17 Unforgettable 'Girls' Moments You Probably Forgot About
Girls is the series that defines our generation. Or at least, it's a series, of a generation. The vastly controversial series by the deceptively simple title has had us in its thrall since the pilot. Why? Because it seemed to pick up on all the icky things about our lives and reflect them back to us. From entitled millennialism to mental illness to fumbling physical intimacy, the show picked out the insecurities of our time (not even those specific to twentysomething girls). It has rightly been criticized for portraying a very specific slice of contemporary life, though. the show's characters are almost universally white, and for the most part extremely lucky financially, despite the show's exploration of a less than glam lifestyle. Its characters are all excruciatingly self-obsessed, which can be hard to take at times, but they also fascinatingly reflect the selfie-obsessed digital culture that has imprisoned almost as much as it has liberated us. This is a show that fails to reflect all perspectives on modern life but does a fascinating job of telling it like it is when it comes to the life experiences it does cover. And even if you find the show's character struggles unrelatable, it has definitely switched up the game in showing us people who are definitely struggling with their lives. And there is something so comforting, addicting, and validating about that that we needed every episode of Girls. As the FINAL SEASON is hanging in the balance, and we can almost feel its awkward hilarity winging its way through the atmosphere to our screens, here's a quick recap of the fifteen best moments in Girls history that you probably forgot about.
17 "We Can't Keep Bankrolling Your 'Groovy' Lifestyle."
This was the moment in the Girls pilot that set up the entire series. And we loved it because it outed the cringeworthy financial and familial scenario of almost an entire generation of privileged kids. Starting here meant we knew we were forging new paths and covering new ground with this series. It was going to be gritty. It was going to be bleak. And it was going to be so hilariously close to our real lives that it became compulsive and yet also repulsive viewing. This scene was crucial because it set up Hannah's character as overly entitled, yet because we met her in a moment of weakness and loss, one that we could totally relate to. Echoing the voice of a generation of girls who had been schooled to believe they could have everything, but became adults in the middle of the financial crisis, we were introduced to Hannah at the dawn of her adulthood, and we were HOOKED. It was the fantastically semi-functional family dynamics in the scene (Hannah's brattiness, her mother's hostility, her father's ineffectual attempts to diffuse the situation), that gave birth to the series that promised to tell life like it is.
16 "This Fruity Little Voice?"
We loved the scene in which Hannah's ex-boyfriend Elijah comes out of the closet to her. We got to witness a famously awkward and difficult moment in the lives of gay people, as well as the straight person's insecure and awkward reaction to that. This was genius for so many reasons. Besides showcasing the hilarious relationship between gay and straight people, it set up a super entertaining dynamic between Hannah and Elijah that we LOVED watching play out. It explored the deepest insecurities of girls about not being considered girly enough by your man, as well as the pressure that non-straight people still come under to conform. Despite their personal limitations, the two manage to work through their insecurities in this brilliant clash of titanic egos and actually get along incredibly well. This was another moment that defined contemporary life, in which gender roles and stereotypes are coming under question. We loved watching the two of them grow together by coming to terms with their insecurities.
15 Dancing On My Own
The time that Hannah was feeling super depressed about the whole Elijah being gay thing led to one of the most adorable moments in Girls history. And it involved one of the most iconic songs in pop history: Robyn's "Dancing on My Own". Long a breakup anthem, which makes heartbreak into something bouncy and pop into something downbeat, this tune was a brilliant choice by the show's makers. "Dancing on My Own" seemed like the perfect anthem for the series, which seemed to say something about the hope and vibrancy of being your own person, even when you feel like the misfit/outcast. And when Marnie comes home to discover Hannah rocking out to it, they share a brief glimmer of pop-driven hope. We have to admit to getting that warm and fuzzy feeling when Hannah doesn't, in fact, have to dance alone, and confesses the whole thing to Marnie before they laugh it off together in the middle of a good old bedroom dance.
14 "How Does It Feel To Date A Man With [Lady Parts]?"
If you thought the previous moment was cataclysmic, you ain't seen nothing yet. Because it was in episode 4 that we saw Hannah (once again) rip hysterically through social conventions and push people to their absolute limits. Which was super entertaining to watch. In a slightly self-reflective moment, Lena Dunham's character causes massive disturbances in her social circle through her writing. In an even bigger bad than usual, she loses Marnie's friendship AND breaks up Marnie's long term relationship simultaneously, by writing super cringe worthy secrets in her diary, which (naturally) Marnie's boyfriend reads. The scene for this emotional showdown? Marnie's boyfriend's gig at which he sings the lines of Hannah's diary entry to guitar accompaniment, before storming tempestuously out in a shockingly impactful mic-drop moment. Marnie splashes her drink over the helpless Hannah and cut. Horrific as this whole turn of events was it also to a scalpel to the relationships involved, exposing some home truths simmering beneath the surface, albeit excruciatingly.
13 "Mindy Enjoys Wearing Scrunchies. No One Has Addressed That."
Without a doubt, the most lovable sociopathic character in the Girls series is Jessa. Of all the characters on the show, she's probably the hardest to be friends with. She's selfish, reliable only for being unreliable and damaged by her issues with her parents and addictions to illegal substances. Yet all the characters on the show are addicted to her. Because there is something wonderfully liberating about her (almost) total narcissism. So we loved the moment that put Jessa in a 'supportive' group therapy circle, and the fireworks that followed. Jessa's immense oversharing was exactly the kind of candid, hot-mess disaster-area realness that compelled us to keep tuning in throughout all of Girls' four series so far. The scene showcased Jessa's brilliantly charismatic personality and her unconventional brand of leadership. A totally damaged and bizarre, yet compelling, powerful, and even strong human being, Jessa's character in the group therapy scene seemed like a release valve for all the pent-up pressure created by post-digital perfectionism.
12 Shoshanna In Japan
https://youtu.be/uStAEzIu6RoWhen Shoshanna went to work in Japan, the series diverged from its primarily New York based plot line to explore a wildly different plotline and a massively different side of Shoshanna. For a long time, it seemed like Shoshanna was the wallflower of the group of girls. But just when their NY-based narcissism was becoming a little stifling, Shoshanna gets a new job in Japan, taking the series on a wild trip into Tokyo's cultural marvels. One of our favorite moments in this departure, besides the general awesomeness of Shosh's escape into the new territory both personally and geographically, was the cat cafe. Without a doubt, this phenomenon, which has grown to become a worldwide thing, seemed in keeping with a culture in which Hello Kitty is a major icon. Not only are we fascinated with Japan, but the country's metropolis was the perfect mirror for the girls' lives back in the more familiar concrete jungle of New York.
11 "Please Don't Tell Anyone This, But I Want To Be Happy."
In the "One Man's Trash" episode of Season 2, Hannah enjoys a day of intimacy with an older, divorced doctor played by Patrick Wilson, in his beautiful apartment. Playing on the 'rags to riches' motif, Hannah has a complete emotional breakdown and confesses everything about her life to her new lover. She opens up climatically about her pain, her parents, her childhood, and her selfishness. And while we have to agree that Hannah loves a bit of a drama, her confession is vulnerable and real. Oddly (and grippingly) enough, it is the moments of the characters' weakness that seem to endear them to us. Hannah's many trainwreck moments are the ones that bring her to life, and the times that made us breathe a sigh of relief over our own excruciating secrets. In the most poignant moment of the/Hannah's episode, she reveals herself as someone who wants desperately to be loved, and yet feels undeserving of it. Now, who hasn't been there?
10 "You Are The Wound."
In the highly charged denouement to season 1, all the tension that had been under the surface of Hannah and Marnie's relationship comes bursting to the surface. Anyone who has ever cohabited with a friend (the majority of young people) will know all about the subtle tensions that can accrue in close quarters between immature but passionate people. The first major showdown of the show, it's a doozy. All of Marnie's vanity and status-seeking is pitted against Hannah's self-absorption and obsessiveness, and it's fascinating to watch the two of them out each other's flaws mercilessly. This was a fight to end all fights and it finished the season by giving voice to a lot of the criticism that the show's creators, most conspicuously Lena Dunham, were receiving over social media. Although in actual fact, the internet trolls reacting to Dunham's character and offset personality were WAY more vindictive than Marnie ever is in the series, and she's pretty vindictive. While some of the complaints about the series were (no doubt) valid, this moment was a weird instance of art reflecting (on) life.
9 "What Is Are We, In A F****** Jane Austen Novel?"
Speaking of explosive fights, the one started by Shoshanna in Season 3, episode 7 is nothing short of nuclear. The ironically titled "Beach House" episode was anything but a day at the beach, as Shoshanna gives the girls a piece of her mind. This was a cathartic moment, whose building resistance to the girls' narcissism and directionless living needed desperately to be purged. The offbeat Shoshanna, the most sheltered of the four friends, was best placed to do that. Although it could be argued that Shosh is resentful of the others' adventures, she is by far the most together. She has a life plan and some clearly defined goals, which is way more than can be said for any of the others, who are almost to a person, wallowing in some form of self-pity or another. Shosh lets rip like every Girls viewer had been dying to do for at least a season. We loved it.
8 Marnie's YouTube Video
Marnie's YouTube video in Season 3 was EVERYTHING. Possibly even the high point of the whole series, it massively called out narcissistic, try-hard contemporary culture, and the frail vulnerability that belies it. Strangely reminiscent of David Brent's pathetic music video in the British series The Office, Marnie's poser music vid and the hilarious fallout in the aftermath of its circulation was something every girl in the digital age can relate to. Whether it be your friend posting pictures of you on Facebook that you would rather the 'world' did not see, to obsessively perfecting our social media feeds, we all know the shame of one too many selfies and obsessively stalking our exes on social media. It felt like this video called bull on this awkward transitional digital era's neuroticism. It was liberating to see the teenage mentality encouraged by social media exorcised on our screens.
7 Cake Butt
Girls wouldn't be girls without some of the most awkward intimate scenes ever conceived, let alone aired. One such clincher involved Marnie (played by Allison Williams), the most prim and self-regarding of the girls, engaging in some shocking back door antics. In a hilarious description of the filming of the scene, Allison said that during the filming, she considerately covered her behind with cream, so that it would smell of "cake", making the scene less uncomfortable for her co-star. She also described the pair of absurd makeshift panties that she was required to wear as an "engineering achievement", that involved "Spanx that we cut away and glued down and involved menstrual pads and two of those weird thongs". Wowee. But all we can say is we're glad the Girls cast was game for making these kinds of realistic scenes, because awkward as they must have been to film, they totally exculpate us from the awkwardness of our own experiences, like bizarre, TV-based therapy.
6 Crawling To The Bedroom On All Fours
Maybe the most controversial moment in all of the controversial moments that have pretty much comprised the Girls series so far, happened in Season 2 episode 9. Natalia is told by Hannah's ex, the ever-quirky, and divisive Adam, to crawl to the bedroom on all fours. After some seriously bizarre and shocking intimate scenes, Natalia (who is played by Shiri Appleby) says "I really didn't like that", causing a tidal wave of commentary from viewers of the series about these questionably consensual antics. Once again, the series pressed hard on a particularly sore spot in contemporary consciousness, further inflaming the debate about the shocking statistics and attitudes to consensual intimacy in our "modern", western culture. This was a show-stopper because it involved one of the most complex male characters on the show. For all his utter weirdness, Adam is shown in a light that allows him to remain somewhat sympathetic. Meanwhile, the question of healthy intimacy and female pleasure was also raised in an episode that we loved debating with our BFFs.
5 Hannah's Q-Tip Accident
Mental health, we are told, is declining in the west. Historically a taboo subject, which could get you a one-way ticket to the nearest loony bin, contemporary society is wrangling with an apparent surge in mental illness, from depression to personality disorders. Lena Dunham has been public about her own struggle with obsessive compulsive disorder, and season 2 moment gave rise to the condition's on-screen appearance. Hannah suffered from OCD when she was younger, but the stress of her success in season 2 causes her to have a relapse. Far from the normal laughing stock that's made of the disorder, we see Hannah painfully jam a Q-tip in her ear as she counts manically, culminating in an equally painful trip to the hospital. Although there is definitely a comic side to the incident, this portrayal overturned the often simplistic and ignorant myths about the famous condition. We could see for a moment into the world of someone wrestling with the disease, only to realize that it is more relatable than we may have thought.
4 That Time Jessa Got Married…
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We ALL knew how Jessa's marriage would end. But that didn't make it any less wonderful. In a time in which the traditional state of holy matrimony is under threat from a culture that privileges egocentrism yet wrestles with the economic downturn, the rollercoaster of emotions that Jessa's short-lived marriage took us on couldn't have been more opposite. Plus, we loved watching Irish actor and comedian Chris O'Dowd in a cameo part that took him into territory he hadn't even touched in Brit TV series, The IT Crowd. Strangely enough, the two wed after Jessa, Marnie, and Thomas-John (O'Dowd's character) have a failed menage-a-trois. A hair-brained resolution to their relationship, and the season finale, we hadn't gotten this excited about a TV wedding since the days of Friends, or (maybe) Schmidt and Cece in New Girl. Especially when the institution of marriage seems in danger of becoming the exception to the rule, we love a good wedding.
3 When Hannah And Elijah Go Wild
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One of our all-time favorite moments in Girls (so far) was when Hannah and Elijah take a college party by storm. With the typically electric on-screen chemistry that the two of them share, we couldn't get enough of this blow-out session in which the two go totally wild and have the best night out ever. Everyone wants to party with Elijah, who brings so much fun to Hannah's life and ours in this episode. To help Hannah out with her writing assignment, the two create some amazing memories, which unfortunately include trying some illegal substances. This causes them to become incredibly earnest with each other, and Elijah confesses to having had some nookie with Marnie, which later leads to Hannah kicking him out of the apartment. But this is not before the two friends have the time of their lives at a college party, and throwing some pretty wild shapes that make us want to get up on the dance floor.
2 This Dance Routine
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But the best dance routine of all time was definitely the carefully choreographed maneuvers that wowed us in the "Beach House" episode, before (as we know) all hell breaks loose. With echoes of the famous Buffy episode which was performed entirely as a musical, the "Beach House" dance was just one of the best things to ever happen on Girls. Because despite all of their weird quirks, hot-headed schemes, and tempestuous relationships, the cast managed to perform this brilliant dance routine with the grace, coordination, and synchronization of a group of pool-based ballerinas. Wacky as the coordinated dance off between the characters was a move cooked up in the series' Writers' Room, it was also magic. Who hasn't experienced the unifying and stress-relieving powers of a domestic dance? OK, so ours may not be so synchronized, but we totally shared in the piece of spellbinding TV history that was the "Beach House" dance routine.
1 The Time The Girls Made Up With An Impromptu Dance
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We had to conclude our summary of the most unforgettable Girls moments with the clincher for the whole series, which is that, somehow, among the madness, zaniness, and darkness of the Girls series, there's still an integrity to the group that makes all that bearable, and compulsively watchable. For all its pain, awkwardness, and the self-obsession of its characters, Girls is anything but vapid. The characters are complex, the situations they face seem real, and their suffering and failures give us hope for the future. After all the drama, we feel like the friendships the girls share are somehow (however faintly) rooted in compassion. Which is why the ultimate memorable moment in the Girls series (so far) is the moment that they make up with (yet another) dance, this time impromptu, after (yet another blow-out fight). We want to stick with these characters, whose flaws we love to watch play out. And we're on the edge of our seats waiting for the final season to drop…
