Girls Season Finale: "Home Birth"

The final episode of Girls season 4 wraps up a lot of story lines, and leaves many more to new exciting adventures.

“Be the walker not the dog”

Early on in the episode we see Shosh finally land the job she has been searching for. It’s an exciting opportunity that opens up a lot of doors to her future. The only issue however is that it’s in Tokyo. The rest of her arc this episode is her trying to make the decision whether or not she should take the job. Her current boyfriend begs her to stay, but Ray’s business partner convinces her to take the job. The whole season has revolved around Shoshana’s future, and whether or not she can find a good job in her field. This is highly relateable and seems a lot more realistic than Hannah’s magic job as a teacher. It was fun to see her relationship with Ray grow now that she really doesn’t seem to interact with the rest of the main cast. Her new boyfriend was really more reminiscent of her “job” searching, as while cute he doesn’t really have much of an interesting life. The best parts of their relationship have always been the lines that she’s brought to the table. Also any guy who says “I feel like I will love you soon” is to pretentious to stick around, she made the right choice agreeing to move to Tokyo. Surprisingly enough Ray is the glue that seems to connect the shows sometimes disparate plots together now that the main “Girls” have broken off to their own things.

“Keep your blood money”

Speaking of Ray this is the episode we finally see him release his inner anger towards Desi. You can see the anger slowly bubbling throughout last weeks episode, although it’s mainly portrayed through sadness. Ray is much more affected by Marnie’s marriage than he is the election he tried so hard to win. Ray has had a great character arc this season, and it’s surprising to see him finally fall in love. It’s even more surprising that Marnie is the one he falls for considering in season one he really has a strong distaste for her. This relationship was likely to never happen had the show managed to keep the character of Charlie around, as Ray was originally set up as Charlie’s best friend. As far as emotion, and performance I think Alex Karpovsky has been the best actor on the show this season. He has gone from intense anger, sadness, love, and disappointment all in a very short span. It’s a hard balance to make his character believable but he really sells it and has become one of the most important characters this season.

“No I’m pretty good too”

Oh Marnie, Marnie went from the responsible one to the train wreck pretty fast in prior seasons, but this is the season that really shows her grow more confident in herself. All of those times she awkwardly broke out into song, or attempted to do a music video all paid off this season. She has finally clawed her way back up, and this episode sees her finally breaking free of the last thing holding her back – Desi. Without Desi’s erratic, and quite frankly disgusting behavior Marnie really rocks the house this episode. She plays her music expertly, and I think this is the start of a whole new Marnie. Interestingly enough of the entire cast only Ray is there to see her big breakout moment. Not even Desi shows up to the performance, which is likely due to him being completely destroyed by Ray earlier in the episode. This is a big moment for Marnie and the fact that Ray is there to join her means a lot for both characters. If this is the start of Marnie’s future, then it may be a sign for her to share it with Ray.

“Adam did you see it?”

The rest of the cast is dealing with something much more serious in nature. The birth of Caroline and Laird’s baby. This is quite unconventional as they are desperately trying to hold on to the idea of a natural birth even as everything around them goes wrong. Adam is noticeably upset throughout the entire birthing process, and really appears to be breaking down. After the Mimi Rose debacle this season, Adam really needs a win, and unfortunately there’s not one to be found this episode. After they successfully run his sister to a hospital, he reaches out to Hannah and tries to get back together with her. Hannah refuses, and we are left with a sad Adam stating “That’s okay too”. Of all the characters on Girls this episode leaves Adam off in the darkest spot. Given his prior experience with addiction, and mental illness this will be a rough time for Adam as he has to figure out where he wants to go in the future. That being said it is probably best for both Hannah, and Adam to try to be apart for a while.

“I just talked.”

Much like Marnie, Jessa has always been sort of a train wreck, but unlike Marnie she never really has had any moments of sanity. Jessa is usually happy for all of two minutes before something in her life manages to completely shatter and be ruined. All of this pent up failure, and bizarre life experience has left her with a surprising gift. She has the ability to relate to almost anyone’s problem and talk them through to a solution. Whilst consoling a troubled Caroline she realizes that its time for her to really take charge of her life, and do something good with it. She decides she wants to be a therapist which is a great change for her character. With the six month time gap coming up before next season it’s likely that Jessa will either be taking schooling to become a proper therapist or will be doing it unprofessionally in some strange area of town. Hopefully this is a stepping stone for Jessa finally getting her out of the crazy life she’s been leading. One of the best parts of this episode are the eyes of Jessa as she dunks her head into the bathtub. It’s hilarious, and terrifying as you never really know what she could be seeing, adding some suspense to the situation.

“Six Months Later”

This is where the most surprising element of the show comes in, at the very ending there is a time jump of six months. It comes really out of nowhere, and only showcases Hannah’s life as she is now in a relationship with the teacher she met earlier in the season. It seems like an odd note to end the season on, as to be honest at this point I think most viewers are more interested in what this episode means for the rest of the cast as opposed to Hannah. Hannah’s entire arc this season has been interesting, but doesn’t come off as real. Knowing people in the teaching field, it can be really difficult to get on a supply list in order to teach. They also have to go through teachers college, which is something that has not been mentioned at all in the series up to this point. So the questions remains how did Hannah get this job, and will she still have it in six months? Her family relationship is also growing strained, and will soon be in tatters. With the reveal of her Dad being gay her mother is completely breaking down, and this is really getting to Hannah emotionally. This may be the biggest reason why the six month time jump occurred in order to let that revelation settle a bit, and see the true consequences.

Overall this season of Girls has been pretty consistent. The jokes are still funny, and the characters are growing in very interesting ways. I honestly find myself enjoying this show the most out of the entire HBO catalog. The show however does have a life span, as all shows do, and at this point it’s unclear just how long they’ll continue. The show seems to have an endless amount of stories to tell, it’s just a matter now when is enough, and where do we want these character left off. If season five is all about the characters becoming adults as hinted by strongly in this last episode then that may be the eventual end game for the show. The title “Girls” refers to the arrested development most of the cast has been stuck in throughout the show. Legally they are adults, but mentally many of them still act like girls. It only makes sense if the show ends when these Girls grow into mature adults.