I sit here to write this feeling a bit like Hannah. Unsure of the words I want to put on the page, and somewhat unsure in general. I feel lost knowing that next Sunday evening will be void of a new episode of Girls, and not just because I love the show and it makes me laugh, but because it is nice to have thirty minutes a week when I can sit down and watch a show that reveals so many of the little insecurities in life that we are afraid to acknowledge.
Girls has faced many reviews, criticisms, fans, and haters in its two seasons, but regardless of any opinion people may hold, this show is a game-changer. It is funny, it is sweet, it is uncomfortable at times, but it is raw, and that’s what I love about this show.
Sunday’s season finale was no exception to any of the above. The episode opens with a disheveled (moreso than usual) Hannah sitting on her bed, procrastinating on her novel as a result of her OCD symptoms. After we watch her count 8 times, on several occasions, and Google symptoms of her eardrum, it cuts to sex scenes between Marnie and Charlie, Shoshanna and Ray, and finally, Adam and Natalia.
The episode continues and we see relationship-related breakdowns occur between Marnie and Charlie, and Shoshanna and Ray. While Shoshanna and Ray end their short-lived romance, Marnie and Charlie rekindle their old flame when Marnie confesses her love to him by telling him she wants to watch him die. Well, that’s romantic. It works and Charlie and Marnie are back together. Marnie runs to Hannah’s apartment, likely to share her good news with her because Marnie is slightly self-involved (like everybody else in the show), but Hannah hides behind her bed until Marnie leaves. Hannah continues to wallow and eventually breaks down Britney-style and cuts off all her hair.
When Hannah finally realizes what a low point she has hit, she goes running back to Adam, and Adam, in the more literal sense, runs to Hannah to calm her. The episode closes with Shoshanna kissing a blonde random at the bar, Charlie and Marnie arm in arm, and Adam picking up Hannah at her lowest point. What we don’t find out, is where in the world Jessa is.
Now that’s just a quick recap of an episode that has so much more, and I could go on for days. It has insecurity, and happiness, and fear, and love. What makes this show so great, is that it’s so real. Sure, it’s not real in the sense that every twenty-something girl moves to New York to become a writer and winds up a hot mess. It IS real in the sense that every twenty-something, guy or girl, feels lost at some point. The way that Lena Dunham reveals those insecurities, is what sets this show apart.
Being a twenty-something isn’t easy. There are so many decisions and questions and changes that occur when a person hits that age. I like to think I have my life together and most days I’m very sure about everything. I’m happy in my relationship, my friendships, and my job, but that doesn’t mean doubts and fears don’t creep up every so often. Sometimes more than others, but more and more I realize that that is 100% normal. Girls hits that nail on the head, and if there is one thing Lena Dunham is not afraid to say, it’s that she is afraid, and for that I commend her.
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