Sometimes I have the feeling that this show is leading me on. Girls is not a Carrie Bradshaw-style story of female empowerment in the big city, but it sometimes borrows the beats and conventions of that show to get us, the audience, to root for Hannah and the gang when they make choices we know, deep down, are bad ideas, or when they go in directions that seem exciting at the time but ultimately don’t pan out. The show has made a sucker of me at least twice before: once when Hannah and Adam reunited at the end of Season 2 in the midst of a serious mental health episode for Hannah and some borderline-abusive behavior from Adam; and again when Hannah went to Iowa, which turned out to be a disastrous choice in its own right.
And so I find myself unsure of what to think of Hannah’s new direction in this week’s episode, which finds our heroine searching for a job as a teacher after her therapist prods her into the “epiphany” that she really wants to help people. I put the word in quotes because it’s a little hard to take seriously. Hannah’s friends point out that she’s one of the most selfish people they know, which is really saying something considering the awful brunch that they share in which each of them is at their narcissistic worst. But they’re right: Hannah’s pretty selfish. At the moment, the only injustice she can muster any outrage for is that Eli ate all her Cinnamon Toast Crunch. (“So what?” says Eli, the walking plot device. “I ate the fuckers.”)
Still, I can’t help but hope for Hannah that the aspiration to help others will help her get out of her own head, which might be exactly what she needs. Who knows? She might be a damn good teacher. And so, when she put on a nice dress and left her apartment early at the episode’s end, apparently job-hunting, I felt a little inspirational thrill. I find myself, yet again, cautiously optimistic. You’ve fooled me before, Girls. But hope springs eternal.
Hannah’s not the only one finding herself with the growing desire to help others. Old man Ray goes to a neighborhood council to air his traffic-related grievance, only to find his petty stoplight complaint replaced by a larger ambition to run for office himself. When he discovers how poorly the council is run, he rises to express his “umbrage.” It looks to be yet another moment of impotent anger for Ray, but he’s surprisingly well-spoken, and his speech manages to gain the support of the gathered citizens. The council members, meanwhile, fall into a tailspin of fingerpointing amongst themselves. Anchored by Marc Maron as the council chairman, it’s a funny scene, and a smart one—witness Ray’s silence amidst the council’s recriminations, as he realizes that his rage might actually be able to do some good here.
Adam, meanwhile, is learning what it’s like to be with someone who doesn’t need his help. He’s been with Hannah so long he doesn’t know what to do with Mimi-Rose Howard, who’s completely self-sufficient. Things come to a head when she reveals that she recently had an abortion without telling him or even asking him for moral support. Adam acts poorly here—though, in his defense, there’s something a little eerie in the emotionless pod-person way Mimi-Rose just comes out with the information. Still, Adam needs to know what it’s like to be in a relationship with someone who doesn’t need him, but still wants him. Adam seems to get it, and stays.
If Hannah, Ray, and Adam are all stumbling toward a kind of tentative growth, then Marnie and Shosh seem to be going in the opposite direction. (We didn’t see much of Jessa this week.) Marnie’s getting sick of Desi, reaping the consequences of a sort of relationship Pottery Barn rule: you break him, he’s yours. Marnie was there when Desi’s relationship fell apart. But she’s realizing—too late—that she doesn’t want him all to herself.
Shosh, meanwhile—I don’t know, I’m at a loss. Two weeks ago, it seemed like Shoshanna was on her way toward some kind of self-awareness after a few bad interviews and a heart-to-heart with Ray, but this week it was one step forward, ten steps back when she deliberately sabotaged yet another interview. Watching her insult the head of an instant soup startup who was interviewing her only to accept a date with him was funny enough, but not very satisfying from a character standpoint. Shosh’s inconsistency demonstrates one of the show’s biggest flaws: its tendency to make its characters do stupid and selfish things not because they actually make sense from a character standpoint, but because they’re entertaining.
Lets hope this is a mistake that Girls and its characters can avoid from here on out.
