Jessa meets Thomas-John’s parents and Hannah throws a party which gets awkward when both Marnie and Charlie show up.
Elijah moved out. He was “livid” that it had come to this, i.e. being thrown out by Hannah after he revealed that he slept with Marnie. As he left they argued about who should pay for burritos and a butt-plug they bought while dating back in college. Hannah meanwhile finally made some money from her writing – her self-confessional online article for JazzHate paid out the promised $200. She spent it on hosting an organic pad-thai dinner party.
Charlie’s new girlfriend, Audrey seemed less irked by Charlie so when Marnie arrived unexpectedly at Hannah’s dinner party the atmosphere turned decidedly tense. Charlie immediately let go of Audrey’s hand when Marnie walked in. Matters did not improve when Ray and Shosh arrived. The very idea of Ray announcing that they were late to the party because they were having sex, aka “we’re all adults here”, rather than let Shosh get away with her cab-was-late story was mortifying for relatively recently deflowered Shosh.
The dinner party delivered up some choice laugh out loud moments especially when Hannah explained to Shosh what a butt-plug does with awkwardness and unfinished sentences, an exchange on whether or not to butt-plug and Shosh discovered that Ray had been living with her without her knowledge. The conversation turned ugly when Hannah and Audrey ganged up on Marnie and Audrey, playing the girlfriend card; called Marnie a Stepford psycho and asked her to leave. As Marnie stormed out, Charlie left the dinner table to comfort her. Audrey was not amused. He was not however expecting what she told him about her new relationship status.
The long-anticipated ‘see the (obvious) difference between us’ moment arrived for Jessa and Thomas-John (aka Taj) when she met his parents. In an unconvincing scene, Jessa’s laid-back flakiness and questionable past set off one explosive revelation after another, like some kind of marriage suicide mission. It was all too jarring for his well-mannered parents, so setting the stage for the equally implausible and of course, awkward scene with the ‘this is why we’re breaking up’ argument. Who yells out, “I’m a unicorn” or, “you’re just some dumb fucking hipster who is munching my hay” in an argument I wonder. The ridiculous argument peppered with some inspiring zingers from Jessa, ended their two-month marriage with a buyout of $11,500 to Jessa. The dialogue however reminds me, that in real life, one rarely says anything witty or articulate in the heat of an argument. That usually comes later when you’re kicking yourself for all the things you should have said or better yet embellishing the retelling so your responses don’t sound as lame as they really were.
In this episode the relationships of the central characters was domestic ‘un-bliss’, resulting in less light-heartedness and more drama. Shosh’s advice to Ray about his living situation provided much needed balance and tender randomness as they took their relationship to the next level. Naïve yet oh so insightful Shosh. Poor, literally, Ray. Hannah once again was clueless and vapid when it came to social mores, as she dumped on and low-balled those closest to her leaving viewers wondering if this is what truly defines twenty-something relationships and a ‘good friend’. Can’t wait to see some growth from her. In the meantime, from her pivotal position in the group her ‘ugliness’ seemed to permeate the cross relationships of her circle. For twenty-somethings and many others, when Marnie heartbreakingly says, “sometimes I wish someone would just tell me, this is how you’re supposed to spend your days, this is how the rest of your life should look” it resonates and reminds us of the essence of Girls: At heart tirelessly stumbling through winding roads while trying to preserve friendships. Oasis’s ever-played ‘Wonderwall’ fittingly echoed the mood for this masterpiece.
