Wow ! That’s the first word who came to me after watching "American Bitch", Girls latest episode of its sixth and final season. When I first read Matthew Rhys would guest star in Girls, I was super excited and thrilled ! His performance last night was amazing, and he really gave everything for that part. It was such a great surprise.
So, "American Bitch" is the final bottle episode of Girls, and I must say it’s probably the best bottle episode for me. Never before, an episode has left me so perplexed, I loved it because it raised excellent questions, but I still felt frustrated for not having answers. It took me some times to write this review because it was a very dense episode, and yet I’m not sure now I can fully write a review that will put into perspective everything that was dealt with in that episode.
Once again, Dunham has proven she is an amazing and so talented writer. The episode only relied on her and Rhys performances, even they were stuck into one apartment, giving a theater vibe to this episode. The writing, the dialogue between those two characters was simply extraordinary. Dunham perfectly wrote the their exchange on such controversial topics. What I really liked was we got to see both points of view, Hannah and Chuck were arguing but both of them had solid arguments and we got to see both sides of each questions. And even at the end, we didn’t have final answers on all the questions raised, there wasn’t a proper conclusion because it was simply impossible. They both had some really interesting and valid points, but also they both went too far sometimes.
Hannah wrote her article about Chuck, a writer she once admired, when she learnt about the allegations of sexual assault against him. She wrote about what she felt, the betrayal over an artist she had admired, and she used him as an example of what’s wrong with men in our modern society who used their powers and influence. Yet, she had never met him before and only wrote her article from what she has read or heard. I really appreciate when Hannah and Chuck discussed about internet and its danger. We can find anything and everything on the internet, but the real question is can we trust everything that we read ? How can we be sure it’s accurate and not an hoax ? Internet is a great tool, it has changed our lives but we still need to be vigilant and careful.
And Chuck used some classic excuses and over used arguments to defend himself and what happened between Denise and him. He first posed himself as a victim, being depressed and not sleeping ever since the allegations against him came out. Then, he tried to dismiss those allegations, stating there were just hearsay about him and then blaming the woman, who was just an angry woman who were hurt by his behavior. Those points could be true but it was a terrible defense. It had been used by rapist over the years to excuse their actions. When he gave his notes about Denise to Hannah so she could read what he wrote, thought about her, it felt more real and possible, it was a much better way to make his point.
"American Bitch" was a very special episode of Girls. Personally, I wasn’t satisfied with the way the episode ended. The final moments, where Hannah and Chuck lied down on the bed and then he let his penis out and she touched it surprised and disturbed me. But, I think that was Dunham’s point for this episode, she wanted to shock us and make us think about the issue of forced sex and rape, and it worked on me. Never before an TV episode has left me so full of questions, it was a very clever half hour of television. We didn’t get a clear answer by the end of the episode over what happened, because it wasn’t the purpose and it felt right.
What did you think of "American Bitch" ? Which Girls bottle episode is your favorite ? Hit the comments !
