Girls – “It’s a Shame About Ray”

Season Two, Episode Four

Grade: A

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I’ve been waiting for an episode like this from Girls, who usually spend most of their time bitching about each other, sulking about it, and then making up with each other. Lather, rinse, repeat. But in “It’s a Shame About Ray” there are things at stake for all of our characters and if someone takes the wrong step, that could be it. Sometimes, enough is enough.

Surprisingly, Hannah is somewhat of a bystander throughout the episode. She gets rid of Elijah and to prove that she’s capable and mature, she invites some friends over for dinner (that she cooks herself) and drinks. This reunites our feuding females, Audrey and Marnie, together for some good ol’ bickering over Charlie. Interesting enough, when Audrey suggests that Marnie leaves, she turns to Hannah to save her, but she instead throws her under the bus. Not too surprising because Hannah’s still pissed at Marnie and didn’t even expect her to come over for the dinner party, but still felt the need to invite her. Silently, Charlie is put in the middle of the two and runs after Marnie after she leaves.

Meanwhile, Shoshanna throws a small fit when she realizes that Ray has been living at her apartment. Like I’ve stated in past posts, Shoshanna and Ray are my favorite couple in the show because they are sincere and the closest thing to a real relationship that the series has attempted to display thus far. And while the two of them are still early into the relationship, it’s clear their love is real. The sweetest moment was the two revealing their love for each other at the subway station after Ray admit he was homeless loser. It’s hard not to root for those two.

Which brings us to Jessa and Thomas-John. They didn’t feel anyone since they’ve been married and finally we witness their blow-up. The couple meet with Thomas-John’s parents for dinner and Jessa is everything but careful. But that’s Jessa for you, unwilling to change an ounce and is only concerned about things she feels is right. And at the dinner she didn’t feel like it was necessary to hide her heroin use in the past. This results in a huge fight between Thomas-John and Jessa, which was the best scene in the season thus far. While this might be the end of Chris O’Dowd, he definitely went out with a bang. What a great actor he is and I really hope he gets a starring role in a film soon because he deserves it.

The final scene where Jessa climbs into the bathtub with Hannah is a fantastic one. Jessa is completely exposed emotionally (and physically) and this is the first time we have really seen Jessa’s sensitive side. It just shows that if Jessa can crack through the mistakes of growing up, then any of the characters on Girls can, which really makes me look forward to future episodes. Everyone’s story is really being fleshed out and even though everyone but Shoshanna is starting over on some front, it’s really interesting to see how they tackle their struggles of living in the city.

While there hasn’t been much Jessa in the second season, her story-line dominated this episode. Aside from her, the best part about this episode was how Hannah is seen as the glue that holds the group together. And for maybe the first time in the series, Hannah is shown as the only one who has her life somewhat together. In a show where everyone’s life is a roller-coaster, it’s impressive how steady Hannah has been, even if it is a plateau of crazy.