By now, the novelty of Lena Dunham's HBO dramedy Girls has begun wearing thin. The self-reflexive humor that came so naturally in season one is much more sporadic, and the relatable-if-distant drama feels more forced as the show progresses. But Dunham — ever the talented writer and filmmaker — still knows how to keep things fresh and moving, if not as constantly as before, and while this new, fourth season of Girls may likely go down as its weakest — just like the season before it — at least Dunham knows how to keeps things funny.
As seen from last season's finale, Hannah (Dunham) is making the jump to grad school in Iowa, away from her chatty, drama-driven gal friends — Marnie (Allison Williams), Jessa (Jemima Kirke) and Shoshanna (Zosia Mamet) — and consistently frantic on-and-off boyfriend Adam (Adam Driver). Naturally, emotions are bittersweet or heated, the latter coming from Jessa and Adam. Jessa is annoyed Hannah's "abandoning" her in the Big Apple after getting her out of rehab last season and Adam is, well, being his typically moody self. The will-she, won't-she drama presented as something of a cliffhanger last season is completely resolved, and what seemed to be the collapse of Adam and Hannah's relationship is not even mentioned here, oddly.
Thankfully, because of this, emotions are not overdrawn or as petty as they were the last two seasons — at least so far. The humor is nearly as consistent as it was during its best times, and that's greatly thanks to Dunham and Judd Apatow's teleplay during this week's episode. The stand-outs, as per usual, come from Adam, Shoshanna and their gay friend Elijah (Andrew Rannells). A lunch conversation between Adam and Shoshanna halfway into this episode is hilarious, as is Shoshanna's awkward and completely random interaction with her ex-boyfriend Ray (Alex Karpovsky). Also cracking me up greatly is Elijah's comforting sequence with Marnie after a mostly-disastrous brunch concert with her new bandmate/kinda-boyfriend Desi (Ebon Moss-Bachrach).
As seen last season, its weird how Hannah and Adam's relationship, once Girls' biggest weakness, has now turned into one of its most enduring features. Driver is clearly a talent to watch for, and between starring in a ton of new movies and having a supporting role in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, I find it shocking he could make it for this new season at all. Perhaps this interaction will be muted in episodes to come, but that they could make room into his schedule is quite surprising. The only difference with him is that he no longer sports his signature goatee, explaining the reason as being that he needed to be clean shaven for a depression medicine ad, one that is actually pretty funny.
This new episode, titled "Iowa" and directed by Dunham, showcases a lot of things to like, as far as things to come. We get to see Shoshanna's parents, which explain her personality pretty well in their brief interactions. We also see a brief return to Hannah's OCD. The rest, however, seems questionable. It's unclear where, exactly, Jessa will go this season, and Marnie's relationship with Desi is about as dull and overly dramatic as her last ones were. Plus she has a sex scene early on that's meant to be shocking, but mostly comes across as more unnecessary.
Season premieres have also been one of Girls strong suits. While this one is the weakest of the four, it's still a good episode, filled with its typical wit and heart. Based on this ending and the preview of things to come, it looks like the gang will be in all different directions this season, which at least shakes up this now fairly mundane series. Let's just hope Dunham can balance her cast better than, say, the fourth season of Arrested Development.
Image courtesy of Roger Wong/INFphoto.com
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