TV Talk: GIRLS 1.09 “Leave Me Alone”
Last week, Meredith demanded more Shosh action in this latest episode, so color us (well, me at least) SUPER FREAKING DISAPPOINTED that all we got was a few precious moments with our favorite virgin and lots of emotional fakery with every other character on the show. In fact, Shoshanna's deets on her upcoming date with Bryce, whom she met online, was the highlight of the episode for me. Well, that and Adam affectionately calling Hannah "little face."
Jealousy dripped into almost every frame of this episode, in some wildly entertaining ways (the book release for Hannah's so-called friend, Tally) and uncomfortably melodramatic ways (Hannah and Marnie's blowout friendship break-up). True to form, Girls handled this ugliest of emotions in a raw, honest way... at least, part of the time.
The episode begins with the girls attending a book release party for Hannah's old acquaintance, Tally, a total beyotch whose only talents are being catty and taking risks. And, it turns out, both skills are pretty valuable in the real world. Envious of Tally's success, Hannah abandons her previous writing and decides to write something "serious" about "death" (as suggested by Ray, who will henceforth be known as Slim Leg after his sage advice on uniforms) to perform at a reading hosted by her old college professor, Christopher Moltisanti, I mean, Powell Goldman (Michael Imperioli). Of course, the reading falls incredibly flat, and Hannah feels even more trivial in her pursuits (no pun intended) than she did before.
Meanwhile, Jessa's former lady employer, Katherine, comes back and tries to have a heart-to-heart with her, resulting in the most artificial scene of the series thus far. I mean, there's plenty of other times when I yell, "REALLY, SHOW? REALLY?!" at the television, but this is the first time it's actually happened during Girls. Katherine saw the light about her husband awfully quickly, and the wisdom she shared with Jessa was straight out of a needlepoint you'd find in a Williamsburg Goodwill. I mean, we gave up Shoshanna time for THIS?
The episode ends with the inevitable: Marnie and Hannah descend into a hellacious argument and decide they can't live together anymore. Marnie is pissed about Hannah's selfishness (she has, after all, been covering her rent), and Hannah thinks Marnie is jealous of the fact that she finally has a boyfriend. It's one of those situations where both sides are right AND wrong, and I'm pretty sure, at some point in our lives, we've all been involved in a fight where our love for a friend makes our anger burn that much brighter. But even though I completely empathized with both girls' perspectives, Marnie and Hannah's blowout lacked the depth of authenticity. I related to them, but I didn't really feel anything. Sure, the "You are the wound!" line was funny, but I wasn't just supposed to laugh at this scene... was I?
Then again, Hannah and Marnie's friendship has never lived up to the heights established in the first episode, with the bathtub sharing and cupcake eating. Do these girls even like each other any more? Or are they friends out of habit, out of desperation, out of fear of change and the harshness of the adult world? In a way, it's a relief to see them splitting up, because I haven't enjoyed witnessing them treat each other like shizz.
I don't watch Girls because I'm looking for warm fuzzies, but it would be nice for a few of the characters to figure out how to actually be a real friend to someone else. Adam's certainly doing that for Hannah (and hopefully vice versa), but I'd like to see some girl on girl friending. With the finale right around the corner, I guess I'll add this to my wishlist for season two, right after item #1, Shoshanna Gets Fierce. And in the short term, let's just hope that the last episode shakes off this emotional artificiality and gets back to being real.
Meredith, am I being too harsh? Did this episode leave a bad taste in your mouth too, or is it just a symptom of Shoshanna withdrawal?
