What I’m Watching: Girls

Girls: Season 2, Episode 4 “It’s a Shame About Ray” (A-)

There’s simply nothing quite as terrific as the dialogue on this show. I heartily enjoyed Elijah’s argument that he shouldn’t have to pay rent because he paid for all of Hannah’s burritos while they were dating, which were inordinately expensive because she added so much to them. Hannah having Charlie and Audrey over was fine, but inviting Marnie and then judging her for coming was truly unfair. For all of Marnie’s unacceptable behavior, this action wasn’t one of them, though Charlie going to the roof to check on Marnie while Audrey was upset was definitely a misstep. The way that Audrey phrased her question about what Marnie did was extremely insulting, and Marnie replied in kind. It was good to see Hannah step in to defend Marnie to Charlie, calling him a jerk for mistreating her and for not understanding what Marnie has been going through, though she could have done without the accidental revelation about Marnie and Elijah sleeping together. Shoshanna discovering that Ray was actually living with her seemed like a bad thing, but their subway platform declaration of unintentional love was superb. Jessa’s meeting with Thomas-John’s parents could not have gone any worse, and it was sad to see Thomas-John cast her aside so easily after she sabotaged the evening with inappropriate honesty. It was sweet to see Hannah comfort Jessa with humor after she got into the bathtub with her and cried, and refreshing to see Hannah as the reliable friend for once, taking on yet another unexpected role.