Girls - Sit-In - Review: "The Break Up"

   Girls offered us a very special and emotional episode last night with “Sit-In”, directed by Richard Shepard and written by Paul Simms and Max Brockman.
   Hannah went home and found Adam was living with his new girlfriend, Mimi-Rose; in her apartment. Of course, Hannah’s reaction was pure Hannah : she was a bit selfish, totally egocentric, and weird. She left Adam and New York but she didn’t want him to find someone else so soon. She still thought they would have a chance when she returned,e specially since she returned sonner than expected. He had already moved on, so she needed time to process it. And as Adam cleverly pointed out, Hannah is “stubborn as fuck and likes to be in bed a lot”. He couldn’t have been more right.
   I very much enjoyed the construction of the episode, with Hannah locking herself up in her former room (with a giant hole to Marnie’s former room) and she received five of her friends, each of them trying to help her in the way they could. The only one who could really help Hannah was Marnie, despite Jess and Shosh’s thoughts, but she wasn’t reachable until the end of the episode. I hate Davi and how he steals her time away.

   The first one to visit Hannah was Shoshanna. I must say I loved her entrance so much, she totally worked that passive aggressive mood. As usual, Shosh wasn’t much help to Hannah, because they’re so much different, they don’t have the same expectations. They’re good friends, but Shosh couldn't do anything. She asked Hannah to get out, that showed how much Shosh doesn’t get Hannah sometimes. Hannah needed to stay in her room, it was her way of grieving her relationship with Adam in a way.

   Then came Jessa ! Oh God, I just love her. Jemima Kirke charms me every time she appears on screen. Jessa is so mysterious, I’m always very intrigued about her character. In “Sit In”, Jessa totally blew me off my feet again. Turned out, she knew about Mimi-Rose from the start, because she was actually the one who set them up and she didn't tell Hannah (but she was sure she did...). Hannah didn’t react well to that news for sure. She was leaving for two years, so I could understand Jessa, still it was a bit fast but Jessa has always lived her life quite fast, so it wasn't surprising.
   I’m a big fan of Hannah and Jessa’s relationship. They are always so direct and honest to each other, and sometimes mean but they’re always friends in the end. I loved it so much when they hit themselves and the “You’re a fucking Bitch” / “You have officially gone psycho” lines were excellent.

   After leaving a very unintentionally funny message to Marnie, always so self centered Hannah, she received the surprise visit of Caroline, Adam’ pregnant sister. While Adam and Mimi were staying at their place downstairs, Caroline and her boyfriend weren’t very supportive to Hannah. How weird they were kissing while bugging Hannah. It was fun to see them back but they didn’t bring much to the story and to Hannah. She pretended to be fine in front of them.

   Until Ray came and Hannah finally opened up more. She accepted she wasn’t fine, finally. Lena Dunham’s trembling voice was very touching. Sure, it was selfish from Hannah to hope Adam would wait on her, it was still touching and sad. Ray had also a lot on his mind, always with his traffic light problem in his neighborhood. I loved it when Hannah screamed so loud burning herself and he kept on talking. Nothing could stop him talking.

Still, Ray left and Hannah took the alone time to watch Mimi-Rose’s video Shosh has found on youtube. Mimi-Rose’s speech was good in that video. She talked about the first time she fell in love, at nine, and how it had started to obsess her and it took much of her time just thinking about him. So she broke it off, to keep her own creativity. She was a bit crazy, and she has clearly changed her mind since.

   And finally, Marnie came to see Hannah. I loved Hannah’s first reaction to run in the bathroom, pretending to take a shower so she could finish Mimi’s video. I always love Hannah’s fake showers. First, when Marnie mentioned Davi moving in with her, I feared she was going to talk only about her, but it turned out her speech was the best part of the episode.
   Marnie has really grown and her breakup with Charlie clearly has taught her well. She told Hannah what she needed to hear. She had to let go, even if it’s hard, it’s the only thing to do. Adam has moved on, and Hannah needs to give him space, give him the chance to be happy. Hannah has found out she wasn’t going to be with Adam forever, her relationship won’t be a great artistic love story.

   The next day, Adam came back to the apartment and Hannah was leaving her bag. She finally accepted their situation, their breakup. She even apologized for the way she behaved, she needed to process her return and Adam with someone else.
   And clearly, they didn’t see their relationship in the same way. Adam was relieved when Hannah left. Their relationship was very consuming, and it never was really great. They tried everything to be happy together, but it never worked completely. I couldn’t agree more with Adam. I’ve never liked Adam and Hannah’s relationship. No one souldn’t have to work so hard just to be together. Love, and being in a relationship is supposed to make you happy, if you aren’t then the relationship isn’t working. It was time they stop.

    It was very hard for Hannah, of course. She loves Adam, for who he is and what he represents. The ending, where Hannah left her apartment to go to the storage unit where all of her things were and slept on her couch was so great, made me cry. I totally understand Hannah for going where her stuffs were. I feel better too when surrounded by my things, it’s reassuring in a way. Kinda feels like home.

   “Sit-In” was a very sweet and touching episode about breakup. It was so beautifully written, and I really liked how it was constructed, a little on the five steps of loss and grief. First, there was denial with Shosh, then anger with Jessa. Okay, there wasn’t much bargaining with Caroline, but there was depression with Ray and finally acceptance with Marnie. It was clever, break ups are similar to death, imo as well. You lose someone in a way, you lose a part of you in the break up and in death too.
   Did you like “Sit-In” ? Are you happy Hannah s done with Adam ? Hit the comments !

Girls notes:

- Mimi-Rose confusing Shosh for Marnie and Shosh's entrance ! Loved it
- Hannah pissing in a garbage can instead of going to the toilets, just not to leave her room was fun.
- Hannah’s solution to Rubik's cube is just the best : take off and restick the stickers. I’m going to finish mine tonight after 10 years !
- “Shiver” from Lucy Rose was the song at the end of the episode, and it was so beautiful. I’m loving Girls soundtrack (and HBO shows in general)
- Hannah made Shosh left boob hitting her with her feet ! Fun
- Ray comments on how he was Marnie’s whore and just her f buddy, never her boyfriend was touching. He needs to be happy… Not with Hannah please
- Hannah and Marnie are the great artistic love story of the show. Hannah’s the writer, Marnie’s the singer… That could work for me too : )

About the Author - Romain Ossust

I'm a 28 TV addict. Here is a non exhaustive list of my favorite shows : 12 Monkeys, Ab Fab, 24, Alias, American Horror Story, Banhsee, Bates Motel, Black Sails, Carnivale, Daria, Dead Like Me, Desperate Housewives, Dexter, ER, Fargo, Fringe, Game of Thrones, Girls, Grey’s, Hannibal, Homeland, HIMYM, HTGAWM, Looking, Lost, Agents of SHIELD, Medium, OUAT, OUAT Wonderland, Orange is the New Black, Orphan Black, Pan Am, Penny Dreadful, Person of Interest, Power, Pushing Daisies, Raising Hope, Rectify, Reign, Scandal, Sex & The City, Six Feet Under, Sleepy Hollow, Spartacus, The 100, The Affair, The Americans, The Big C, The Fall, The Killing, The Leftovers, The Missing, The Strain, The Tudors, The Walking Dead, Transparent, True Blood, True Detective, Tyrant, Ugly Betty, United States of Tara, Utopia, V, Veronica Mars, Weeds.
For SpoilerTV, I'm reviewing The Walking Dead, Banshee, American Horror Story, Looking, Girls, & Orphan Black

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