Girls Recap: Wait, Did Hannah Actually Grow?

The two-part finale of Girls’ fifth season offered a few redemptive moments.

At the end of it all, it turned out that the fifth season of Girls followed the same structure as the others. Things got wonky at the halfway point until they went totally off the rails when Hannah broke up with Fran during vacation. The final two episodes were broadcast on the same night, ostensibly to avoid bumping up against the premieres of both Game of Thrones and Veep.

Airing the two episodes back to back ended up being a smart move, as neither of them are particularly strong on their own merits. When taken as a single unit, Girls is almost able to pull itself together. In the first episode, “Love Stories,” Hannah quits her teaching job which she has miraculously been able to hold for this long, and she actually apologizes for her rude behavior.

Elijah makes a last-ditch effort to salvage his relationship with Dill, but things don’t go as planned. Elijah convinces Dill to settle down, but not with him. Dill is looking for someone less “aimless.” Part of the theme of season five was to point out, sometimes harshly, how these characters have not actually grown at all. While it’s an important point to focus on, it just ends up being frustrating at how true it is. Five seasons of characters not really going anywhere.

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Still, it ends up being an emotional moment and brings the series’ only Elijah-centric storyline to a close. Elsewhere, Hannah ends up hanging out with an old classmate that has found success in writing. Tally is played expertly by Jenny Slate, and she makes the case for her character to be a permanent edition. The time she spends with Hannah is one of the strongest interactions of the season and makes it unclear as to why she hasn’t been here the entire time.

The purpose of Tally, because all side characters in Girls only serve to push the main cast, is to show Hannah that success is not easy. Tally is unhappy and knows it’s unhealthy to obsessively google herself. The lesson Hannah learns from her, that she has lived an exciting life full of details that can be mined for writing, is an important one that stretches into the season finale.

Elsewhere, Shosh shows up to fix Ray’s failing coffee business and Marnie admits her feelings for Ray. Neither storyline is particularly interesting. Whatever happened between Shosh and Yoshi doesn’t matter and it’s as if she never left, while Marnie is as annoying as ever. Will Marnie and Ray work? Well, probably not. But there it is.

On the second episode, “I Love You Baby” Elijah attempts to get over Dill but isn’t doing so hot and Hannah’s parents have to visit out of the blue. The centerpiece of the episode is an odd, out-of-place showdown between Jessa and Adam that results in what could only be described as hate sex. They yell, call each other horrible things, and destroy the apartment. It’s not that the fight is out of character for either one, but it does feel unnecessarily over the top.