‘Girls’ season 3 finale review: Hannah’s big decision and so much more

The latest -A finale can sometimes turn around an entire season, and at this very moment, we will say that “Girls” made some pretty substantial moves in the right direction when it comes to recovering from what was at times a major disappointment for the show.

The first thing that the finale course-corrected was the character of Hannah, who came off far more reasonable and human that at any point this season. We never had any problems at all with her flaws, but they were bordering on cartoonish levels at times as she refused to acknowledge any other viewpoint. Here, we were able to celebrate her achievement more of getting into a writers’ workshop in Iowa, speaking rationally with her parents before getting hit by all sorts of twisted logic by Adam at the end of his play opening. He moved out on her, and then he gets upset when she wants to move away from him. Adam’s problem is that he frequently believes that everyone automatically understands his intent when that is not always the case.

The second thing that it did was put Shoshanna in a vulnerable, interesting position. He felt for her after Ray did not seem keen on getting back with her. We understand both vantage points, and she finally took that wall down that was keeping the audience from her.

While all of this was great television and important for these characters, we merely felt bad for everyone else. Jessa basically helping an old woman kill herself was not something that we were particularly interested in seeing … even if the woman recovered. There is only so much misery that you can see this character go through.

Then, there’s Marnie … poor, desperate Marnie. While she took it a little far, there is something to relate to in her pure atom-bomb of feelings that she has for Desi, which she cannot find a way to get out. But stalking him and his girlfriend out on the streets after he kissed you? Probably a little bit much. She needs to learned to be pursued rather than be the pursuer.

These complains aside, we like what “Girls” did by and large for the finale. It made us laugh, feel something, and be excited for the future of the series … which we weren’t feeling a few minutes before it started. Grade: B+.

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Photo: HBO

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