‘Girls’ season 3, episode 2 review: The Lena Dunham road movie
Every now and then, “Girls” likes to tell its own interpretations of genres and Hollywood standards. During the standalone episode featuring Patrick Wilson last year, we almost felt like Lena Dunham was composing her own modern version of Kate Chopin’s “The Awakening,” minus the whole terrible part about suicide that happens at the end of the book. It was all about a woman realizing that having it all does not lead to happiness, unless you are working to get that “all” on your own.
This, in some ways, felt like the road-trip comedy “Girls” tried to do last year with the meandering and depressing “Video Games,” the worst episode that the show has ever made. “Truth or Dare” was at times funny, at times heartfelt, and true to most of the characters.
Did you start to feel like Adam was bending himself too much to the will of Hannah? Then you likely smiled for some odd reason at him ditching Hannah in order to go on some sort of impromptu hike in the woods. Meanwhile, you also may have found a little bit of relief in seeing that Jessa once again took advantage of Hannah’s kindness, since there was really no reason for her to come up to sign her out of treatment at all.
In the end, though, everyone seems to be reasonably happy and the gang’s back together again … at least in some sort of dysfunctional way. Jessa has promised to never bail on the group again, and Hannah has her old friend back. As for Marnie, we were mostly just thrilled to see her not going along on the trip, avoiding the whole “but it’s out of character” argument. This is what we do appreciate about “Girls” post-season 1; Lena Dunham probably feels pressure to get her four characters together since that’s what “Sex and the City” fans adore, but that’s not this show. This show is the weathered rain boots to Darren Star and Sarah Jessica Parker’s stiletto heel. Grade: A-.
What did you think? Was this second episode significantly better than the first to you? Let us know your thoughts below.