Gabbing About 'Girls': Week 5

This week was a double whammy. The Walking Dead returned and there was a new episode of Girls! Having said that, when I watched this episode for the first time… I hated it. I wondered where Marnie was and Shoshanna and the rest of the crew. This episode could have been a stand-alone short film. It centered on Lena Dunham and Patrick Wilson and their strange and creepy flirtation.

-Hannah is convinced that she invented the term “sexit” as in leaving a party to go have sex. Sorry, girl, but nope, you didn’t. Paris Hilton did, I’m sure.

Photo via hbo.com/girls

-I’m not surprised in the slightest that Ray is homeless. In the opening scene, he is verbally vicious to Joshua (played by Patrick Wilson) because believes that someone is putting trash from Grumpy’s Coffee Shop into his garbage can. Watching Ray attack Joshua was like seeing me and another student fighting over the last asiago bagel at Einstein’s Bagels: harsh.

-I envy Hannah. Even though she just lost half of her rent, she feels she has the ability to leave her job with Ray because it’s a “toxic work environment!” I’m all for standing up for what you believe in, but girl… rent in NYC aint cheap and you aren’t making yourself very marketable.

-Hannah admits to Joshua that she is the one putting the trash in his garbage for the thrill. I used to open chap sticks in the store and use them on occasion. Not because my lips were chapped, just because I liked the thrill. Not the same thing, but I get her.

-I wasn’t a fan of Lena Dunham’s acting until this episode. But it’s clear she isn’t much like Hannah in this episode, and she did an incredible job.

-Ya, I’d totally kiss a strange man I just met in his house… then apologize for it profusely.

-This episode was such a departure from other episodes because Hannah is front and center completely. You see just how lost she is in this tryst with Hoshue. She sees an opportunity for a life she never thought she wanted. Joshua is successful, kind, and completely respectful of Hannah, which is something she is not used to. She’s used to dating jerks, so she sort of takes Joshua’s kindness and runs with it. It was fascinating to see her given the chance to open up completely to a man, and see her so completely raw. It seems to be so common that the second people tell you they want to know you, they realize the person you are isn’t what you want.

-Hannah’s monologue about wanting what everyone else wants is something I imagine every writer struggles with. We want to experience everything so we can be worldly and honest and connect with people through our writing. What we don’t realize is how vulnerable we make ourselves and how much of a toll it takes on us. We just want to feel it all, until we actually do.

-My heart literally broke when Hannah asked Joshua to beg her to stay. Just so she can see what it’s like to be wanted that much.