Girls Season 2 (2013)

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Girls Season 2 Review

The second season of Girls is a very troublesome, yet at times very interesting and even admirable season.

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“You are the most self-involved,

presumptuous person I’ve ever met“

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It again consists of ten episodes, but the reason why it is weaker than the first season lies in its uneven nature. It is a very weird season that is at times much better than anything in season one, but at times much worse. The first season was consistent, but this one isn’t. This season has a couple of truly great episodes and a couple of truly mediocre ones whereas the first one had neither of those two which makes them much different. But even though this season deals with some much darker, admirable themes, it still has many episodes that almost serve as boring filler which troubled me.

Jessa is the only one in the main cast here that is really bad. I just never got her character and that hasn’t changed during this second season. Because the actress was pregnant during the season’s production, they left her out for the majority of the season, but in those episodes that she’s in, she is again very underutilized and I never get her motivations or her goals.

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Jessa and Thomas John break up here and of course divorce. That was incredibly clichéd and expected to happen which again points to how stupid this entire plot point was. The only thing I liked about Jessa here is that she was paired with Hannah in all her episodes which was refreshing and the two got some great moments (the bathtub sequence is really sweet while also being realistic). But that episode where the two went to Jessa’s dad’s house was pointless in my opinion. Nothing of substance happened there and again we don’t learn anything about Jessa. She remains an enigma, but an enigma in a bad way.

Marnie is interesting, yet odd. Her sex scene with Elijah was ridiculous and I found that plot point as well as the whole Elijah’s part in this season mediocre, but her involvement with Booth Jonathan was solid. He’s everything Charlie wasn’t and that is why she for one moment found him interesting. Speaking of Charlie, I thought that his new relationship was well handled and the earlier moments between him and Marnie were all great, but unfortunately them getting back together was somewhat shoehorn into the storyline and it definitely felt too cheesy and abrupt. And her singing talent came out of nowhere and I don’t know what they’re going to do with that. I am looking forward to her potential singing career, but only if it’s done right.

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The rest of the characters, unlike those explained above, are all excellent during this season. Let’s start with Shoshanna. She was the weakest and most underutilized link before, but she’s now very strong and she continues to be likable, but thankfully less of a caricature this time around. She’s dating Ray and their relationship was excellent. I loved everything about it and that she eventually left him as that was very much grounded in reality.

She is young and doesn’t want to get stuck with a boyfriend, and an older and un ambitious one, where she could be having fun and dating and having sex and experimenting like everyone else in their twenties. That wasn’t fair to Ray, but it’s an understandable choice. Speaking of Ray, I really like him. He is a very relatable character as there are many people like him, those who aren’t ambitious and lead boring lives and are already in their thirties. Of course these two weren’t going to have a future together and I liked that they broke up, though it was tragic.

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And now for Hannah. This season is interesting for not revolving largely around her as she is much less present than before and that led to a better characterization for the others on the show. But she is still fantastic and still the best developed of the bunch. Her relationship with her parents continues to be strong, I liked that incredibly romantic ending and it would be interesting to see whether she and Adam could have a future together.

That episode with her and Patrick Wilson’s character spending two days together was an interesting, but odd experiment. And her episode with Jessa wasn’t good for her, but I liked again her struggles with writing and her major OCD problems were introduced here and in a great way. This is where the series went really dark which was unexpected for a mostly light and even at times comedic show that it had been before. But it was very well handled and it is a testament to some great writing and emotional tone that I felt sorry for her despite me not liking her at all as she’s usually a horrible person. But watching her in pain was heartbreaking and a very mature development for Girls.

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Season two is interesting for featuring Adam alongside these four which was very intriguing as we haven’t really seen male characters focused on before. But here he has a new girlfriend and this relationship is so well explored. The two are vastly different and it was evident that it couldn’t last, but that sex scene between the two, although too graphic for my taste, was excellent for portraying everything that is wrong with Adam and what is going on in his head. This season really had some clever writing, at least when it involved some characters.

Overall, Girls Season 2 isn’t as good as the previous season owing to its uneven nature and too many mediocre and forgettable episodes plus Jessa continues to be underutilized, but Hannah is excellent once again as is Adam and also Shoshanna. It was very dark, but interesting and it dealt with some really intriguing themes leading to an odd, yet very solid season of television.

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Worst Episodes: It’s About Time and Bad Friend.

Best Episodes: It’s a Shame About Ray and Together.

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