This blog is for people who are watching Season 2 of Girls, which obvs means MEGA SPOILERS abound.
So, Girls is back, and ohemgee did a lot happen in the first episode.
- Elijah is now Hannah’s GBF/Roommate
And they are unbearable! The first scene of the new series shows Elijah spooning a semi-naked Hannah (later she lets Adam spoon her in a similarly non-sexual way). ‘I’ve got a boner. It’s not for you,’ says Elijah, foreshadowing some gay-on-girl action to occur later in the episode. It doesn’t matter though, because they are best roomies ever! Expect many a dodgy themed do to come, and not all revolving around food (did anyone else think Marnie’s pizza dig at Hannah was uncalled for, but extremely realistic?)
BTW, did anyone else think that Hannah’s failure to pick up on the meaning of a ‘French salon’ was somewhat out of character for her? You’d think with her being a writer she’d be all over the Parisian literary vibe.
Elijah and Hannah, when together, have become almost intolerably annoying. I can see this coming to a head at some point. Perhaps Elijah will yet again raise the notion that Hannah’s dad might be gay?
- Shosh was unceremoniously dumped after Ray de-hymenised her
We then cut to Shoshannah, who is smudging her house in order to expel it of Ray’s influence. As well as thanking the universe for her keen mathematical mind and fast growing hair, she also asks it to ruin Ray’s life. Clearly he’s done something to hurt her, although we’re not sure what yet. Appropriately, A Keep Calm, Carry On poster has appeared in the background of her apartment.
Shoshannah is on top form in this episode, with too many good lines to count (‘oh Em Effing Gee, this place looks amaze’). She doesn’t miss her hymen, per se, but from her reaction to seeing Ray (hilarious) it’s clear she’s pretty angry with him (‘you do not get to have me like you now’). She later channels this into karaoke, followed by an excellent segment in which she DJs ON THE HOB IN HANNAH’S KITCHEN. Shosh is rapidly overtaking Jessa as my favourite character.
- Marnie got fired
Sorry, they ‘downsized.’ The glib post-lunch firing of Marnie is actually enough to make you feel sorry for her, at least for a moment. ‘Let’s go in here. They have pants made of scuba material and I want you to tell me if they make me look crazy,’ her boss says, after explaining her reasons for firing Marnie over her co-worker (‘I’ve fucked Julian so he could sue me’) This gives the first big belly laugh of the episode, as well as prompting a twinge of sympathy for Marnie.
At this point we paused the episode to discuss Marnie’s dress sense. What is it exactly? She certainly dresses older than her age, and it isn’t really ‘fashionable’, though that’s not to say she doesn’t look good. The best description we could come up with was ‘put together New York professional.’ When her mum says, ‘Can I be honest? You look thirty years old’, she was not wrong. (Also: how amazing was that whole scene? The bit when Marnie’s mum says ‘sometimes all you need is a pair of rough hands on your body’ had me spitting out my tea)
- Hannah’s screwing a black Ayn Rand reading Republican
Wait? Who’s that Hannah’s fucking? Is that Troy from Community, aka the awesome Donald Glover? It certainly is. The question is, has he simply been shoehorned in there because of the repeated criticism of Lena Dunham’s ‘failure’ to depict a racially diverse New York city? And does that mean she’s off the hook now?
Well, probably not. She’ll probably face accusations of tokenism instead, and it’s possible that the decision to feature a black man and not a woman might not silence those who complained about the lack of representation of ‘women of colour.’ Time will tell. Either way, Hannah’s topless, on top of him, and very much enjoying herself, despite what will later emerge as his Republican views. This is only hinted at towards the end of the episode, when Hannah turns up on his doorstep and asks to borrow the Fountainhead (another big laugh). There’s clearly a backstory to their ‘relationship’, as while they’re screwing:
Hannah: I wanted this so bad.
Donald Glover: And now you’re getting it.
Hannah: Now I’m finally getting it.
Donald Glover: It’s about fucking time.
Hannah: It’s about fucking time.
I loved this because it perfectly sums up the kind of shit, nonsensical talk that can occur when you’re having sex. Later it emerges that he met her in Grumpy’s, the coffee shop where she works.
So far, I’m really liking his character, especially the line ‘it’s really hard to run with a boner.’ Hannah’s being unnecessarily cruel in making him keep his distance.
- Adam’s in a pit of despair
His leg is in a cast, and Hannah, his ‘main hang’ is attending to his every beck and call. Although she admits to her boyfriend (if that’s what he is) that she’s doing it out of guilt because she thinks it’s her fault he got ‘hit by a fucking truck’ and is incapable of ‘wiping himself’, I actually found it hard to sympathise with him. Not only is he a character that I’ve never particularly warmed to, the extent to which he’s become bitter and twisted is a major turn off. I did feel a tiny twinge in my heart when he says ‘have you ever known someone this well, because I haven’t) but tbh everything he says is just so damn angry that it only lasts a few seconds. He then follows it up with the great line ‘when you love someone you don’t have to be nice all the time’. Of course you don’t. But you shouldn’t be that much of a dick, either.
Also, surely he could get up and go and pee in the toilet with the help of crutches? And why is his apartment becoming darker and danker by the second? It’s starting to look as though Adam is holding Hannah back a bit, and as a result I’m kind of starting to hate him, and I’m glad when she finally appears to cut him loose.
- Elliott and Marnie HAD SEX
From the looks of things, Marnie recovered from Elijah’s ‘J-LO at the Grammy’s’ jibe, although the ‘bitch’ comment made me feel a little uncomfortable, though I suppose it was intended to. I found his complimenting Marnie’s voice (‘you could sing professionally’) hilarious, considering how she criticised Elijah’s in season one, and he slapped her. I thought this bit, following their abortive attempt at sex, really quite touching:
Marnie: You know, you really don’t have to try to be anything that you’re not
Elijah: Neither do you
It’s clear they only did it because they were both sad, and not because Elijah actually thinks he might be bi (remember these two have previous from their college days?)
- Jessa’s Back
…and she doesn’t even know where her husband lives. Also, were those corn rows I spied in the back of that Taxi? Surely not?
Notes:
Audrey is kind of a dick, isn’t she? Although that doesn’t excuse Marnie turning up at Charlie’s house because she ‘just needs to sleep next to someone.’
It was great to see Shoshannah standing up for herself, so it kind of disappointed me when she allowed Ray to grab her and kiss her at the party.
‘House of the Rising Sun’ was such a perfect Singstar song choice for Ray and Charlie.
How many times have you gone ‘alright, fuck it’ before having ill-advised sex? I know I have a few.
Music- loved the closing cover of Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Going Down’. Does anyone know who it is by? Florence and the Machine and Kid Harpoon have also done a version.
Best lines:
‘All of you girls think that you look really good, but you just look like floats in the Macy’s Parade. These big heads on these tiny bodies.’ – Marnie’s mum.
‘Maybe I wanna be Wendi Murdoch, maybe that’s my thing.’ – Elijah
‘I am ready to take this party by storm. Like, I am woman hear me roar’ – Shoshannah
‘Pretty bitchin’ cheese plate you brought over’ – Ray
‘You said I made you feel like your whole body was a clit’ – Adam
So what did you think of the episode? Should we bother blogging the whole series? Or has it lost its allure now that it’s being talked about in the Daily Telegraph? And, most importantly, what did you think of Shoshanna’s little hat?
BLOG THE WHOLE SERIES.
Y’know, if you feel like it.
I watched S1 over a fortnight a couple of months ago and really enjoyed it. I laughed a lot more at this episode, though, and I’m so pleased it’s back. Fingers crossed I continue to enjoy it. Shoshanna was brilliant in this episode, although I agree that it was a bit disappointing that she let Ray pull her back considering he’d clearly treated her badly (bee tee dub, I couldn’t guarantee I wouldn’t do the same..)
Thanks for calling it a ‘series’ not a ‘season’!
vampire weekend
Ohmigosh why didn’t Adam just TALK to Hannah in the last episode of series 1? He coudl have said “I could move in with you, because you’re really important to me and I want to be with you” or something, rather than expecting her to psychically pick up on that. Then they wouldn’t have had to yell at each other, then he wouldn’t have got run over. What an arse.
The DJ Shosh clip is immense. Yeah, it’s a shame there aren’t more non-white people in this programme.
Please blog the whole series. TV is vastly improved by being able to chat about it on the internet
Can’t stand Adam! I think Hannah’s new guy is way hotter!
Jessa was actually rockin’ the cornrows!
And yeah Shosh is so adorable! I loved her hat. She seemed more confident in this onebut I was surprised about her and Ray, kind of would have liked an explanation as to what happened there but maybe that will be in future episodes.
Marnie does have a put together look, she’s so serious, it seems.
I liked that there were more non white people in the background at the very least, hopefully that will develop and there will be more named characters of colour too.
Elijah seems like he will cause lots of drama, and he and Hannah were quite cutesy but I doubt it will last.
I’ve never liked Audrey.
So keen for you guys to review all the episodes