‘Girls’ season 4, episode 3 review: Friendly fire
Friendship within the world of “Girls” is a funny thing. Most of the time, we come into it with a preconceived notion of what friendship could and should be. Then, the majority of the time, we find out that it is not exactly as expected. You want it, and want to express your need for it, mostly when you cannot have it.
Ultimately, this episode spent a great deal of time relying on how Adam and Jessa were in many ways reliant on each other as friends in their reshaped New York City. Hannah was gone, and with that, the two of them each lost their primary support system. Therefore, they did everything from AA meetings potential awkward birthdays together. What was the twist? That Jessa tested the friendship a little too far by peeing on the street.
Jessa is a friend who needs limits, and when decided to create her own limits, and then act like a victim for it, he retreated. We sympathize with her plight of being in the big city, and having no bathroom to use nearby. However, had she not peed and then had she not torn up the $50 citation, she would have never been in handcuffs. The police did look a little rough on her, and we understand to a certain extent Adam’s protests about the cops being too rough.
It took walking out of jail and in the whole to Ray for Adam to realize he didn’t want to do this anymore. Then, we had the final admission that she ultimately needed him to stick around. They have some explaining to do to everyone else, clearly.
Marnie’s plight – Marnie may be the most confused character on the show. She complains to Ray about not being made to feel special in a relationship with a man in a relationship with someone else, even when she knew Desi wasn’t breaking up with Clementine. So, she makes out with Ray, then blows a business meeting when she is reminded about his relationship status. It’s like her brain knows what she wants in commitment, but her head cannot get on that same page.
Hannah’s conflict – We never quite know if this show wants us to identify with Hannah, or be driven insane by hero. Sometimes, we feel both. We didn’t like her in this awkward party scene tonight because she almost felt too much like an exaggeration by going at all of the other people in her class, strictly for thinking that they refuse to take her work seriously because of her gender. Her sense of self-grandeur is quite interesting for someone with very few literary credit to her name. Also how does she have so little social skills? You just shouldn’t say certain things.
The reason we cannot side with Hannah here is because her work, based on what she read on the show, just didn’t have the substance behind the language. That’s why it comes across more as smut to us, and not based on who she is or a particular demographic. We feel for her that nobody else understands her worldview; however, she’s not making an effort here in the slightest.
Overall, “Girls” delivered a solid, thought-provoking episode that probably needed a few more actual laughs. Jessa and Adam were the clear stars, and we almost wish that Shoshanna fake job interview was cut to make room for the other three. Grade: B-.
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