By Raine Blunk
Let’s just clear the air now: “Girls” is awkward. But for those of us who see a bit of ourselves in that awkwardness, Lena Dunham is queen. Last night, the show’s second season premiered on HBO after snagging three awards at the 70th annual Golden Globes Awards on NBC just an hour before, cementing some fans’ beliefs that “Girls” captures the true essence of what it means to be a 21st century (white, somewhat privileged, but still really hilarious) female.
The “Girls” all-too-true sex scenes and romantic interactions that we found so addictingly uncomfortable in season one were replaced with a different kind of awkwardness as the episode began: Donald Glover.
Maybe it’s just hard to take him seriously (which makes sense – he’s a comedian), but it could have been the fact that he was dressed like someone out of a Gap ad. Either way, Hannah’s relationship with him makes it apparent she’s moved somewhere in the world since the end of last season. We’ll have to wait to find out if their relationship is an improvement from Adam (played by real life Adam Driver) – and if Glover’s role gets any more believable.
Speaking of, Adam brought all his creepy caveman adorableness with his first reappearance on the screen. His broken heart and full-length leg cast are almost as sad as Marnie’s (Allison Williams) newfound thinness. Whether or not the real reason behind her weight loss has anything to do with her depressing on-screen circumstances is a question Hollywood will probably start asking sometime soon. Perhaps they’re just amazed that characters on television still actually care about acting enough to try – or jealous that William’s dad (NBC anchor Brian Williams) probably hooked her up with the acting gig.
Some of the acting we all really wanted to see was almost absent from the show, with the maybe-gone-crazy Jess (Jemima Kirke) and her surprising new husband (Judd Apatow) making a brief appearance at only the end of the episode. Jess still seems happily oblivious to her own life’s eccentricities on return from her honeymooning. However, the duo’s weird antics were superseded by Shoshanna’s (Zozai Mamet) growing “woman, hear me roar” attitude after her breakup between the seasons with the show’s other in-house weirdo Ray (Alex Karpovsky).
While a lot has happened between this season and last, “Girls” fans can’t deny that the episode hinted at a lot of laughs for the upcoming season (combined with a little sex and a lot of drama). One of the most motivating things about the thirty minute premiere might have been the amount of development in our favorite HBO ladies between the two seasons. The show’s 26-year-old writer, producer and main character Lena Dunham seems to be on a roll. It comes not only with some golden glory from the Globes but with the continued success of another hilariously awkward season.
Despite the premiere’s minute downfalls, it’s already hard waiting for next week’s dose of infectiously awkward real-life girl power that seems to have strengthened since last year. It only makes sense Dunham would end the episode with a bare-all scene that literally screamed “kiss my realistically shaped and still sexy half-naked ass.”
If you missed it, you missed out.
