The second last episode saw the four girls reunite, in a less than ideal way. Hannah turns up to Shoshanna's apartment, only to see everyone else there, celebrating Shoshanna's engagement, which Hannah didn't even know about. Jessa and Hannah make up, in their own way, but not before Shoshanna lets out her real feelings about the group, telling them 'I have come to realize how exhausting and narcissistic and ultimately boring this whole dynamic is', and Marnie trying to mend their friendship, trying to make it something it's not, as usual. It ends with the girls dancing at the party, a somewhat happy end for the group, a togetherness but not a closeness. Some fans have said that that should have been the true end of the series, that the last episode felt more like an epilogue. Perhaps they're right, but would we be satisfied either way?
The last episode is set five months later. Hannah has moved upstate and Marnie has insisted that she be there to help with the baby. As in the typical roles of their friendship, Marnie is overbearing and Hannah is selfish. Marnie, as usual, has a picture in her head of how this situation should look, and tries to live up to that idea of perfection. Hannah seems overwhelmed, and while she has grown in a lot of ways, is still quite selfish and narcissistic. Hannah's mum arrives, at Marnie's request, and manages to be the voice of reason for both girls, telling Marnie that she needs to think about herself, and Hannah that this isn't supposed to be easy.
We are left knowing that Marnie won't stay and help Hannah forever, that Hannah will actually be alone. It just feels kind of lonely. We don't get our happy ending. I'm ok with that though, because it's not really an ending, is it? The characters will keep living their lives. Girls feels like we have just caught a glimpse into someone's life. It feels real. It doesn't feel like a rom-com, where there's a start, a middle and an end. Life doesn't work like that, it's continuous, there are ups and downs, sometimes things don't work out, there's no one moment you can point to and say that you'll be happy from then on.
I have heard people ask 'what about Adam?', but what about him? Did anyone expect him to end up with Hannah? They were good together, at times, but it was never a relationship to last the test of time. I think it's important that she didn't end up with somebody, that she got to be alone, and attempt to live life on her own. She has always had someone holding her up, whether it was her parents, Marnie, Adam, or even Elijah, but as the series went on she got more independent and we saw her mature, enough to make the decision to raise her baby alone and move away from everyone she knows.
Honestly, I would've liked to see a happy ending, a first birthday party where the four girls are reunited. They reminisce and we can see that their relationship is strong. That wouldn't have been true to the show though. The show has always showed the harsh realities of life, which unfortunately means that sometimes friendships don't last, and things don't work out in a fairytale way. Maybe we can at least feel satisfied that some of the characters got their happy ending; Ray and Tad happy in their respective relationships, Elijah living his broadway dream and Shoshanna with her fiance, and her life finally coming together the way she wanted.
Regardless of how we feel about the last episode, I'm sure we can agree that throughout the six seasons, amongst the pain of growing up and making their way through the world, the characters of Girls have had some good times and have given us something. Whether it be comfort in a familiarity of experience, something to think about, or just a good laugh.
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