Girls season finale recap: A Rom-Com Ending

“A friendship between college girls is grander and more romantic.” That’s the first line of Hannah’s still unwritten book. But Girls season 2 has been the story of what happens when friends abandon each other — for careers, for freedom, for boyfriends, and for the promise of a new lifestyle. And in the season finale, none of those girls find solace in each other. They find it in the men, and a few rom-com moments. There’s a grand speech. There’s a shirtless run down the Brooklyn streets. And there’s a breakup. So, now that we only have three — and now that our guys are all sort of attached to one particular girl — let’s take this couple by couple.

Marnie has had the worst year of her life. She lost her job, found out she wasn’t cut out for the art world, and she also got a reality check in the form of Booth Jonathan: Not every guy she meets is going to fall in love with her. Perhaps some of the problems seem a bit trivial, but for Marnie’s character, they’re enough to shake her to the core. So last week, when Marnie and Charlie hooked up after her mortifying rendition of “Stronger,” thinking that either Charlie had moved on, or Marnie that would get bored, I assumed that was the end for them. But he’s gotten good at going down on her, the sex is better, and he’s more stable — financially and emotionally. And, for the first time, he’s in the position of power, and Marnie is the one running to him desperately. After they have a little bit of scene over Bushwick mimosas, Marnie finally lets it all hang out. She tells him that she’s learned and grown from their time apart, and wants to be with him and settle down. And he agrees. Marnie delivers Harry’s speech. And Charlie plays the part of the skeptical, but totally lovelorn Sally. The next time we see them, Charlie’s in a suit and tie, arm and arm with a glamorous looking Marnie. It looks like a makeup ad.

Meanwhile, Shoshanna is still unhappy with Ray, but she has to go through a few phases before getting to the actual breakup. Last week she was still reeling over the guilt of making out with a random hot doorman and started to focus in on what bothered her about her boyfriend. This week she finally confronts him about his lack of ambition. Ray sort of tries to correct it. For a moment he thinks he’ll finish his Latin Studies Ph.D., but Colin Quinn (!) talks him into running a new Grumpy’s. When he goes back to Shoshanna with the news about his new position, she finally does what needed to be done: She breaks up with him. Her reasons seem totally valid and surprisingly self-aware. She recognizes that maybe later in her life she’ll be able to handle someone like him. “You hate everything,” she says. “I can’t be the only thing you like.” Ray and Shoshanna had a funny on-screen dynamic, but they were never believable as a long-term couple. She’s too young, and he’s too jaded.

NEXT: Hannah, the girl with no sex, no money, and no book draft

Hannah’s life is entirely consumed by her anxiety over her book. That doesn’t mean she’s channeling that anxiety into words on a page, though. She’s spending her time wallowing in her ear trauma and googling possible related and unrelated ailments. She’s also the only one not having sex. All work and no play make Hannah a reclusive hypochondriac.

When her publisher tells her that they could sue her if she doesn’t live up to her agreement and her dad rebuffs her plea for money to pay back the advance, Hannah retreats further into her den of depression and dread. She literally hides behind the bed when Marnie comes by. But, for some reason, she FaceSpaces (ha) Adam. He spots that something is wrong with her and goes straight to the rescue. Shirts be damned! The lady he loves is in distress! The music swells as he sprints through the nighttime streets and he barges into Hannah’s apartment, picks her up, and they kiss. Just like a movie. In this one, Adam is Bridget Jones and Hannah is Darcy.

In a season where everything has felt a little artificial, forced, or arbitrary, “Together” finally felt true to all of the characters and their relationships. They all found something, and all of their somethings were men. Hannah found a guy to come to her rescue. Marnie found a guy to love her. And Shoshanna found a hot blonde guy to make out with. Is it the Judd Apatow effect? This is the first episode since Season 1’s “The Return” that Apatow has co-written with Dunham, and there seemed to be a distinct shift. It was more conventional, and more heartfelt. Even so, it was a little disappointing that the girls are still operating as distinct islands. I liked Hannah’s phone call to Jessa, but she chooses to reach out to the one person who isn’t there and can’t help her, and hide from the one who can.

So, what did you all think? Are you happy Marnie and Charlie are trying to make it work? Or Hannah and Adam? Is Laird right? Are Hannah’s insides rotten? Did you like that there weren’t really cliffhangers? How does it hold up to the cake on the beach moment?

Also, does anyone know what “Oh Chloe, only the rain has such small hands” means?

Oh, and how about Hannah’s hair?!

See you in season 3!

Quote of the Night:

“Shiri! Operate!” -Adam, trying to answer his iPhone