Girls – Brownstone Vacation

“One Man’s Trash” was a strange, unexpected episode of Girls, but it was one that I thought worked. It was nearly a bottle episode – we saw Hannah and Ray at work in the coffeeshop, and then she spent the rest of the episode in a strange man’s house.

The man, played by Patrick Wilson, was a rich, handsome doctor. Not exactly a person you’d expect to be into Hannah. I’m sure, awful as the Internet is, there will be plenty of commentary of physical appearances. The show even acknowledged that there might be a difference in levels of attractiveness, when Hannah told “Josh” that yes, she thinks she’s beautiful but “that’s just not always the feedback I’ve been given”. But what I mean is, personality-wise, the two were obviously an ill match. It was interesting to watch Joshua discover that, and to watch the whole thing play out.

The fling started as, I think, intrigue. Hannah was intrigued by Joshua’s house, belongings, the way he had his life together. And Joshua seemed intrigued by Hannah’s bluntness and bizarre comfort. She said he could be a serial killer and she shouldn’t go into his house, but she went inside and made herself at home anyway. They had sex many times, they skipped work, she fainted in his fancy shower. (“I thought I was a gummy worm for like, seven minutes.” was hilarious.)

I like this episode for a lot of reasons. First of all, I think it reiterated a really important characteristic of Hannah’s. It’s one that I can vaguely relate to. (I’m saying vaguely because, no, I’ve never done exactly the things she’s done. And if I had, I wouldn’t have the guts to post it on the Internet.) Hannah longs to be a writer. She understands that calling in a way that I, someone who has written and went to journalism school, have never experienced. But she knows that to write the way she wants to, she has to live. She needs crazy experiences. So she does crazy stuff and let’s crazy things happen to her, because it’ll make a good story. It’s a dangerous way to live, but it’s something that I understand rather than judge.

The episode was also another way of showing how Hannah self-destructs. This guy barely knew her, but he liked her. And then she started talking, a lot. She started assessing herself, him, the situation way too much and picking apart everything that was said. She went from being exciting and sexy to being high-maintenance and kind of crazy.

I think this episode will be polarizing. If someone’s issues with the show thus far have been Hannah’s lack of likability, Hannah’s frequent nudity, raunch, or a lack of laugh-out-loud jokes, then I have a feeling maybe this episode would rub them the wrong way. But I don’t have those problems with the show, so I liked it quite a bit. What did you guys think of it?

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Couchtime/~3/ZMQBjC6BmtU/