I’m continuing to really enjoy Girls, and I think the series is only getting stronger as it goes along. We’re only four episodes into a ten episode season, and I think the show is already hitting its stride.
This week, Hannah worked at a paying job, Jessa realized she might suck as a nanny, a guy was a jerk to Shoshanna and everything fell apart for Marnie.
Let’s start with Hannah. I love that she’s got a job now because, let’s face it, girlfriend needed to pull it together. She has coworkers to interact with (and, critics take note, a person of color!) and a weird but super nice boss. I think the show has a lot of material here.
Hannah’s big issue this week was not only getting a gross photo text from Adam, but then getting a follow up text saying “SRY”, that it was meant for someone else. Everyone including Hannah herself thought she should dump him, but after delivering her empowered, I’m-leaving-you-you-jerk speech, Hannah ended up right back in bed with the loser. Sigh. Well, she got a job. She can’t figure everything out immediately. And let’s face it, we’ve all either been Hannah in this situation or have been Hannah’s best friend. I certainly know more than one girl who keeps going back to a lousy guy.
Jessa’s realizing that having a job is lame, and that kids can disappear if you don’t watch them. Jessa is still my least favorite character, but that’s what makes her real. There are people this obnoxious in the world, and I do dislike them. I will say, I didn’t love how all the other nannies were other ethnicities and couldn’t fathom the idea that Jessa was also a nanny. They thought she was a movie star? Really? I have read The Nanny Diaries. There are white nannies in New York. In fact, I almost joined a program once where you could go be an “au pair” in New York and they’d let you take one college course at a school there for free, but then I didn’t because I hate kids and learning. But yeah, there are young, white, female nannies out there.
Shoshanna bumped into an old camp friend on the street, and pretty soon ended up in bed with him. I love her character, and I think the drastic difference between Shoshanna and Zosia Mamet’s character on Mad Man shows what a great actress she is. Shoshanna is so anxious, insecure and desperate to please, whether she’s talking to her cousin or trying to impress a guy. She wanted to have sex, even though it was under completely unromantic circumstances, and was crushed when the guy said he didn’t want to be her first. Does anyone else think Shoshanna and Charlie might hit it off?
Yes, Charlie. Poor, naive Charlie. He was hanging out with Ray at Hannah and Marnie’s apartment when Ray began reading Hannah’s diary. A total breach of privacy, but you can’t un-read something. When the four girls assembled at Charlie’s show later, we found out what he’d read. He sang a new song “Hannah’s Diary” that revealed he’d read all about how Hannah thinks Marnie should stop whining and break up with Charlie already.
Hannah wasn’t wrong. Marnie complains to her girlfriend all the time about her boyfriend, something we all do. Hannah wrote her private thoughts on that, both witty and contemplative, in her journal, because she’s a writer and that’s something writers do. No one else was ever supposed to see it. I don’t think Marnie is really mad at Hannah, but she was hurt and embarrassed and, probably once it’s all over, relieved. Now she can go be with that hot artist guy.
As always, there were a lot of little things I liked in the episode, from Hannah’s awful drawn-on eyebrows thanks to her new coworker, to Charlie and Ray trying to build Marnie a coffee table out of trash from the street, to Shoshanna telling Jessa “I’m a student” as though Jessa didn’t already know (or cared, for that matter). What did you guys think of “Hannah’s Diary”?

I’d really like to see Charlie leave Marnie and have Marnie spend the rest of the season trying to win him back to show the funny girls girls do in the process.
Who knew Shoshanna had such a hot body!?!
Yeah, she’s pretty smokin’!
I like this show too, as a woman in her 40 s who made all these mistakes 20 years ago, biedses being super entertaining, this show is great to show you how far you come. I loved the how the story played out between Marnie and her boyfriend after that song last week, which was totally hilarious by the way. I love how when he accepts the break up she wants him and then again, after she wins him over she realizes she doesn’t want him anymore. That was so true to life. Agree Hannah has real men issues, the scene with her boss was disturbing, although very well acted on all parts. And Shoshana’s hiding in the closet was priceless.
I’ve been uncomfortable with Girls, but only because it brings back so much of my own bad decision-making from that time in my life.
From this episode on, though, I’m good with simply watching it for enjoyment. Enjoyment and relief that I’ll never have to be in my early 20s again. Ultimately, this show is a terrific illustration of how young women everywhere spend their 20s: enabling the bad decision-making of their friends, while similarly being enabled. Friendship!
I can take-or-leave the handsy boss storyline, but Hannah’s wise, insightful co-workers need to stay around.
Finally, this is embarrassing to admit, but I JUST made the connection with Zosia Mamet as Joyce on Mad Men. Wow.
Friendship! Is right. Although I can’t say these have been my experiences (my friends in my early 20s were more the uber-critical types), a lot of it rings true. I’m a little bit older than these characters, and have always been a little bit mature for my age, so I think I have just enough distance from that time period to both empathize and cringe at various things. If I can’t relate directly, I know someone who was/is like that.
Can’t blame you for not making the Zosia Mamet connection, she looks, acts and sounds completely different in the roles. I think I noticed because I’ve liked her in tiny roles in some other things as well.
You’re right Zosia Mamet clearly has range, unlike Alexis Bledel (that’s another post). I liked this episode a lot and think the show is definitely hitting it’s stride. I love the characters’ imperfections and the bad decision making. It’s a pleasure to watch.
Definitely. She was also on Parenthood for a spell and in the movie The Kids Are Alright. She’s a fantastic actress.
I too, was really extecid for this show, and I’m even more extecid after watching the premiere to see where the show goes. I think the tone shocked me a bit dark, at times but at the same time, I really liked what I saw. I liked the relationship fallout with the parents (esp the $40 at the end), the social culture references (the social totem was awesome), and the dingy apartment dwellings (hello, relatable). I’m not sure I love the Jessa storyline, but who knows it could be really interesting.