Tag Archives: Lena Dunham

Though it continues to excel in the ratings game, the second season of Girls has faltered a bit with critics. Part of the problem may be that the show is spreading itself too thin these days – developing minor characters when its greatest strength lies in delving deeper into the supremely effed-up mind of Hannah Horvath. With its opening shot of Adam thinking his deep, shirtless thoughts, it seemed as though “It’s Back” would serve as a prime of example of what’s plagued Girls‘ second season (too much side show, not enough center ring). But with some pre-title card weirdness from Hannah, the episode hinted at getting back to the confessional, (sometimes too) honest soul-baring that garnered so much attention for Lena Dunham’s writing in the first place. Alas…

Before we get any explanation for Hannah’s strange, compulsive behavior, we get caught up to speed with Marnie and Shoshanna, both of whom have faded into the background this season as the show has taken time to develop backstories for Ray and Jessa (with mixed results). Shoshanna is understandably freaked out by the sudden disappearance of her cousin Jessa, and Marnie continues to cement her role as the audience’s least favorite character by hating on the success of her ex-boyfriend Charlie – a man she emotionally tormented before dumping him mid-sex.

The focus returns to Adam for a bit, but unlike this season’s “Boys” in which Adam’s presence (though hilarious as ever) seemed awkwardly shoehorned in to a season that was doing just fine without him, this time he’s opening up on his thoughts about Hannah and trying to move on from their relationship. Ancillary characters are fine as long as they contribute something (laughs, drama, etc.) to the story. She may have stumbled a bit along the way, but Dunham is finally learning some of the bedrock truths about fiction writing…

Speaking of truths she should’ve learned long ago, Dunham seems blissfully unaware that one great idea doesn’t translate to a fortune for most young people, as evidenced by the fact that Charlie now has an office in Manhattan and a staff of dozens, all because he came up with an app that helps prevent drunk-dialing.

After some more detours involving Adam’s surprisingly non-awkward blind date, we finally get some insight into Hannah’s latest neuroses. Turns out she’s suffered from OCD on and off since childhood and she’s now going to great lengths to hide her returning symptoms from her parents. It’s the sort of storyline that could easily fill 30 minutes, but on Girls it’s one of 5 subplots.

I barely had time to get into the fact that Shoshanna cheated on Ray with a doorman or that Marnie decided she wants to sing for a living, but of course, the show barely had time to explore these developments, either. Hannah’s uncomfortable interaction with her shrink and the painful closing shot of her folding under the weight of her parents’ judgment reminded me of the kind of emotional depths this show is capable or reaching. Unfortunately, you can’t hit audiences square in the heart with such scattershot writing.