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Blu-ray Review: HBO’s “Girls: The Final Season” Is Full Of Growth And Schism

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A comedy about the experiences of a group of girls in their early 20s.

After 5 1/2 seasons of “Peter-Pan-ing,” there seems to be some development in the lives of the girls we’ve been following for 6 seasons. They’ve decided to put some grown woman pants on and realize that they’ve changed or situations have changed them within themselves and how they relate (or don’t relate) to one another. Are these girls even friends now? Should they even care to be friends? I’ve been following “Girls” since the beginning, and with some agony. I followed it although I cannot relate to any of the characters or any of their buffoonery. But I don’t carry the vitriol for it that many critics/viewers do. There’s this bizarre “hate Lena Dunham” cult that I don’t entirely get. I pretend Dunham’s “Girls” is an alternate reality where it’s common for people to make obvious very poor choices just to see what’s going to happen. And that sums up Seasons 1-5. Season 6, the final season, takes a turn, and waves goodbye to Neverland.

After getting her story about her relationship with Adam (Adam Driver) and Jessa (Jemima Kirke) legit published, Hannah (Lena Dunham) can finally say she is what she’s always proclaimed to be: a writer. She may indeed become what she speculated in Season 1, “the voice of my generation.” And people are (for the most part) excited for her. She’s gaining momentum, going somewhere and lands a couple of writing jobs before taking on a more serious and permanent offer from a school in upstate New York. And in the first few episodes, we see her writing assignment adventures which take on a ridiculous tone reminiscent of the previous seasons. The turning point is episode 4 “Painful Evacuation,” when Hannah discovers that she is pregnant, and the father was a one-night stand type of situation. That’s when her shit gets real (and at times real weird).

Eventually, everybody’s shit gets real. Marnie (Allison Williams) realizes she has to stop blaming everyone else for her life’s disappointments. Shoshana (Zosia Mahmet) considers her friends and takes a stand, and the stand is “calling it.” And Jessa learns what it means to not be as irresistible as she’s always been and knows what it means to truly want and love someone. There is even space (much deserved) this season devoted to Elijah (Andrew Rannells) and it’s fantastic. In the end, some of the friendships mend, some are broken irreparably, but life goes on.

They are all finally somewhere better than they were or have much-needed epiphanies that lead them on a path not muddied with adolescent drama. It’s good to see growth. And I think the entire series is worth watching from beginning to end in near enough one sitting to be able to fully appreciate that growth. It’d be a challenge for sure, but I think it has its rewards.

Now available on Blu-ray & DVD

 

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