What I’m Hoping for in the Last Two Episodes of Girls

Well, there are only two episodes left of Girls, guys. I have a lot of thoughts about this season, so I thought I’d just go through some of the different characters and plot lines and share my thoughts about what I’m hoping for in the last two episodes.

Should all four girls share any more scenes together? If you’ve seen the previews for next episode, you’ll know that this one’s already settled: there will be at least one more scene (but probably most of an episode) with all four girls hanging out again.

One of the biggest accomplishments of the show—one of the things I’ve always admired most—is how brutally realistic it is about friendships, how you can feel so close with a group of friends at one age and then life can take you all in different directions until you don’t feel close with them anymore. “Beach House” in Season 3 illustrated this beautifully, and part of me thinks the show doesn’t need to revisit them all as a unit anymore. That said, it’d be nice to see them together at least one more time, if only to recreate the magic feeling that the show used to inspire when all of them bounced off each other. (I’m thinking of the aforementioned “Beach House” and “Wedding Day.”)

Should we get more scenes of Shoshanna? This one is pretty much an unqualified yes, because Shoshanna is probably the most likable of the four girls at this point, and we’ve gotten so little of her this season. That said, a lot of my friends have been deeply bothered by the lack of Shosh this season, and I don’t care quite as much as they do. Shosh has already undergone a lot of character development over the course of the series, and her time in Japan last season seemed to bring her character arc to an appropriate close, in some ways. As fun as it is to watch her onscreen, I don’t mind her reduced screen-time that much. She’s grown a lot, and I’m content to imagine her working on herself and living life happily when she’s not onscreen.

Should any of the characters be paired off romantically at the end? I think it’d be kind of refreshing if all four of the girls were single at the end of the show, just because it’d be different from most shows, where all the characters are conveniently paired off by the end. Hannah and Adam have definitely run their course, and last episode gave us some (heartbreaking) closure on that front. Marnie is done with both Desi and Ray. Part of me still wants Ray and Shoshanna to get back together, but I think Alex Karpovsky said that’s not going to happen. Besides, Ray had a lovely meet-cute with Abby last episode, so I wouldn’t mind seeing them together. Especially because there’s been so much main-cast-incest in this show that it’d be nice to end with a realistic ending of the characters actually meeting new people (or staying single).

Jessa is still with Adam, presumably, but I wouldn’t mind them breaking up, especially because they seem manic and unhealthy together, and Adam was pretty quick to drop her and go back to Hannah last episode. Surprisingly, though, if I had to root for any couple to be together, I’d probably pick them. It’d be cool to see Jessa actually caring about a monogamous relationship for once.

Can—and should—Marnie and Jessa be redeemed? The most realistic thing, I think, would be if most of the characters in this show achieved a modicum of maturity by the end, but maybe one didn’t. The obvious candidate for that is either Marnie or Jessa, who have both experienced huge character regressions over the course of the show.

I think Marnie is still somewhat redeemable, but I’m not sure about Jessa—if there’s anyone in this show I’d like to just watch suffer and fail and end up alone, it’d be her. That said, I did feel an iota of sympathy for her last episode, so I guess I wouldn’t mind seeing her end the show a little more mature and a little happier.

Still, though, I think the one main flaw with this season lies in its insistence on making Marnie and Jessa regress again and again, after last season let them be human and learn from their mistakes. Marnie, after four and a half seasons of immaturity and selfishness, spent a night with her ex-boyfriend, decisively ended her marriage to the cartoonishly awful Desi, and got back with Ray, someone who seemed to actually care about her. It was the perfect place to get rid of Desi and let Marnie be a likable person for once, but this season she’s been almost unrelentingly entitled and selfish, treating Ray like garbage and repeatedly going back to Desi. The pawn shop owner last episode finally seemed to yank her out of her cycle, but it’s too little, too late. Maybe if these next two episodes continue the upward trend, though, I’ll walk away from the show with an optimistic feeling about how Marnie’s arc has gone. Or, if they’re going to make her regress again, at least do it in a satisfying way, and show that it’s not a character inconsistency. I’m okay with showing weak-willed characters who repeatedly fail to become better people, but too often in this show, Marnie and Jessa’s characterizations have just seemed inconsistent.

As for Jessa…Season 4 was her low point. She kept doing things that were so selfish and evil that they bordered on sadistic and sociopathic, like pushing Adam and Mimi Rose together just so she could be with Ace. It was just too much. Season 5 turned that around and gave Jessa an actual reason why she was being a horrible person—sure, she was being a bad friend to Hannah by dating Adam, but at least she seemed to genuinely like him—but Season 6 has returned her to that borderline-sociopathic state. I’m not sure there’s an ending for Jessa that will completely redeem her or make up for the stuff she’s done.

Should Hannah have a baby? This is something I’ve been thinking about a lot as this season has progressed. When I learned that Hannah was pregnant, I had a lot of reservations about it. Even if Hannah is much more mature this season, and even if I believe that she’ll be a good mother, I’m kind of just sick of seeing final-season pregnancy plots. I’ve never envisioned pregnancy as the ultimate sign of maturity for Hannah; so much of the show is focused on her relationships and her writing that it seems odd to just give her a baby and use that as a sign of maturity.

And yet this season has pulled off this plot pretty damn well so far, particularly with the various characters’ surprising-yet-fitting reactions to Hannah’s news (Elijah getting pissed, Marnie reacting with shock until slowly saying, “I’m into it,” etc.). There’ve been some really emotional scenes this season based around Hannah’s pregnancy, like the gutting phone conversation between her and Paul-Louis and the argument with Elijah. I’m at the point this season where I’m willing to just wait, see where the plot goes, and trust Lena Dunham. I’ve had many moments of doubt this season, but she’s proven me wrong, so I have faith.

And really, that goes for almost everything this year. Whatever happens, I trust the show to make it good, and make it feel right. Girls isn’t a perfect show, but it’s that lack of perfection that makes it feel so real.