What makes one unable to outright dismiss Lena Dunham's Girls is that, for all its repetition and whiny characters, there's also a desire to push the boundaries and experiment. Even when trending on the familiar grounds of season two's "One Man's Trash," a.k.a. the episode with Patrick Wilson, this week's "Sit-In" feels like the show with life back in its system again.
Essentially a bottle episode where Hannah (Dunham) must confront the reality of last week's cliffhanger, in which she discovers her boyfriend Adam (Adam Driver) has a new girlfriend, Mimi-Rose Howard (Gillian Jacobs), "Sit-In" is, more or less, an excuse for Dunham to have one-on-one interactions with all the various characters on the show. In a way, there's something refreshing theatrical about this episode, like watching a off-Broadway production of a play where actors or characters you're familiar with perform something which feels very personal and honest to their current conditions.
Sure, it's all big speeches, petty issues and Hannah, once again, struggles to figure out what to do with her life. But, as the title of the episode implies, it's about the characters finally sitting down and confronting each other about problems which have brewed for them for episodes, sometimes seasons. Especially when one considers how jumpy the show became this season, with every character — at one point in time — in various different locations and lifestyles, to have the gang all back together, conforming, if marginally, the spirit and charm of the original season, is a joy in-and-of-itself.
And while Dunham is most often appreciated — especially from this writer's end — for her work behind-the-camera instead of in front of it, her performance this week is easily her best performing since season two's bi-polar string. In fact, it quite possibly could be her best acting to date. There's a sincerity here which feels far more genuine than it has in the episodes and seasons of past, and her emotional break-up with Adam is heartbreaking in its non-conformist but humble little ways. Her character may not be any better off than she was in the pilot, but Dunham certainly has matured as an actress, and that's one manner in which Girls has actually improved over the years.
In many ways, this feels like the most Lena Dunham-esque episode to date, with hints of Dunham's film Tiny Furniture even being apparent in choice moments. Thus, it's interesting to see she didn't write nor direct this episode. Those jobs were filled by Richard Shepard, who continues to be one of Girls' best directors, and Paul Simms & Max Brockman, respectively. All three do a diligent job, respecting the characters but making sure they remember what makes them so funny and reflexive. While the line between pity and parody continues to be blurred, at least Girls knows how to keep the laughs coming.
Now that this is the season's halfway point, it'll be interesting to see where Girls go for the next half of its season. That's something which feels like it hasn't been said about this series in a good while. To Dunham's credit, she has always found room in her sequel seasons for an episode where her characters sit down and just breathe. Season two was the aforementioned "One Man's Wealth," season three had "Beach House" and now season four has "Sit-In." The reason these episodes are usually the best are because they're the ones that not only get the humor of the series back, but let the emotions flow in a manner that's sincere and sometimes even sweet. For all the scattershot ideas Girls holds as it goes on well past its expiration date, one must applaud its creator for remembering to take a moment and remember what's important about her show.
Image courtesy of Roger Wong/INFphoto.com
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