcare worker and I’m not on a soapbox. I just tell you this as a way to demonstrate why I felt like the storyline felt so realistic to me.

I also liked this episode because it was funny. I liked the couple comments about Hannah’s “quirky web presence” and her argument with her crappy hook-up Adam over whether he gave her HPV. I liked watching Marnie react to her boyfriend’s new shaved head, because it was almost the exact same reaction I once had when an ex of mine shaved his head. (I said “You look like a racist” and then cried. Not a reaction I recommend.)

I loved Shoshanna in this episode. The thing about how she truly doesn’t love her grandmother was unexpected and hilarious. And who knew the virgin would be the one to tell Hannah what etiquette is required “in the STD world”? And she was totally right – Hannah owed it to her ex to let him know.

And that brought us to the other major thread – when Hannah met with her college boyfriend of two years to break the news to him (I think an email would have sufficed) she first discovered that he’s now gay. Or some other thing that isn’t a label, but her ex-boyfriend has a boyfriend now. Hannah said some rude things, but Lena Dunham did a fantastic job of conveying just how hurtful and embarrassing a situation this was. Hearing that the change was “inspired by you” isn’t exactly going to make a girl want to hug and then go shoe shopping, you know?

I liked the other storylines, too. Marnie’s crush on the cute artist – although the “because I’m a man and I know how to do things” line might have been a little bit much. I think we’d already gotten there on our own, hadn’t we? And although I still don’t like Jessa and probably never will, I’m intrigued enough by her new nanny job and the married father I’m sure she’ll be sleeping with soon.

The final scene cemented the deal for me. Watching Hannah try and decide what to Tweet and then having an impromptu dance party with Marnie to Robyn’s “Dancing On My Own” felt incredibly, incredibly relatable. They’ve both had crappy, or at least weird days, and often that’s the only way to deal with it.

What did you guys think?