‘Girls’ Season Three: Navigating Unexpected Territory

When HBO’s Girls began in 2012, it was immediately compared to one of the shows that first put HBO on the map: Sex and the City. It’s clear where this comparison came from because both shows are set in New York City, both feature four white females, and both deal with sex and relationships. But in just about every other way, this comparison was misleading. You could argue that Girls would never have been green-lighted had it not been for the success of Sex and the City, and you’d probably be right. That series changed TV in very big ways, proving there was a true market and value to female-focused shows. Girls, however, has always been distinctly different.

Sex and the City was all about female friendship. The pull of the show was how these four women bonded together and were there for each other no matter what. Yes, there were central love/sex relationships, but the most important relationship was bond between the four of them. Girls is not about friendship. In fact, the show rarely shows all four main female characters in the same scene (which at times can be a fault of the series).

No matter how you look at it, Girls is really about Hannah Horvath (Lena Dunham), so it might more appropriately be called Girl. The other characters are important (most of the time), but the central focus is on Hannah and her journey through her 20s as an aspiring writer trying to make a name for herself (sometimes at any cost).

Love it or hate it, Girls has a distinctive voice — one of the most raw and honest on TV. What has kept me watching the show for three seasons is the fact that there are moments or lines that feel so directly out of my life that it pulls me back in, even when I’m unsure about the overall direction of the series. (Season two, for example, was a bit rocky.)

Let me clarify — I’m not a girl. I’m a boy. I’m not in my mid-20s. I’m 31. I do, however, live in New York City, but not Brooklyn. I didn’t move here right after college. I went to grad school in Florida and spent a few years there. I am a writer and author of two books. But I see myself in these characters often in very unflattering ways.

I connect to Girls because it’s capturing something very real about of my generation or sort-of my generation. Being 31, I’m between generations, so not completely part of Hannah’s but not completely part of the one before it either. This generation is one of the most highly educated ever. We are one of the first groups to be told constantly that you must go to college. We did, but we exited college in the middle of a terrible economy, with few job opportunities, saddled with debt. It is expected that, on average, most people in my generation will make less money than their parents. If this happens, it would be the first time in American history.

Girls is part of telling this story. Most of the characters have a drive to be successful that was pushed into them by their parents and schools (especially showcased in the character of Shoshanna), yet the real world doesn’t quite match up. Not everyone thinks you are so great, no matter what your parents and professors told you. Some think of this as whining. But imagine being told that you can be whatever you want, be successful, and all you need to do is go to college and work hard. You go to college, get the grades, and graduate only to discover there’s few jobs, the pay is bad, oh, and you’re probably thousands of dollars in debt.

Unlike the women of Sex and the City, success and money isn’t completely within the reach of these characters. No, they aren’t exactly poor, and most of them have families that can help out, but money is talked about on the show. Having to go do a job you don’t want to do is part of the series’ focus. Hannah is constantly battling selling out to being true to her writer self. Marnie, on the other hand, is attractive and smart — but also realizing that doesn’t always get you ahead especially in New York, where there’s always someone smarter and sexier.

The show also captures a lot of what it means to be a writer and how many writers think, which is often what makes me laugh or makes my partner look over at me with a knowing look. Hannah is the perfect representation of the selfishness that is sometimes needed to be a writer or artist of any kind. She’s constantly thinking about herself and how everyone’s lives will play into her own life and work. Many writers might not verbalize these feelings as much as Hannah does, but I promise many of them think the exact same things, which is perhaps why people feel somewhat uncomfortable about the show.

The show is partly about growing up and finding your way through a world that isn’t exactly what you were told it would be. With that theme in mind, season three felt like the show itself had grown up just a little. Girls found the right balance this season and produced their greatest episodes to date.

Season two was very uneven. The storylines didn’t seem to follow through. Most of the cast was underused. There wasn’t a clear direction. There were some standout episodes, scenes, and lines (like the Patrick Wilson episode), but overall it felt like the show was spinning in place.

Season three quickly fixed all of that and created rewarding storylines for nearly all of its characters (something the show has struggled with from the beginning). This season started off with Hannah and Adam in a good place in their relationship. They both seemed happy and mentally healthy (or at least healthier). But, as viewers, we knew this wouldn’t last long.

Hannah was faced with many challenges this season — from losing her book deal (due to her editor’s death) to getting a job writing fashion copy to Adam’s rise to success in the form of getting a role in a Broadway show. By the end, she had once again fallen victim to her own selfishness. Dunham plays Hannah with such conviction that Hannah feels more real than most TV characters. You get the hint at times that she knows exactly what she’s doing to other people, but sometimes she really just doesn’t get it.

Hannah wasn’t the only one who got a strong storyline this season. Marnie was finally given something interesting to do and became a strong part of the season. Like Hannah, all the girls on the show have a destructive trait. For Marnie, it is her insecurity, which causes her to use sex as a way to feel better about herself (I can relate). This was showcased perfectly in her on-again-off-again sexual relationship with Ray throughout the season and then in her calculated move in on Adam’s co-star Desi. Like her fellow girls, at times she’s aware of what she’s doing, but other times she feels genuinely surprised by how it all turns out. Alison Williams gave her best performance to date.

Shoshanna was a bit underused this season, but her character continued to showcase much of what I addressed earlier. Shoshanna is a few years younger than the other girls and in this season was finishing her senior year of college. Her go-getter-perfectionist attitude caught up with when in the finale when she discovered she was three credits short of graduating and that she threw away her relationship with Ray for nothing.

Jessa was a little bit of the odd girl out this season, but she still had great moments from her rehab stint to her children’s clothing store job. Jessa longs to be a free spirit, but like her counterparts doesn’t know exactly how to do that. She is often floating through the show with no footing. Her free-spiritedness was put to the test in the final episode, when she was asked to help with an assisted suicide. It seems no matter what she does, she brings the laughter like her frantic 911 call when the woman changed her mind about the suicide.

Adam (played by the fantastic Adam Driver) was also given a great challenge this season: He was given his dream giftwrapped with a big bow on it. The question was whether or not he could do it. You have to set aside the unrealistic part of him getting a role on Broadway after little to no work, but once you do, this storyline was rich for both Adam and Hannah. For the first time in the series, Adam put forth a lot of effort and focus and proved to be successful at least in the eyes of others. The season ended with the opening night of his show, where everyone thinks he did great expect him. He blames Hannah, who came into his dressing room right before the show to tell him she got into Iowa’s MFA program (once again trying to steal the spotlight).

Where do Hannah and Adam go from here? Will Hannah go to Iowa? I don’t know, but I do care. After three seasons, the Girls world feels very real from its self-induced crises to each character’s quest for authenticity. And if you don’t think this show rings true, head to Brooklyn and eavesdrop on some conversations.

Season Three Highlights:

Patti Lupone! Yes, Lupone graced Girls with a hilarious performance as herself.

Episode seven titled “Beach House” was one of the finest half-hours of TV I’ve seen all year. It was Girls at its best and provided a true rarity on the show: all the girls in one place.

Hannah discussing her book deal at her book editor’s funeral with his widow was priceless.

Other favorite episode of the season would be episode 10 called “Role Play.” Dunham was perfection.