Caroline: "You and my brother deserve one another you selfish little pricks, and you will never write a thing that matters because you will never understand the true struggles of humanity because you just slipped right out of your mother's pussy like a nice little golden egg you spoiled little fucking brat."
Hannah
B-
"I've always thought of myself as more chubby than obese."
Attending your recently deceased editor's funeral is the right thing to do. Pumping his widowed beard for publishing contacts after learning your book has been dropped...not so much. There seemed to be a real pattern for Hannah this episode as she flip flopped back and forth from one good decision to one rash not-entirely-great decision. Let's break it down:
- Being proactive in the wake of her ex-publisher abruptly dropping her book is a sign that Hannah has become more motivated in achieving her career goals.
- Cutting her dad off when he tries to tell her about his minor surgery, choosing instead to bitch and moan about unforeseen circumstances and roadblocks that no one is at fault for is a sign that Hannah maybe hasn't matured all that much.
- Attempting to help reconcile her boyfriend and his sister shows that Hannah is actively engaging in the betterment of other people's lives as well as her own.
- Spazzing out at said sister and kicking her out of the apartment after an especially difficult day is perhaps a bit uncalled for... however crazy she may be.
Eek! Girl must have some serious emotional whiplash.
Marnie & Ray
C- & B
Marnie: "I wanted you to tell me what's wrong with me."
RUN, RAY, IT'S A TRAP! Or take full advantage of this moment to satisfy us viewers by highlighting Marnie's most frustrating flaws. Here are a few favs:
"Well, for beginners, you're extremely judgmental."
"And you use people. You use people a lot."
"You're a huge fat-fucking phony."
That last one still makes me smile. I give Marnie a bit of credit for briefly recognizing that the problem isn't other people, but she really only half-asses the whole self-improvement kick. After Ray's truth bombs send her back into her "deep, dank, dark, toxic well of insecurity," Marnie lets Ray pity bang her then rejects his shameful plea for secrecy by acting above him. She'll keep their indiscretion to herself, but Marnie makes it clear that this will be her regretful shag, not his. One step forward followed by eight giant leaps back.
I find myself thinking this a lot but poor Ray. He does what he's asked then attempts to be the good guy and console Marnie by stroking her ego a bit. And what does he get for it? An unplanned romp in the sack with one of his ex-girlfriend's pseudo-friends who will in no way be cool or not awkward about it. Poor Ray.
Everyone Else
B
Adam: "I don't want to fuck my sister!"
Hannah: "No one is saying you do."
Adam: "Caroline just did!"
While Adam is busy not harboring repressed sexual desires for his sister, Shosh is struggling to catch up on her neglected studies in addition to once again housing a glib Jessa, who is smoking a space cigarette ("It's just water vapor and nicotine and good things like that") and applying for a job at a baby store. At least we're seeing some semblance of a storyline taking shape for Jessa who will quickly lose her appeal if each week we are simple witnesses to her flighty one-liners. As for Adam and Shoshanna, they seem to be settling nicely into their secondary roles as counterparts to Hannah and Ray (or ex-counterparts, but who are they kidding?). Here's hoping their journeys aren't completely overshadowed this season.
"Only Child"
A
Papa Horvath:"We tried three years for you."
Hannah: "Well you're insane, I have to go."
It's troubling when the characters showing the most maturity in an episode of Girls include the naive student, Shosh, and the delusional addict, Jessa. We were sure to see the personal ramifications of David's death on Hannah seep out into other aspects of her life sooner or later and who better to take the brunt of the abuse than Caroline? She's new and arrived with her own storage unit of baggage that Adam has been completely vocal about from the start. And Hannah is so malleable in her weakened state so in some ways, Adam should have seen this coming. I feel like Hannah is about to implode, becoming an unstoppable steamroll of misplaced anger wiping out anyone who stands in her self-pitying way. We can expect Adam to push back, no question, but I'll be curious to see if we get another epic Hannah-Marnie showdown -- fresh off her weird sexcapade with Ray, Marnie might feel just low enough to confront Hannah at the worst possible time ever. I'm just hypothesizing, but the odds are in my favor...
Another solidly constructed and executed episode for this promising third season.
Extra Credit
- Shosh: "Plus, my recent hijinks have really taken a roll on my GPA."Right, because you're in college, which is a fact we do not keep forgetting. Nope. Nice dorm room.
- Adam to Caroline: "You have no drive, no real goals, but somehow tons of opinions."
Hannah in response: "I just have to say that sounds a lot like you."Nail on the head. - I could have watched a few more minutes of Moe fan-boying to Hannah during their meeting.
Demerits
- Marnie: "Fine. Don't come see the cutest thing that ever lived. Goodbye."Rude.
- Marnie: "Fuck, how many pairs of underwear do you wear?"Gross.
- Marnie:"Go fuck yourself. Like I'd advertise this."Lesson not learned.