GIRLS followed up last week's stellar Marnie episode with what was, in my opinion, a much weaker show this week, and I'm beginning to think the writers are having trouble allotting enough attention to all the characters.

This week, most of the main cast—Hannah, Ray, Marnie, Fran, Adam, and Jessa—go to Adam's play, a sort of immersive Sleep No More experience based on the 1964 rape and murder of Kitty Genovese. It's far less insufferable than some of the other "art" that's been forced on GIRLS viewers over the seasons, and you actually get to experience a chunk of it as a viewer, which is pretty cool. But the play's real function here is getting everyone in the same place at the same time, and that's a big deal—especially when it comes to the still-secret Jessdam relationship.

Hannah and Fran are fighting, of course—this time, Fran's mad at Hannah for pulling a Basic Instinct on the school principal. It's legitimate to not want your girlfriend to show her vagina to her boss, both for personal and professional reasons. But as Lena Dunham points out in this week's "Inside The Episode" clip, it's a very Hannah thing to do, for better or for worse, and Fran's anger is further proof that these two are just NOT a match. It doesn't matter how nice Fran is to Hannah, and in fact, Fran's niceness is just an aggravation at this point. When a relationship's not right, it's not right. Feeling like you have to love someone or stick with them just because they're kind to you, even when you know in your bones it's not right, can make you want to throw that kindness right in their face.

So Hannah journeys through the Kitty Genovese experience mostly alone, and of course, the lid gets blown off the Jessdam relationship. The GIRLS writers handle this reveal well—Hannah spots Jessa perched on a fire escape, sharing a look with mid-scene Adam from an apartment across the way, and she just knows. It's perfect, because it really does happen this way. I also once figured out an ex was sleeping with a friend of mine based on one look they gave each other, and it's the kind of realization that's so jarring it starts eating at your intestines until it worms its way into your chest. For all of Hannah's Hannah-ness, the moment is heartbreaking—more heartbreaking still is when she sees Jessa and Adam leave together and asks Fran not to leave her, because Hannah is still not ready to be alone.

Speaking of alone-ness, Marnie tells Ray she left Desi. "I think what I need is to be alone," she says, which is beautifully true, if bad news for still-heartsick Ray. But then Desi, WHO IS SOMEHOW STILL ON THIS SHOW, shows up, because apparently one of Marnie and Desi's terrible songs gets selected to be on Grey's Anatomy. This does not bode well for the Marnie/Desi breakup, or for my tolerance.

Outside the playverse, Elijah goes to a fancy party at Dill Harcourt's fancy place. All goes well at first (and there are rosemary mojitos! And Hamish Bowles!) but it becomes clear pretty quickly that Bald Anderson Cooper's got sex buddies all over the place. Elijah confronts Dill about it, but Dill's pretty cagey about the whole thing, eventually making it clear that he and Elijah are not technically dating. This is a bummer, and Elijah leaves—but then drunk Dill shows up at his place and passes out during foreplay.

I'm struggling with the Dill/Elijah story. On the one hand, it's nice to see Elijah become more than just a sassy gay sidekick, and it is touching to see how desperately he, like the rest of the GIRLS, wants to be loved. Still, Dill seems a little too oily for me, and though I'll never hate a GIRLS character the way I hate Desi, I'm still looking forward to the end of Dill's storyline. Elijah's too much fun for this mess.

Some notes:


  • When Hannah's talking to the principal, she mentions Mrs. Pigglewiggle, which was THE BEST children's series. It was even better when Mrs. Pigglewiggle moved to a farm and all her animals hated the annoying kids she had to fix.

  • Like, WHAT was up with the vagina incident? I get that it's just Hannah being wacky Hannah, but come ON, this is a SCHOOL. Please be a professional adult for ten minutes.

  • "I've been too busy Yelping divorce lawyers to worry about the sex lives of our second-tier friends." Marnie got some good lines this week.

  • If Desi and Marnie's song gets a montage principal character death scene on Grey's Anatomy, they will be gajillionaires.

  • Honestly, I would go to that Kitty Genovese play.

  • Hamish Bowles's jacket was A+++, but of course it was.

  • "Human apathy continues to be one of the grossest threats to mankind. Very dangerous. Right up there with those Keep Calm Carry On posters." RAY 4EVER.

  • No Shosh this week :(

Next week, Fran and Hannah go on a road trip, Marnie and Desi fight, Jessa and Adam talk about Hannah, and Shosh comes...back?