Girls, Episode 8: Weirdos Need Girlfriends Too
So it’s official. Hannah and Adam are in love.
In a way, I’m disappointed that I was right. Adam morphed into a loving boyfriend, seemingly overnight. This is what I was hoping for, yet the result falls strangely flat. Why? Because it’s not credible. Dunham’s hamster got together with the collective female id hamster and brought Girls dangerously close to phony rom com territory. The result does not entirely satisfy. Still, I’m willing to go with the flow, because Dunham’s writing is so funny and sharp. This week, Girls was a guilty pleasure, but a pleasure nonetheless.
John Cook at Gawker, a Girls hater, is less forgiving:
It bears noting that the angry woodworking actor, heretofore portrayed on the television program Girls as a feral, caustic, perverted narcissist, has been transformed into a male Zooey Deschanel—a Manic Pixie Dream Guy full of lovable quirks and eccentricities crying out to be domesticated and tamed by our heroine.
Yup, it’s that female taming fantasy again. We really can’t get enough of that.
Episode 8 Highlights
I. Adam’s Dirty Talk
One of my favorite moments this week (like most weeks) was Adam talking dirty - according to Dunham, they let Driver improvise these scenes, instructing him to come up with the weirdest dirty talk he can think of. He hasn’t missed yet.
The show opens on a still shot of at least 5 used Magnums and wrappers in a pile. Hannah and Adam are in her bed watching a film of him as a little kid. She teases him about his big ears, he gets turned on and wants to have sex again. (The fact that she manages to jog after all this friction is one of the less credible plot sequences.)
Marnie is in the next room, still throwing herself a pity party over the boy ex with a vagina, and has to listen to them go at it.
Adam: (moan) Would you have fucked a 4 year old me?
Hannah: (giggles) You were only 2.
Adam: How fat were you? Be honest.
Hannah: (moan)
Adam: That’s what I thought. You were probably a really late walker. And you were probably toilet trained really late.
Hannah: (moan)
Adam: Go go go go go go!
Hannah: (moan) I’m gonna come.
Adam: That was fast.
Hannah: Thank you.
Adam: Thank you.
Now that Adam is showing his caring, nurturing side, I’m worried that Hannah is going to lose interest. As you can see in the above clip, Adam is, er, socially challenged. His idea of a prank is to urinate on his girlfriend, and he is rather moody and self-indulgent about his “art.” He really is a weirdo – Jessa uncannily observes that he seems like the kind of guy who would masturbate in front of anyone. (BTDT!)
So far, Hannah has been a supportive and affectionate girlfriend. But I’m starting to feel like she has all the hand, and I don’t trust her not to abuse the advantage. I hope she sticks it out – Adam’s heart seems like it is in the right place, and besides, I can’t imagine any relationship providing more fodder for a budding writer.
Obviously, Dunham & Hamster will decide how it plays out. James Franco, a protege of Judd Apatow’s, put it very well:
Hannah can be as big a loser as Lena wants because, in the end, Lena is anything but a loser: she is a writer-director-actor spearheading a show on HBO. No matter how many stupid things Hannah says to strangers, how embarrassing her sex scenes are, how awkward she is with adults, or how little writing she actually does, Lena will always shine through as the admirable creative force behind everything on the television screen. Lena’s character never has to write her book because the series is her book.
II. It’s Been a Rough Year For Guys in Finance
You may recall Chris O’Dowd as the good guy cop in Bridesmaids, the guy who gets the girl after she’s had enough of Jon Hamm’s asshole shtick. In this episode, Dunham sends up the 1 Percenters, casting him as a douchey venture capitalist who’s just moved to a fancy doorman building in Williamsburg. Out by himself in a suit on a Saturday night, he sends Marnie and Jessa a drink at a fancy bar.
They agree to go back to his place, where he acts like a tool trying to impress them by DJing for a while. When Marnie starts making out with Jessa, who was just about to leave, he tries to get in on the action. Awkwardly, he moves around the pair, tentatively hovering his hand over a breast here, hesitantly opening his mouth like a fish there. Marnie knocks her glass of red wine over onto his $10,000 rug. When he doesn’t find her sufficiently contrite, he throws a painfully funny hissy fit.
Venture Capitalist Guy: You know what? If you’re really sorry you better be planning to make this a very speical night, for all of us. Not just you and fucking Missy Mallou. All of us! And not just me watching you girls go at it for a little bit and me getting a little bit turned on. I want to be balls deep! In…s-s-something! And I don’t even fucking care what it is!
(whining) No more excluding me, Mary Poppins! It’s not fair! I wanna be part of the group.
Jessa: Oof. That will neverrrr…happen.
VC Guy: (pathetically whining now) This isn’t right! Is it? This can’t be the way that this goes….
You just know that on Monday he’s going to send Marnie a link to Survey Monkey for feedback on what he did wrong.
Chris Jacelewicz, reviewing Girls at HuffPo, explains the appeal of the show to the average guy.
While yes, these women live in a very dysfunctional, chaotic world, and most people probably shouldn’t look up to them, it’s far better to identify with girls like these than the insipid flakes that populate shows like Gossip Girl. Your average guy would never want to watch Gossip Girl, but they may just want to tune in to Girls.
Why? As simple as it sounds, it’s real – on multiple levels. I personally know iterations of each girl on this show — especially Hannah, the hilarious, creative, yet socially hopeless woman without a clue about what to do with herself. She’s an everygirl. It’s also refreshing that these people don’t all congregate in some ridiculous apartment (ahem, Friends) that they could never feasibly afford, and we don’t see them rolling in money or lusting after handbags (as seen on the #1 guy repellent, Sex And The City).
…Perhaps the best aspect of Girls is it provides a window for guys to look through, to better understand the thought processes of women in relationships, and to see how their own potential douchebaggery might be interpreted by the women in their lives. Looking at it that way, Girls actually provides society a service, and we should all be thanking Dunham for pointing out that yep, all of us are a little fucked up.
Couldn’t have said it better myself.
{ 37 comments… read them below or add one }
I started noticing Girls turn into wish-fulfillment bullshit right around that phone call in episode 6.
I personally think that she is just trying to build tension as to the outcome of their relationship, probably to be resolved in the last episode of the season …
With Marnie and Jessa I thought the core of that was more about Jessa’s protective cock-blocking than anything to do with the venture capitalist. I thought he was more of a “prop” and his role was to show more and more red-flags that were being ignored by Marnie. From paying their entire bar-tab on Jessa’s demand to going to the “little boys room” it seemed like he was supposed to appear to be a very insecure/desperate guy very early on.
No, Girls is not yet wish fulfillment. Adam is clearly massively unhinged and gets back into Hannah’s good graces by the end of the episode with an over-the-top emotional apology and the two are shown in utter bliss. Just as the hamster figures must dictate ever-lasting happiness.
The apology, of course, is utterly meaningless and shows no signs of change, which the hamster has conveniently ignored.
You will also notice that Adam did walk out on the play, and Hannah did criticize Adam endlessly, which only made Adam MORE sociopathic and pissed off, because Hannah JUST STARTED DATING this guy and is ALREADY trying to dictate his life. When she switches into compassionate, girl-game mode, Adam IMMEDIATELY relents and says he will do the play.
Hannah used her feminity to gain Adam, not her sex, and she still seems ignorant of it. Hannah used her feminity to get Adam to do what she wants, not her logic, and she is ignorant of it. Adam shows no signs of change, and she is ignorant of it.
Hannah is utterly, utterly ignorant, Adam is utterly, utterly cruel, and this relationship can still very easily enter a very realistic total collapse.
Remember, Hannah thought she was in a “relationship” with Adam and quite immediately tried to cheat on him with her boss. Hannah is a bad person. This relationship has zero percent of survival, but it is absolutely realistic for two fucked up people to have some happy moments together.
VCG is not a douche, he is a frustrated beta who is pissed he stumbled at the finish line of something truly awesome.
Regarding this line:
“Looking at it that way, Girls actually provides society a service, and we should all be thanking Dunham for pointing out that yep, all of us are a little fucked up.”
I dislike this line. These people are all a lot of fucked up except for Charlie and Ray. And again, almost all of these characters have a pathological obsession with themselves. I wouldn’t want to be friends with these characters and I consider almost all of them Bad People.
The relationship definitely wont last. But relationship itself is wish-fulfillment. For Adam to say “I’m really a sensitive guy if you get to know me. Would you like me to be your boyfriend?” to someone who looks like Hannah and behaves like Hannah is extremely unrealistic.
Give it time. I have the feeling that shit will hit the fan soon enough if anything because is too early for happily ever after, writer’s rule: You don’t show how happily ever after looks like, YMMV.
Yeah, Girls does provide a window into the feminine soul for men . . . and it ain’t pretty. Don’t think “Gosh, let’s not be douchebags to the poor crazy girls, it upsets them so”, when guys watch this show they start to realize just what they’re up against in terms of the neuroses in giant economy size disguised as potential mates. It’s kind of like watching a train wreck or a plane crash — you can’t look away, but it’s a kind of macabre, guilty feeling that you’ve seen it.
I’m guessing we’ll be seeing more guest spots by the Hamster.
The Office, with Jim and Pam, would seem to disagree with you.
@Anacaona
Agreed, there are two more episodes left and they can’t possibly be about Hannah and Adam in love. Drama = conflict. Always.
@Ian Ironwood
“It’s kind of like watching a train wreck or a plane crash — you can’t look away”
It’s because of the tits. *chuckle* I kid.
@A Definite Beta Guy
“I dislike this line. These people are all a lot of fucked up except for Charlie and Ray. And again, almost all of these characters have a pathological obsession with themselves. I wouldn’t want to be friends with these characters and I consider almost all of them Bad People.”
I don’t really follow this show. I’ve only seen the clips here, but it looks entertaining. It’s got grit, in whatever way a show about relationships can have. What is the age range of these characters? Pathological self-obsession is one of the demons of the time period around puberty. I figure they are such train wrecks because they are kids prematurely sloshing around in the complicated territory of sex and relationships.
She’s clearly attracted to his high level of prestige
If you look up that adam guy in the dictionary the definition in “icky”
Yeah, I was confused by this episode.
I thought they totally changed Adam as a character. There’s no doubt that they wrote him as a loving boyfriend in this episode.
@SW
In a way, I’m disappointed that I was right.
Aw, c’mon Sue, what feels better than being right?
If you recall, I predicted this weeks back, but I also predicted it wouldn’t last. It won’t, the seeds of the relationship fallin apart have already been planteed in this episode.
Adam morphed into a loving boyfriend, seemingly overnight. This is what I was hoping for, yet the result falls strangely flat. Why? Because it’s not credible.
I found this episode very credible. We knew that there was a connection, albeit unhealthy, between Adam and Hannah. It was hinted that Adam had depths we weren’t aware of, and in the last two episodes we’ve gotten to see what’s under Adam’s weird exterior. We’ve also gotten a whiff of his issues and problems. The overall picture is that there is a sensitive guy under Adam’s spergy exterior. I predict that there will be a breakup before the season is over, and that we will all regret it because we see Adam as a fully realized character, a basically good guy, who was ALMOST a good match for Hannah. It will be a realistic portrayal of the sort of relationship that kids have when a realtionship escalates rapidly and then falls apart rapidly. It wouldn’t be good or healthy, but it will resonate as truthful and realistic–because Lena is that good a writer. It’s not that her hamster needs a writing credit; it’s that Lena understands and writes about Hannah’s hamster (and Adam’s too.)
@Jimmy H.
She’s clearly attracted to his high level of prestige
Well, considering that she got to see him in action at work as the driving force behind the play, I’d see that she is attracted to his prestige. He does have some cache (How do you make an accent mark?) in his weird little circle.
unham’s hamster got together with the collective female id hamster and brought Girls dangerously close to phony rom com territory. The result does not entirely satisfy.
You just know that on Monday he’s going to send Marnie a link to Survey Monkey for feedback on what he did wrong.
I hope this blog is insured against the damage caused by hundreds of people simultaneously spitting their morning coffee on their keyboards.
@J
I do recall, and I agree about the warning signs. I think you’re definitely the top headshrinker around here in general, and it holds true for the show.
That’s going to break my heart! And I don’t want Adam Driver to leave the show – he’s become one of my favorite characters to watch.
Agreed. Lena is much, much smarter than Hannah.
I still think the transition to a committed relationship was so odd as to be implausible, but Adam is odd so maybe it’s just a case of “the odds are good, but the goods are odd.”
I have to say that when Adam’s face lights up in a smile, he looks sort of twinkly and adorable.
(Full Disclosure: my best friend and best man at my wedding is a Writer/Producer at Showtime.)
First, I can support the whole jogging-after-lots-of-friction thing as realistic. I did that as a single man after a long evening of sex. Of course, I went to bed about 3 and slept like a log, but it is possible.
Still, this show is interesting and sad at the same time. It seems like a lot of female wish fulfillment. At least the women in question are realistic in motivations and in lifestyle. I’m impressed.
@RWC, Being a native New Yorker, the behavior of these people is much more realistic of their particular demographic than you think. When you don’t have to deal with failure or pain on any level, it does render someone younger than your age. I’m not saying that it’s normal to be abused or be poor or anything like that, but it is normal to struggle to get somewhere during your youth. Since the people in the show haven’t failed in any meaningful way, they don’t know a lot of what’s wrong with their lives.
@Todd
“Being a native New Yorker, the behavior of these people is much more realistic of their particular demographic than you think.”
What is the age range of the characters? 20′s or 30′s?
Yeah, they’re definitely 20-somethings. I even considered living amongst them at one point. The problem is that they’re well-off, but don’t have enough life experience to know that they’re well-off. As a result, a lot of stuff gets warped, and they end up doing dumb stuff until they get that experience.
I think you’re definitely the top headshrinker around here in general, and it holds true for the show.
LOL. Thanks. If only there were money in psychoanalyzing fictional neurotics.
I’m not saying that it’s normal to be abused or be poor or anything like that, but it is normal to struggle to get somewhere during your youth.
Well our species evolved in harsh conditions me thinks that is abnormal to have such a quiet life and the consequences are obviously bad. As third world girl the way people get so worked out about meaningless things in the great scheme of things is baffling, human need problems or they will create them themselves.
“the thought processes of women in relationships, and to see how their own potential douchebaggery might be interpreted by the women in their lives. ”
It’s amazing to me how much gnashing of teeth I see when one segment points out that women are this way (the PUA’s and Gamer crowd), and yet – when it’s said and shown clearly like this everyone applauds it since it’s so “real”…
Personally, I learned all of this long ago in various social experiments when in grad-school, to one girl I would be a slime – to another the “ideal caring man”. I’d get ditched universally if I was the “nice guy”, and they kept coming back for more if I was the cad. In phase two, I did the “switch” after a few months of being the cad, I would gradually transition into what they kept complaining they wanted.. Of course, I would be ditched again because I wasn’t exciting or some-such. Now to me this was all an experiment, co-eds were my lab-rats, so being the scientist I am, I needed to verify my hypothesis. I did this over and over throughout about a two year period, on different groups of women – grad-school, fresh-men, etc.
What I learn I’ve used ever since – not only with women but in business and every other aspect. I learned people are basically sheep and want someone who will lead them. Women don’t care if you disrespect them, as long as they can be around you – men, if they feel they can learn something from you, will follow you if you have vision and drive. It really is that simple.
A man with flowers and such – the “nice guy” – is a supplicant looking for something from others to be given freely. That will get you nothing – you need to demand things as the “price of admission”. So women have a universal currency, and they are willing to spend it for what they want – excitement, and to share in that life of someone who lives it. They will complain that they never have time to catch a breath – but at the end of the day, they love it, crave it, and need it.
This series shows nothing new – it shows what everyone with experience has known for a long time. And women’s laundry list of “things they want” is BS – what they want is to be excited, and to compete for your attention. You are their prize – if other women don’t want you, why should they? This is why it’s better to have too many women, then to commit to any one. There is no return on that investment, and you can be left with worthless stock. Diversify, and always be willing to sell and move on. You may not be seen as loyal – but that means that you won’t end up complaining life sucks either…
@ Doc ” but that means that you won’t end up complaining life sucks either…”
I don’t know, Doc. To me what you described sounds like a lonely and unhappy way to live .
I thought it was very interesting how Marnie was totally into Venture Capitalist Guy until the moment he threw a hissy fit. She was literally with him up until that point, but Jessa was turned off from the minute he sent over drinks.
Everytime I watch the show I throw up a little into my mouth. It is not charming to watch poseur hipsters flounce about. The “artist” archetype seems so interesting, until he actually has to produce something. And IF he has artistic “talent” he’ll ditch Hannah so fast to upgrade to a higher rank f*ck-buddy it will hit her like a metaphorical full-haymaker punch in the nose. If he is mediocre she’ll lose respect for him so sharply he’ll wonder what the f*ck happened.
Mmmm. I take it back – I cannot wait to see them emotionally shiv each other with dull knives – speaking metaphorically, of course…… (don’t worry, it will all be so…..real.)
@SayWhaat
I loved that actor in Bridesmaids, I thought he was adorable. But I found him repellent as VC guy. He was smarmy from the start, and kind of a tool. To be fair, I don’t think Jessa goes for straight finance types. Remember the hipster ex in the porkpie hat?
“Girls” does provide insight into women, especially because the show completely ignores guys who are not super attractive, charismatic, wealthy, or all of the above. Guys without those qualities (which are the majority of real people) don’t get any screen time. “Girls” not only demonstrates hypergamy, but it proves that guys who do not reach a certain threshold of desirability might as well not even exist.
And that is the key problem today. Women continue to chase after the “Mr Big, Dr McDreamy, Christian Grey” fantasy rather than acknowledge, let alone date or settle down with, a real person. Guys who are desirable, like Adam, can treat women as poorly as they want and get rewarded. I see no hope for guys who can’t live up to those fantasies, or who have too much respect to manipulate women using game.
These two statements do not coincide.
@Benton
I think you’re wrong about Girls. Most women view it as refreshingly realistic precisely because the guys are not dreamboats. None are wealthy or charismatic, with the possible exception of Booth Jonathan, the artist who sets Marnie’s crotch aflame. Adam is undesirable, I myself have put him at a 2 on a scale of 1-10. Charlie is cute but supplicating. Ray seems like a good guy but is not handsome. The father who goes after Jessa is physically repulsive.
All in all, I think it’s a pretty good random-like sample of guys in NYC.
VC Capitalist Guy had no game. Jessa was coming off feeling DISGUSTED with her previous actions and VC capitalist guy is not her normal type. VC guy had no choice without much, much better game than what he was bringing.
Marnie, on the other hand, was desperate for any kind of attention. If Jessa wasn’t there, she would have sexed up that VC guy and it would have been the absolute lamest sex of her life. If VC guy had any sense of game, then they would have a threesome because Jessa is still a whore and Marnie was vulnerable.
Then 6 months down the line, Marnie will have to explain to the new guy, in perfectly honest to her fashion, that she really felt used by VC guy and by Charlie and is so damaged and wants to wait to have sex, because that’s what she USUALLY does. Except for that one time she a threesome, but that’s an exception, so please don’t hate her, okay? She was just realllllll vulnerable.
Yeah. These guys seem pretty standard to life. None of them are dreamboats, no clear winners. Seems pretty in-line with my life: not many guys at my age are strong “catches.” Women just have to deal. Then again, most of the women are pretty lame, too.
@ADBG
Agreed re VC Guy. The whining was hilarious, and that was what finally killed the attraction for Marnie. The thing is, I think it’s pretty realistic. I knew guys at business school who were part of the “IB (investment banking) All Stars” as we called them who were pretty lame socially. They were brilliant and quantitative and the banks loved them. The idea that every cat on Wall St. is some ladykiller is completely untrue. Of course, if they make millions, that helps buy a looker for a wife.
@Susan & SayWhaat:
Let me clarify: You may perceive Adam as undesirable, but Hannah finds him desirable. We are not shown what created the initial attraction, but we see how Hannah pursues him even more because he is difficult for her to obtain. And that one quality, being just out of reach, is the key that drives women.
So I guess that is my point: women will always chase after what is considered desirable. It usually is wealth, fame, and appearance, but in today’s day and age, it is often guys who manipulate (esp using the “cat-string” techniques). And that is why I roll my eyes at “Girls.” What you consider “refreshingly realistic” is just the same destructive patterns played out with different types of guys. Yes, “Girls” is more realistic than “Melrose Place,” but the lesson for guys is still the same: figure out how to manipulate women and create desire, and ignore everything else (including the women’s feelings). Why should I feel good about that?
p.s. I am biased because I live in Manhattan and deal with this scene every day, so I am not thrilled to see this behavior in another format.
@Benton
OK, that makes more sense. However, I think you could say that both sexes are doing “what works.” Or at least trying to figure out what works. Every character on the show, both male and female is in search of something. They all make mistakes, f*ck up, try something different. The scene where Hannah goes to Adam’s front door and emotionally escalates was the turning point in their relationship.
Charlie has reinvented himself as boyfriend to a bubbly hipster chick who likes that he’s in a band – something that Marnie had zero appreciation for.
I’m not saying Girls portrays life as it should be, but it does portray life as it is, with great writing and humor. One of the reasons I champion the show is that is shows the SMP for how dysfunctional it truly is, and it’s inspired a dialogue about the way that young people interrelate. Since most people of my generation have no clue, I think that’s a great step. If nothing else, it should alert parents of adolescents what is in store for their kids, so that they can take action and influence them while it is still possible.
Yeah, I guess the guys are not all dreamboats, butt ALL the girls on this show are straight up pump-and-dumpers. Well, except Hannah of course, she’s so physically repulsive.
Although Shoshona is kind of sweet and innocent that she might be trained into a decent girlfriend. But not a looker by any stretch of imagination.
Susan — I was really hoping for your take on the season finale. I just watched it last night, and I now no longer mind that Adam morphed into the loving boyfriend overnight. Halfway through the season finale I told my fiancee that now that Adam is in love with Hannah, Hannah’s not into him anymore. (One of the reasons I love Girls is that the acting is so good that you can pick up on these messages before the actors have to narrate them expressly.) At the end of the episode, that’s exactly what you saw. The whole season could be summarized as an examination in hamsters — all four of the female characters essentially swapped places with one another vis-a-vis their relationships with men. In order to fit that whole narrative arc into ten short episodes, Adam had to become the nice guy so quickly. (Like you, I would have been pissed if Hannah and Adam had lived happily ever after. Lena Dunham deserves credit for resisting that temptation.) I can’t wait for the next season.
@Matt
Sorry for not replying sooner. I didn’t post on the season finale because I felt like it was just a few of us who were still interested at this point. I actually like Adam’s character a lot – Adam Driver has done a great job portraying him. In fact, I think he’s the best thing about the show. LD has said Adam is definitely on the autism spectrum, which cracks me up in a way. We thought he was being a totally dominant alpha, when in reality he has Asperger’s. In any case, the script works – I love how he explains his feelings to Hannah. And I’m so glad he called her out on being shallow, immature, and self-absorbed. Her teary remark about the struggle of being 13 lbs. overweight cracked me up.
Your idea of the characters swapping places is so interesting – I hadn’t thought of that.
One thing I think has been inconsistent is that the show doesn’t seem to know whether it wants to be authentic/realistic or far-fetched for the sake of the comedy. Hannah and Adam totally worked for me, but Jessa falling for Thomas John did not. I just couldn’t suspend disbelief.
I loved the Ray and Shoshanna development. I saw that coming after the “non-sexual groin massage” and I thought that scene was great. I loved how he said she vibrated on a very strange frequency.
And Marnie – I liked that she loosened up. I bought the crimped hair, the heavy drinking, the flirting with Charlie, even the pigging out on the cake. But I did not buy the kiss at the end. It went a bit too far, IMO.
All in all, I loved the show. I give it a solid A-, it’s an extraordinary achievement for a 26 year old who just moved out of her parent’s home. Lena Dunham is a fantastic addition to the scene, and I hope she does this forever.
I also love it that the show works for both sexes. My husband enjoys it as much as I do, and I’m glad that you and your fiance enjoy it together as well!