GIRLS - Recap: Everything's My Business

Episode 11 of Season 3 of GIRLS, “I Saw You,” focused on another common yet irrational (key word) fear of twenty-somethings everywhere; does the success of others in your life suck away the potential to succeed at your own dreams? While Hannah (Lena Dunham) continued to struggle with Adam’s (Adam Driver) looming Broadway debut, Marnie’s (Allison Williams) work at Soojin’s fledgling gallery almost landed her the art world job of her dreams. Unfortunately, an unlikely competitor, a certain former “junkie thief,” unknowingly swooped in to screw things up. Meanwhile, relationships on GIRLS continued to be an outlet for frustrations and an unhealthy source of fulfillment, leading Marnie’s thought-to-be-dead fling with Ray (Alex Karpovsky) to suffer through a very uncomfortable revival. Here is the Recap and Review of GIRLS Season 3 Episode 11, “I Saw You”!

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GIRLS catches a lot of flak for allegedly claiming to represent the common American twenty-something, but I’ve also said in my recaps that I believe the point is to show incredible extremes via characters that are somewhat unlikable or indefensible at times in order to give the young audience a chance to laugh at or let go of the similar strife in their own lives. For example, it’s obviously not normal to sabotage your own professional work in a selfish obsession over your significant other’s entirely unrelated booming success, but it might be normal to feel admittedly embarrassingly jealous of it. Hey, at least nobody you know has recorded a legitimately produced music video to a cover of an Edie Brickell song that will be forever enshrined through YouTube.

Marnie had two arcs of attempted creativity during Episode 11, both of which presumably played a role in leading her back to Ray for some more unhealthy satisfaction. First, Marnie’s new job as Soojin’s assistant nearly landed her the career opportunity of a lifetime. When accredited photographer B.D. (Louise Lasser) stopped by to play a part in laying out her work in the gallery for an upcoming show, it’s Marnie who ended up spending the day by her side while the sufficiently inept Soojin skipped off to therapy. Mainly, B.D. served to make some interesting commentary on the heinous means in which the elderly are treated like mere shells by the world of pop culture and entertainment. It seemed like Marnie had everything going for her and that GIRLS was finally about to throw her a bone, but alas, had she even truly earned it at this point in Season 3?

HBO "GIRLS"

Just as Marnie’s moment of truth fell into her lap, it was none other than Jessa (Jemima Kirke) who dropped by spur of the moment to alleviate her own interminable boredom post-drugs. Jessa had previously spent her recent days rocking out as wildly as possible with some nice support from her maternal cousin, Shoshanna (Zosia Mamet); however, there seemed to be no substitute for the high. Still, the job hunt called, and a mere break to visit Marnie just as Marnie was about to have her eye for photography tested by B.D. inevitably led to Jessa’s possible big break in the art world. Jessa’s analytical eye and creative sense greatly impressed B.D., who now has a new employee doing archival work under wing. Marnie, needless to say, was flabbergasted. Also, I loved how Jessa immediately shot Marnie a dirty look when B.D. wondered if she was good at alphabetizing, as though Marnie had spent her morning conversing with B.D. about art and somewhere in the mix working in a jab at Jessa, a total stranger to the woman. The inflated senses of entitlement always add to the comedy!

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Hannah, meanwhile, continued to struggle with Adam’s decision to temporarily move in with Ray while he continued to prepare for his big Broadway debut in Major Barbara. Hannah is starting to feel used and abandoned, as Adam has taken to screw sessions back at their apartment with his mature blooming adult life happening over at Ray’s.

Once again, Patti Lupone guest-starred during Episode 11 to turn Hannah’s love life upside down, and this time, Elijah (Andrew Rannells) came along for the ride. Hannah needed to redo her interview with Lupone after their last attempt unraveled into an advice session that led to many of Hannah’s not-too-irrational fears about Adam’s new career move. It’s not entirely crazy to assume that something like someone’s massive dream coming true could end up destroying a relationship over time, but it’s totally irrational to not give your partner the benefit of the doubt. Then again, just ask Elijah; what Patti Lupone says, goes. Sharing some after dinner drinks at Lupone’s home with her husband, Hannah couldn’t resist asking about the dynamic of their relationship. Specifically, whether or not this man’s wife’s massive success led to this artist subjugating his personal dreams as a writer to supporting the Patti Lupone. In fact, that was exactly the case, which only served to send Hannah’s mind into a depressing tailspin once again. In her mind, three decades just flew by in a flash, and she was playing second banana to a Broadway legend.

GQ Magazine’s advertorial staff took the brunt of Hannah’s frustrations, and that was her plan entirely. Hannah went into her team’s brainstorming meeting during Episode 11 ready to get fired. In typical Hannah fashion, she projected her own insecurities about her writing dreams onto her colleagues without any sort of warning. Here’s the thing; almost everything she said was true about the nature of their work and the negative impact it’s had on their personal creative dreams, but nobody asked for Hannah’s harsh opinion, especially not Joe, who spent the opening scenes of last week’s GIRLS cleaning vomit off of Hannah in the middle of the night. Hannah did indeed lose her job. Whether that was actually her intention or not, we know that Hannah is all about the story, and she just shamelessly gift-wrapped herself another personal essay. Later, Hannah met Adam’s “very theatery” Broadway friends for the first time and attempted to chime into their somewhat bizarre train of conversations by linking in her story of coaxing her boss into firing her; however, the muted reaction was not necessarily the applause or, at least, the pleasing shock she expected from sharing the uncomfortable news.

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Marnie made her on-stage debut with Desi during Episode 11, and the result was surprisingly amazing. Even Elijah was worn over. Shoshanna, meanwhile, already has Marnie pegged, “obviously,” as the next big pop star. Here’s why I think Marnie’s arc with Desi is pretty important. He’s gotten her to open up creatively and to let go of her apprehension and anxiety about performing, but it’s almost entirely driven by her attraction to him. She feels like they have some sort of special chemistry, and maybe they do; however, Desi has an encouraging and supportive girlfriend, Clementine, whom we met this week after the hit performance. We don’t know if Desi is necessarily leading Marnie into some sort of an actual affair, but he’s most definitely toying with her heart. We also don’t know if he’s doing this purely for the sake of their music or if he simply enjoys messing with her heart. Perhaps it's a mix of both.

HBO "GIRLS"

Ray and Adam had a great moment while Ray shaved and Adam took a bath during Episode 11. I really enjoyed that GIRLS wrote in a male bathroom scene considering the fact that Hannah’s bathtub scenes have become a staple on this show. Here, Ray admitted to loving the single life if it meant not behind with a certain mystery girl, whom we knew to be Marnie. Ray, apparently, wants something very real, though with one episode left to go in Season 3, I doubt that could be Shoshanna just yet. Adam, meanwhile, loves this apartment.

In the end, Marnie’s missed opportunity at the gallery and failure to hook Desi drove her straight back to Ray, even considering her successes this week. Meanwhile, upon hearing the news of Hannah’s termination, Adam jumped back into rescuer mode to save the day. Of course, he still wouldn’t budge on moving back in together just yet (or maybe ever), but he did carry his precious cargo, Hannah, back to Ray’s for some one-on-one time. They didn’t expect to hear the moans of a girl being pleasured by Ray, though, and it seemed Hannah’s Episode 11 quest to destroy the happiness of all others would have to come to a screeching halt by raining on Ray’s parade. Unfortunately for Marnie, this meant that the secret was officially out.

He made me.

What did you think of GIRLS Season 3 Episode 11, “I Saw You”? Were you happy to see Patti Lupone back? Is this just what Jessa needed? What do you think about Marnie and Desi? Will this be the end of Hannah and Adam?

Thanks for reading my Recap and Review of GIRLS Season 3 Episode 11, “I Saw You”!