Season 5 of “Girls” has excelled in every way. The HBO drama nailed that tricky balance of mixing real emotional situations with great humorous moments. Further digging into the insecurities and awkwardness of entering adulthood, the ups and downs of both friendships and romantic relationships, what made this season shine the brightest were the personal introspective moments.
Sprinkled throughout the season, each of the “Girls” had an entire episode dedicated to them. Audiences saw Hannah (Lena Dunham), Jessa (Jemima Kirke), Shoshanna (Zosia Mamet), Marnie (Allison Williams) and Elijah (Andrew Rannells) take a look at themselves to figure out what’s wrong in their lives, not immediately run to blame others for their missteps, as they all normally did.
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It’s quite emotional to finally watch these girls turn into women after 5 years. The first half-hour episode, “Love Stories,” opens up with the closure of Hannah and Fran’s (Jake Lacy) relationship, which had thoroughly crashed and burned during last week’s episode. More heartbreaking was the end Elijah and Dill’s (Corey Stoll) courtship. The second episode, “I Love you Baby,” explored the rest of the cast members’ lives, Jessa and Adam, Hannah’s parents, Marnie, Shosh, and Ray.
Here are the Top 3 Kleenex moments from the Season 5 finale episodes.
Kleenex moment #1
“Don’t you wanna be with someone who sees you for you?” Elijah asks Dill.
“I want someone special,” Dill responds. But that someone special is not him.
The realization that each of these characters are not that special, that they are not immune to the crazy unfairness that is life sometimes, is a slow universal realization for everyone throughout this season. But nary have we seen Elijah be so vulnerable, and then so thoroughly dismissed.
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Kleenex moment #2
“You know I google myself every day? I need to see how other people see me because it’s the only way I can see myself” – Tally (Jenny Slate).
Tally, who appeared in “Girls” Season 1, returns as another character who’s finally grown up. Opposite of Hannah, she has gotten everything she has set out to do in her career, and yet, she is still so unhappy. Both girls think the grass is always greener and share some grass smoke away their emotions. Their ability to be so honest with each other about their true feelings, lifting each other up instead of tearing the other person apart in order to make themselves feel better is a beautiful moment for both Tally and Hannah.
Kleenex moment #3
“I’m gonna live 80 more years and it’s horrible,” Elijah says to Hannah’s mom, Loreen (Becky Ann Baker) as they drink outside on the street.
Loreen is lamenting how she’s done nothing in her life, how her time to do something great has passed. Elijah, so freshly heartbroken, can’t help but see every day ahead as another long road of disparity. Watching these two characters come together for emotional support while Hannah’s Dad, Tad (Peter Scolari) secretly runs off to meet his gay date from earlier in the season, was an unexpected and touching way to end the season.
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As for the rest of the cast, Jessa and Adam (Adam Driver) are both insane, and maybe, just maybe insanely perfect for each other. Shoshanna is finding her happiness through creative marketing, and Marnie, still narcissistic and unlikable as ever, might’ve found her perfect match in lost puppy character that is Ray (Alex Karpovsky).
This was such fantastically entertaining season of “Girls.” It Season 6, the final farewell tour for Dunham’s dramedy, can surpass this one, prepare to have even more tissues on hand.
