
‘Girls’ Season Three: Navigating Unexpected Territory
Love it or hate it, ‘Girls’ has a distinctive voice — one of the most raw and honest on TV.
Love it or hate it, ‘Girls’ has a distinctive voice — one of the most raw and honest on TV.
The season three finale asks just as many questions as it answers — which is to say, the lives of Hannah, Marnie, Jessa, and Shoshanna are as “up in the air” as ever.
This frustrating episode brings each main character “back home,” so to speak — with each enjoying a damaging dabble in their greatest flaws, flaws a large portion of this season of ‘Girls’ seemed to lack.
The subtly infused sadness of ‘Role-Play’ works well for Lena Dunham, who gives perhaps the most focused and rewarding performance of her career thus far.
The more isolated, single-character-centric episodes of ‘Girls’ have been not only some of the best of this season, but the best of the entire series. Naturally, this week’s offering, “Flo,” is no exception.
The understated satisfaction of witnessing Adam accomplish something as truly boast-worthy as a Broadway role is brilliantly handled. The rest of the episode doesn’t quite live up to this triumph, but still offers plenty for which to stick around.
A far-fetched pop fantasy involving the collision of ‘Girls’ and ‘Mad Men’ is surely something that exists. Thankfully, such a fantasy is somewhat indulged in this week’s episode — though not lightly.
The disappointing but inevitable turning point initiated by last week’s episode continues with resilience in “Only Child,” pitting Hannah and Caroline against each other in what essentially is a battle of selves.
This week’s episode deals with a variety of deaths, both literal and metaphorical.
The groundwork vibe of episodes one and two pays off quite nicely in a tidy, classic display of exactly why this show really works.