Girls - Season 1 Episode 9 - Recap and Review - Leave Me Alone

"Leave Me Alone," Girls' ninth episode, posed a big question to the show's leading ladies. It's that one question that is utterly cringe inducing to any mid-twentysomethings out there watching. What do you want to do with your life? They may not have given us any answers tonight, but it isn't finale time just yet.

The show opens at a book release party for a former peer of Hannah's (Lena Dunham). With Jessa (Jemima Kirke), Shoshanna (Zosia Mamet), and Marnie (Allison Williams) in tow, Hannah attempts to swallow her pride and bite her tongue to show support for her untalented former classmate, Tally (guest star Jenny Slate).

Shoshanna: "Her boyfriend killed himself on purpose by crashing a vintage car while on percocet."

Hannah: "I know, she's so lucky."

Jessa: "Your boyfriend should kill himself. You deserve it."

Hannah: "Well, thank you, but you're just saying that because you love me."

Truth be told, Tally is pretty unbearable, and there's no doubt in my mind that her writing skills are most definitely lacking. She takes a few covert digs at Hannah as a result of Hannah's obvious discomfort regarding this situation, but Hannah manages to outwit her.

Tally: "Do you have an agent?"

Hannah: "I don't have an agent. No, I have a boyfriend. He lives in Prospect Heights. He's alive and well there."

Still, the massive success of her book "Leave Me Alone" is enough to trump Hannah's talent, at least for now. This is part of what's tough about being in your mid-twenties, watching other people find success while waiting for your own moment. The problem is, as this episode showed very well, sometimes you don't even know what that moment should be like. Hannah, for one, isn't sure of what she wants.

Later, Marnie and Hannah spot an old writing professor of Hannah's (guest star Michael Imperioli of Sopranos fame). He's just what Hannah needs, an intelligent mentor figure to whisper to her that Tally is a bad writer, and that she is a great writer. He invites Hannah to an open mic reading event to share some of her writing, but Hannah refuses. It's not really her style.

The next day, Hannah admits to Marnie that she couldn't sleep stressing over how she went out of her way to be aggressive towards Tally a the book party. She criticizes her own life for being built on mistakes rather than on taking risks. Thus, she decides to try the open mic reading her professor suggested. When Marnie critiques one of Hannah's essays, the one she planned on reading, Hannah lashes back at Marnie for not supporting her. As Marnie puts it, she literally supports jobless Hannah. Hannah finally thanks Marnie for her financial help. That was a much needed moment. Adam (Adam Driver) strolls in like he owns the place, and asks for ten minutes of privacy in her bedroom. Marnie is puzzled as to why Adam had a key to their apartment already. Hannah gave him hers!

Jessa and Shoshanna go for a walk and pass a window display featuring Tally's book. Shoshanna can't believe they got to be a part of the celebration hoopla surrounding it. Jessa most certainly can believe it. Shoshanna was inspired to take a huge leap by Tally's story, so she joined an exclusive internet dating site. She went with the expensive site because the people on Match.com are ugly. Jessa is just ready to make changes. Once again, I really feel like Jessa is the most proactive of the girls.

Back in Hannah's bedroom, Adam is doing sit-ups, and Hannah invites him to her book reading. Adam declines. He thinks readings are a lame excuse for people to act like what they have to say has meaning. Hannah agrees, but she's determined to try something outside of her comfort zone.

Jessa is redecorating her apartment, which is actually Shoshanna's apartment she's crashing in for a while. A surprise visitor arrives, and as it turns out, it's Katherine (Kathryn Hahn), Jessa's former boss. In a strange twist, she wants Jessa to babysit for her again, regardless of Jessa's inappropriately flirtatious relationship with her husband.

Hannah's starting a new job at the coffee shop to begin paying Marnie back. Ray (Alex Karpovsky) is her boss, and she's already off on the wrong foot. She show's up in a doily white dress, and he sends her home to change.

Ray: "Forget all the BBC you watch at home with your cats, and pick out an appropriate outfit."

Later, Ray critiques her choice of writing material, too. Hannah is working on a book of personal essays, including the one Marnie critiqued earlier about a guy Hannah dated who ended up being a hoarder. Ray thinks her writing is vapid because it's all about her life, not about current events or global issues. Again, Hannah is caught off guard. This book is what she's been clinging to in order to stay sane.

Katherine has been having dreams about Jessa, which Jessa finds very intriguing. Apparently, she's been having dreams about cutting Jessa up and eating her, which Jessa finds even more intriguing. *Insert gratuitous and tasteless joke about bath salts* Jessa's not at all phased by this, actually. She was never infatuated with Katherine's husband. She was interested for a few minutes, just like she is interested with everyone she meets for the first few minutes; however, Jessa and Katherine both know that she can't come back to work for their family.

In a strange turn, the conversation becomes more about Jessa than about the job or Katherine's marriage. She feels like she wants to help Jessa. This was my favorite part of the episode.

Katherine: "I bet you get into these dramas all the time, like with Jeff and me, where you cause all this trouble, and you have no idea why. In my opinion, you're doing it to distract yourself from becoming the person you're meant to be."

Jessa: "Which is who?"

Katherine: "You tell me. She might not look like what you pictured when you were age sixteen. Her job, might not be cool. Her hair might not be flowing like a mermaid, and she might really be serious about something or someone, and she might be a lot happier than you are right now."

At the book reading, Hannah shows up late. Her subway got stuck on Canal St. and she used her time to quickly write a new story to read in place of the "hoarder" story. The only problem is, her new story isn't very good at all. It's a story about an online relationship she had for six months with a guy she met in a chatroom. She liked his screen name, so she internet dated him until he died. Died! The End! The crowd is silent. Later, Hannah's professor asks why she didn't read the amazingly funny story she sent him, the story about the hoarder. Hannah realizes she's made yet another mistake, and she immediately leaves on the brink of tears. This is a rare emotional glimpse at Hannah. In the past, we've seen her cry, but we haven't ever seen her really hurting. Her writing is her true love. Her relationships have become expendable.

Back at her apartment, she attempts to vent to her best friend Marnie. Hannah is surprised that Marnie actually paid for Tally's book, and even more surprised to find that she thinks Tally is a great writer. A massive blowout ensues over Hannah's neediness. Both of these girls are tired of dealing with each other's baggage. Marnie calls out Hannah for being selfish and judgmental, and Hannah calls out Marnie for being jealous of her relationship. She doesn't think Marnie wants anything more from life than to find a boy to fulfill her, and this could be very true. That doesn't mean Marnie wants to live like this. Their friendship is crumbling, and the episode ends with Marnie admitting that she wants to move out.

What did you all think of the episode? Do you think Marnie and Hannah are meant to be friends, or is this breakup a good thing? Are you excited to see what strides Jessa takes on her path to self discovery? How did Shoshanna's date at the Old Navy flagship store cafe go?