Girls was back last night, with a special 40 minutes season premiere, titled "All I Ever Wanted", which started the sixth and final season ! I can’t believe it has been six years since we first met Hannah, Marnie, Sosh and Jessa. So much have happened since, they have grown a lot and yet they’re still the same in some ways.
Girls has always been one of my favorite show, because it’s a very special and unique show in television and it always has the courage to deal with real issues and it’s never afraid of showing its characters’s big flaws. They’re not perfect girls, far from it, they can be quite annoying sometimes but they’re always very endearing and touching.
"All I Ever Wanted" focused mainly on Hannah, and her new writing gig at the surfer camp, that led her to a path of happiness and pleasure, something isn’t used to in New York ; and for the rest of the characters, the main focus was how to live with someone else
So, the season six opener was definitely Hannah’s show. It even opened up with a sequence about Hannah’s new success as a writer, after her article, Losing My Best Friend to My Ex Boyfriend, was published in The New York Times. I really loved that sequence, the music, the directing, everything was absolutely fantastic. It was emotional and funny, and it felt so good to see that Hannah used that horrible time in a productive way. She has grown up ! And yet, at her interview with The Moth, it was the same Hannah, hilarious calling herself "witty and narcissistic" and maybe my favorite quote of the episode : "I give zero fucks about anything. Yet I have strong opinions on everything. Even topics I’m not informed of." That is so real for so many people in our days now.
So Hannah had to go to surf camp in the Hamptons to write a piece on how she won’t fit it, and basically criticize rich women who go there. She went and first she acted like a total New Yorker/big city girls : she hated everything, she was sarcastic about everything. The little drama over the pink swimsuit was very funny but her fake forearm injury totally made me laugh. It was so Hannah but thanks to Paul Louis, the amazing Riz Ahmed, everything changed.
As I wrote in my preview of this episode, I admire Dunham’s ability to create those secondary characters with such depth and realism, and of course Girls cast some very talented actors for those parts. Paul Louis rocked Hannah’s expectations of the camp and the beach. They were really cute together, especially at the club when Hannah did her sexy and dirty scene, I laughed out loud when she kept spilling her drinks on her. (okay she kinda reminded me of a friend of mine). And wow, I had no idea Riz Ahmed could rap so good. It was an amazing moment, that led to less amazing sex for those two characters. Their awkward sex scene was really good, it felt both weird and fun to watch them struggle finding the best position but what I really like that even if Hannah was drunk, it was still consensual sex as Paul Louis listened to her and what she wanted to do.
Paul Louis was a very sweet guy, "a very special person" as Hannah said. I really loved how Hannah and he connected, when he finally showed her what the best about the beach, as he said, it’s not the beach itself but everything about it. Their scene on the sand by the sea where they talk about the importance of love, despite our society mainly focusing on the hate was very clever and felt so true. Hannah finally realized she and her friends are defined by what they hate, not by what they love. It’s sad but it’s actually true, in our modern society, we define yourselves more by what we hate than what we like, it’s especially true on the social networks in my opinion. (and now there's even a new app like Tinder that connects you to people who hate the same things you do...) And as Hannah and Paul Louis said, hate takes more energy and it forbids you to truly experience pleasure. That scene was the highlight of the episode for me.
But of course everything wasn’t as perfect as it first seemed. Just when Hannah expressed her desire to stay, and to spend more time with Paul Louis, just being happy, chilling by the beach and enjoying campfires and acoustic songs, he revealed he had a girlfriend. Even though Hannah didn’t want something serious with him, she was still hurt by that revelation. Her fantasy about staying at the beach with Paul Louis and enjoying happy and peaceful moments was crushed by that revelation, and it hurt. But Paul Louis was kind enough to apologize and Hannah still enjoyed the campfire. She went to the surf camp to hate and Hannah got a life lesson about love and how important it actually is.
When "All I Ever Wanted" wasn’t focused on Hannah and Paul Louis, it explored the other relationships of the show through their home troubles. It turned out Hannah and Elijah might have the best roommates relationships of the show, that was weird but they do get along very well, like she doesn’t mind him using her room for his orgy. I really like how all the characters were connected and impacted after Marnie asked/ordered Ray to move out of her place, even if technically he hasn’t moved in yet.
Following the advice of her online therapist (seriously ?), Marnie wanted some time to focus on herself, alone. Or maybe, she just wanted to be alone when Desi came to see her. I was surprised to see him, I really hope that with the divorce, we would never see him again. He was still weird and such a drama queen but I have to admit, he surprised me when he reassured Marnie about her artistic skills. He was actually nice and sincere for once, and of course, Marnie kissed him.
Maybe Marnie’s kiss with Desi was a reaction after watching Ray and Sosh having breakfast together like a perfect, 10 years married couple at Sosh place. They were definitely cute together, it was so obvious they have more in common and they know each other better than Marnie and Ray. Marnie doesn’t even know what his coffee preferences…
"All I Ever Wanted" was an excellent season premiere. It was a different episode, with slower pace than usual, as Hannah was out of New York and its craziness. I can’t wait to see how everything that happened in the episode is going to affect the girls for the final season. How will Hannah’s react when she’s back to New York ? Will she try to be more optimistic ? Will Marnie tell Ray about Desi ? Is Sosh and Ray getting back together ? What crazy things Jessa and Adam have in store ? What was your favorite part of the episode ? Hit the comments !
Girls notes :
- So Eljiah wants to be an actor, but of course he doesn’t want to take class but prefer networking
- Jessa and Adam and their yogurt was actually funny, but so weird.
- I had no idea sun in your pussy could make you glow. I’ll ask my best
- Hannah's blue tongue !
