With Hollywood looking for franchises wherever it can find them, it seems mighty odd that The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, a highly successful novel with a film adaptation that had Rooney Mara, David Fincher, and James Friggin’ Bond attached, is not already swimming in sequels. The American version of Stieg Larsson’s novel wasn’t exactly …
Well that was quick. After only three episodes, Hannah is out of Iowa and back in New York and while the end of “Cubbies” promises plenty of knotty, interesting developments to come, it’s hard not to be disappointed. Girls coped very well with Hannah’s lack of proximity to the group. In the age of Skype, there’s no reason she couldn’t have stayed in close communication with the entire New York crew while exploring her surroundings a bit more and coming to grips with herself in this new context. Most of Hannah’s peers at the Writers’ Workshop remain undeveloped and it’s unlikely any of them will return any time soon. In Iowa, Hannah is surrounded by fellow writers who can challenge her and force her to reevaluate and either commit to or adjust their artistic and personal choices. Unfortunately, Hannah retreats from this challenge and, after a lovely dinner with her Dad, makes another substantial life choice without consulting Adam.
With Hannah’s goodbyes out of the way, “Triggering” opens where many expected the season premiere to begin: Hannah, New York City girl, is in Iowa, and she can’t believe the rent. This episode focuses almost entirely on Hannah’s transition to life at the University of Iowa, surrounded by open green space and her artistic peers. Hannah’s on board with the former, for now, but she’s much less certain about the latter. This is the first time she’s been forced to engage with fellow writers about her personal work, writers who are at roughly the same place in their lives and careers that she is; it’s a lot harder to dismiss their criticisms than those she’s faced thus far.
In many ways a direct continuation of its strong third season, Girls’ season four premiere picks up shortly after the events of last year’s finale, with Hannah preparing to leave for the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, Marnie continuing her musical and romantic partnership with guitarist Desi, Jessa newly unemployed, and Shoshanna freshly graduated. This is a change of pace for the series, which has previously taken advantage of the season breaks to jump its characters forward in time, with significant developments occurring offscreen (the start of Hannah’s relationship with Sandy, Jessa checking herself into rehab, Charlie leaving Marnie). Fun as it may have been to jump right into Hannah’s fish-out-of-water adventure in Iowa, it’s nice to get one more episode with the leads together, reestablishing their bonds before they’re tested.
Girls Season 3, Episode 8: “Incidentals” Written by Lena Dunham and Sarah Heyward Directed by Richard Shepard Airs Sundays at 10 PM on HBO With the exception of the storyline involving his sister, Adam (Adam Driver) has been on the margins of Girls Season Three. Much of the focus has been on Hannah’s (Lena Dunham) writing career …
Girls, Season 3, Episode 7: “Beach House” Written by Jenni Konner, Lena Dunham, and Judd Apatow Directed by Jesse Peretz Airs Sundays at 10 PM on HBO Girls continues its focus on character relationships by taking a break from its ongoing plot to show Hannah (Lena Dunham), Marnie (Allison Williams), Shoshanna (Zosia Mamet), and Jessa’s (Jemima …
Television writer and show creator Ryan Murphy first came to the attention of television viewing audiences with the plastic surgery drama Nip/Tuck. It is, however, with the Fox superhit Glee that he rose to prominence, quickly following it with American Horror Story and his latest series, The New Normal. Following the lives of a gay couple, their surrogate baby’s …