The production team of GIRLS have been pretty tight lipped when it comes to spilling any kind of beans on what season five is going to have in store for us, however, this writer has a few ideas about what Hannah and the Gang will be up to now having left everything all rather up in the air…as usual.
Last season was a pretty weird one in that all the characters are in the same place at the end of the season as they were at the beginning, they just have a whole load of new disastrous memories that they can chalk up to ‘life experience’. Hannah started the season in Iowa where she was at graduate school, not that it lasted too long as she was right back in New York again midway through the season deciding that the Iowa idyllic wasn’t for her. There was also some obligatory two-ing and fro-ing between men, including Adam, and the season ended with a strange encounter with Adam’s sister almost giving birth to a baby in Lairds grotty flat. There was too much of Marnie singing in season four, her character is so far removed from reality that she is become so difficult to relate to, which was always a fundamental draw of the programme. She has crossed into the territory of ‘annoying friend who just needs to calm the hell down’. Shosh is off to Japan as we found out at the end of the season, which is amazing for her because nothing is happening with Ray because he still only has eyes for Marnie, who is now engaged to her equally as irritating singer partner Desi. Jessa is Jessa, never changing, always brilliant and forever interesting.
Interestingly, at the end of the last episode, we hopped forwards six months to take our protagonists into the next phase of their twenties. So, six months after the pretty ridiculous events of the season what is next for these crazy kids?
Hannah and Adam
The Ross and Rachel of the show have us uncontrollably happy when they are together and deeply depressed when they are apart and bursting with frustration when they are seeing other people. Hannah and Adam are meant to be, they seem to have only been on the same page at the same time for a short amount of time but as with any great love story, there needs to be plenty of unrequited loved to make the moment when they come together even more impacting. However, in the “six months later”, despite Adam telling Hannah he misses her and wants to be with her, Hannah is looking pretty comfortably loved up with Fran the teacher from the school she is substitute teaching at. Good for her right? No. Cut the shit and just be with Adam already, they are only bad for each other when they aren’t with together so they should just face up to the fact that they are meant to be. The only thing that wouldn’t frustrate me would be the prospect of…
Adam and Jessa
It makes sense to me. Adam isn’t exactly Jessa’s type and she is always one to act with her heart and make impulsive, bad decisions because her self-destructive nature seems to get in the way of her finding love. They are both recovering alcoholics, they have been through a lot of hardship and as we saw in the last season, can relate to each other in a way that no one else can. Jessa might be a little crazy for Adam, but who knows what road he went down after being rejected by Hannah…again.
Marnie and Desi
The six months later moment was only for Hannah and Fran, we didn’t get to see anyone else but if Marnie and Desi are still together I will eat my hat. If not, she is going to be unbearable for the whole season. I miss the season one Marnie, the best friend to Hannah, Marnie. The Marnie who didn’t sing all the time and obsess over her own happiness. I get that she is representing a certain kind of friend that we have all either had or can recognise but she is just so irritating and so central to the seasons overarching storyline that it starts affecting how much I enjoy the show. More of Shosh and Jessa, less of Marnie. Speaking of Shosh…
Shoshanna
As far as we know, Shoshanna is in Japan and it looks like at least some episodes will be filmed there as Lena Dunham posted some pretty fun photos on Instagram of herself in Tokyo. A coincidence? Maybe. I am excited to Shoshanna in Japan, she deserves some happiness, it will bring a new dimension to the show, what could be a worry is that this is going to separate the girls from each other even more than they already are. However, there are new adventures for Shoshanna in Japan and I think her wardrobe is about to get pretty interesting.
Hannah
So as far as we know, Hannah is still in New York and she is in a relationship with Fran the teacher. This could be good for her if she doesn’t get all ‘Hannah’ about it and ruin everything. In terms of her future, she could be a proper teacher now, she could be back in a coffee shop, she could be anywhere. One place she isn’t? Adam’s arms. Sigh. She is a great big question mark, as always. However, as the GIRLS promo has shown us, she is pretty comfortable rocking out, working out and looking in control, confident and ready for life’s dramas.
Hannah’s Mum and Dad
They are never really mentioned much but their stories have evolved so much over the last season I think we may see more of them from now on. Hannah’s mum is newly single, despite her affair, so she could be on the dating scene or even in in a new relationship. So could Hannah’s Dad who came out to her in season four. An interesting twist, one that I am sure will develop as awkwardly as possible.
Final thoughts
One thing that I would really like to happen this season is that we get equal amounts of each girl’s story as well as seeing them come together as a group without biting each other’s heads off. Their friendship is broken, they are all so wrapped up in their own lives that their union as a foursome is suffering. Watching season one and two again, it’s difficult not to miss the amazing, unconditional love that they showed each other but it feels like life is pulling them all in such different directions that they could continue to drift apart. Maybe this is just demonstrative of adult friendships, the older you get, the less prominent your girl friends are in your life? Well I’m twenty six and my girlfriends are about as involved in my life as my husband, so I don’t know about that.
I would like season five to offer a change of pace and a freshness to the character’s storylines. Last season felt a little flat. There were a couple of good episodes but the relatability and the realism was fading. Dunham has said in an interview with Variety that season six will probably be the last as she prepares to enter into her thirties she feels it would be natural to leave it behind as an integral part of her twenties. Also, as Adam Driver enters into his Hollywood career as a villain in the Star Wars films, I can’t see how he would have time for both. I feel now is the time to give the characters an end goal and push them towards it, growing up a bit, getting into trouble along the way but ultimately succeeded, after all, isn’t that what we want for our heroes?
Girls Season 5 will premiere February 2016.
