The University of Vermont's Independent Voice Since 1883

The Vermont Cynic

The University of Vermont's Independent Voice Since 1883

The Vermont Cynic

The University of Vermont's Independent Voice Since 1883

The Vermont Cynic

Girls Gossip: a review of Ep. 19

For those still questioning after a season and a half of Girls, this weeks episode appropriately titled On All Foursproves that constant discomfort can still be entertainment.We get to see Shoshanas zany hairstyles. She somehow was able to top last weeks Zenon-esque braid rope with a hair donut just above her forehead; perhaps a result of her new foray into adultery.Marnie tries advancing her music careera somewhat contrived development with a bizarre cover of Stronger after being pity-invited to her ex-boyfriends work party.However, compared to whats respectively happening with Hannah and Adam, Shoshanas and Marnies lives feel like games of hopscotch.Any Girls viewer is no stranger to the uncomfortable sex scene, and thats often due to Adam. Weve seen him use pedophilic dirty talk and make the continent of Africa on Hannahs arm, yet somehow he became a mildly sympathetic character.This week we see two sex scenes with Adam and his new girlfriend Nat. The first one has open communication, obvious attraction, andwe assumegood sex. The second happens after hes run into Hannah and resorted to drinking again: he makes Nat crawl, starts having sex with her from behind when shes clearly uncomfortable, and ejaculates onto her chest.Watching it felt almost as violating as I imagine the situation would be. Just 20 minutes ago, Adam was embracing sex in a normal way that made his partner feel safe, something unheard of with him and Hannah.Around Nat hes maintained this front of normalcy because hes in her apartment or at parties with her friends; hes even called himself her boyfriend.Its not until theyre in his environment that he reveals to her his self-destructive side, fitting with the theme of narcissism in the rest of the Girls.Meanwhile, Hannah takes herself to the ER after accidentally puncturing her eardrum with a cotton swab.She saves the cotton swab after her doctor refuses to clean out her other ear to make them even, and he gives the best line of the night: I suggest you frame it. The episode ends with a slow zoom on Hannah as she cleans out the other earmore self-destruction, or at the very least, rashness.Her OCD is a fairly new development but its not outlandish to think that Hannah has always had anxiety issues.Its resurgence is because of the stress of her new career; shes always had her voice of a generation shtick, but now that she has actual responsibility, she can barely handle it.Her grimaces at the end of the episode signal a lack of growth, unable to stop doing the thing that harmed her so much in the first place.However, its important to note that she always plans on cleaning that other ear, even before she runs into Adam. The career stress is clearly getting to her, but maybe its also guiding her away from the most destructive aspect of her life and, in a way, forcing her to grow up.

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Girls Gossip: a review of Ep. 19