TVMUMBLESpunk | Girls

Coming to Sky Atlantic in September

Spoilers included

Approaching the mid-point of the season, this episode amps up the drama as all four of our females have shit hit their respective fans. Of course, in keeping with Girls, the drama is not overly sensational instead revelling in a slightly unlikely but utterly plausible fashion. It was necessary for this to occur as, while the last episode was still entertaining, there was a lack of progression in the narrative.

Hannah gets a new job, gets massaged/touched up by her much older boss, dumps Adam over a cock-text that he sent her by mistake and then, when he seems responsive to her issues, ends up back in his arms. Jessa loses the two children she is babysitting in the park, while Shoshanna almost manages to lose her virginity until she frightens the guy off with her virginity. The biggest poop though is when Charlie and Ray are alone in the flat, find Hannah’s diary, then perform a show in front of the four girls where Charlie sings a song called ‘Hannah’s Diary’ quoting extracts about how unhappy Marnie is with him.

Aside from all of this drama, I found more interest in the episode elsewhere.

Firstly we get a bunch of side characters that we are unlikely to encounter too often that not only combat the lack of racial diversity that some people had with the show, but also add some freshness. Sometimes it works as in the case of the two colleagues that Hannah befriends who, while cartoony, add a few laughs and a different kind of voice to the pretty similar one that the leads share, but then the nannies that Jessa meets with in the park culminates in a hideously unrealistic scene where she tries to create a nannies union. Regardless, it is nice to see some new faces that you’re not expected to remember.

Secondly, we get to see more from male characters including the first occasion in the series where we get two guys interacting without a female present (correct me if I’m wrong in the comments). Ray and Charlie act exactly as blokes would do when alone in a girl’s apartment and their humour is definitely tailored to suit their gender. The same can be said of the advice given at the beginning of the episode, where you get to see the far simpler suggestion from Charlie and this again proves that the show is definitely capable of writing for guys. Hannah’s boss meanwhile adds a very interesting and real dilemma to the show where his version of sexual harassment seems innocent but isn’t quite. Finally the throwaway moment as Jessa walks away from Jeff, the father that she babysits for, and his brother and they remark on her looks. Sure it’s somewhat sexist but it is realistic and works well alongside the moment earlier in the show when Charlie remarks on Adam’s cock from the photo.

This might be my favourite episode so far, not because of the drama, comedy or anything at all like that, but more because it feels more rounded. This is the first episode that seems to be adapting to the idea of longevity and what is required to keep people entertained over the distance, and it certainly worked on me.

DAN

TVMUMBLESpunk | Girls

Coming to Sky Atlantic in September

It is here, as the credits started to roll on the third episode, that I realised Girls is exactly the show that I had hoped that it would be. The attitude, the honesty, the sexuality and the everyday are represented so perfectly here that it made me ask my girlfriend as to whether she agreed with my conclusion. The idea that this show feels unique just because it seems to not paint an idea of femininity but instead just shows us normal girls being normal is somewhat depressing, but I couldn’t be happier that it exists. I feel like my appreciation for the show comes from a line in the second episode where Jessa says, in response to a self-help book for women, ‘I don’t like women telling other women what to do or how to do it or when to do it.’

In this episode Hannah first learns that she has an STD and then, when trying to inform him of this, finds out that her ex-boyfriend is now gay. It is strange as we do not find out very much about Hannah in this episode that we didn’t already know. Instead this feels more like Marnie’s episode as she is first seen complaining about Charlie shaving his head despite stating in the last episode that she wanted him to just be a man and do whatever he wants without worrying about her response and then later finds herself pleasuring herself in the bathroom of a gallery after a potential sexual moment with an artist. Elsewhere, Jessa takes a job being a nanny and seems to strike up a relationship with the dad. 

As an episode it culminates with a wonderfully charming moment with Hannah pondering and redrafting a tweet to best sum up her journey over the episode and then dancing alone in her room before being joined by Marnie. This just seems such a natural way to react to the way their days have gone and once again my girlfriend sat and chuckled recognising herself in that moment. I really appreciate that. 

DAN

TVMUMBLESpunk

Coming to Sky Atlantic in September

This episode seems to revolve around the issue of sex, focusing primarily on what females want from it and sexual health itself. Hannah shows an irrational fear of sexual diseases whilst being called out by Marnie for allowing Adam to cast her as a demeaning character in his sexual fantasies. Marnie herself is unhappy at the way Charlie only wants to make her happy and doesn’t understand that she wants him to be a more demanding, selfish version of himself. All of this is set to the backdrop of Jessa requiring an abortion. With this incredibly dark and depressing plot, it is quite incredible how funny and light this episode actually is.

For me, this is what Girls should be. It is definitely touching on the issues but they are covered with equal amounts of consideration and comedy, never allowing the show to become heavy but also not a farce. We also start to get to see the different sides to the characters. When Hannah goes for her job interview we get to see both her qualities and her flaws, while we get to see the unflappable and confident Jessa from the first episode show frailties with regard to her current situation. These moments are subtle and the performances are remarkably natural. What has become incredibly clear from just these first two episodes is that there will not be good or bad or wrong or right characters in Girls, there will just be people who happen to have positive and negative characteristics.

After the first episode left me less than enthused, this episode worked so well that it not only got me excited for the next one but also made me retroactively start to adjust my opinions on the first one. That is quite an achievement.

DAN

TVMUMBLESpunk | Girls

Coming to Sky Atlantic in September

It was no surprise to me when the bad reviews rained down on the first episode of Girls. I had seen Tiny Furniture (Dunham’s SXSW and Independent Spirit winning feature) earlier in the year and found the characters to be spoilt little brats with absolutely no redeemable qualities, the same complaints that were aimed at Girls. It also didn’t surprise me however to see a lot of people defending both Dunham and Girls as an entity. Despite my assumption that I would side with those knocking it, I could understand some of their arguments as it would be utterly moronic to dismiss a film-maker based on the first episode of the first series of their first ever TV show. There were accusations of inherent sexism in people’s complaints, as though because Lena Dunham is a female she is quicker to be ostracised without many people acknowledging that she possibly wouldn’t have had the same level of exposure had she not been a she. Regardless, by the time I sat down to watch it, I had read more responses to people’s responses on Girls than I had actual reviews of it.

Needless to say, I had the same overall response to those who hated it. The episode starts with Hannah (Dunham) acting spoilt in the face of her parents cutting her off after supporting her financially for two years  since she graduated, and ending with her crossing a road in front of traffic and then sticking her hand out expecting them to stop for her while others wait. Throughout she pisses and whines about how life is totally unfair and I’m sure she’s attempting to make a statement about this generation and the lack of responsibility for their actions and opportunities available to them, but no one wants to watch half an hour of that when her life is preferable to their own.

Elsewhere in the episode we are introduced to her flatmate Marnie (Allison Williams) who is dating Charlie (Christopher Abbott) but she has lost the spark that they might once have had. She then she gets frustrated when Jessa (Jemima Kirke), an old friend that she and Hannah share, comes to New York to stay and gives Hannah some really irresponsible advice. On top of this we also get introduced to Adam (Adam Driver), Hannah’s fuck-buddy, who is of a similar educational and economic background to the others but has chosen to seemingly embrace the moment and refuse to buy into the lifestyle that he is expected to.

A lot of potential storylines and narratives are established and they are done so with aplomb. The humour is pretty spot on and I chuckled frequently and laughed more often than I expected. The dialogue is natural but purposeful in a way that hints at Dunham’s mumblecore background but in a way that has naturally evolved to suit HBO programming. The acting is convincing and features those from Tiny Furniture who I found most engaging.

Basically, it’s a perfectly fine first episode if you ignore the actions and attitude of Hannah and the tone that her character manages to infuse throughout the running time. I am totally willing however, despite this entitled attitude in both this episode and Tiny Furniture, to continue watching the show for a number of reasons but one in particular. I like the idea of a show created and predominantly written by a female regarding females at a pivotal period in their life, there aren’t enough women getting the opportunity to represent women effectively in media and, most importantly, this is the first episode of a show and the first instance spent with this character and, just as it would be unfair to write Dunham off based on her characterisation when she has shown that she has some potentially interesting things to say, it would be wrong to write a central character off based on the first of ten episodes.

DAN