We have about a month to go until the fifth season of Girls premieres on HBO, and we have a lot to look forward to with each of the characters — Hannah, Marnie, Jessa and Shoshanna — embarking on new eras in their lives.
One of the things that is so special about this series is that the characters undergo so much growth but also regression, pain and sometimes recklessness, which I feel is what makes it stand out as the most realistic show about women in their 20s.
Creator Lena Dunham described this season as “We’re putting them for the first time in truly adult circumstances and learning just how hard that can be.”
So this is our top five reasons why we are ready for Girls season 5:
1. Shoshanna in Japan
At the end of last season we saw Shoshanna choosing to “lean in” and accept a job with a company based in Japan instead of staying in New York with her boyfriend, Scott (Jason Ritter) and in the trailer for season five we see her fully acclimatizing to the Japanese lifestyle.
With a new hairstyle, a colorful wardrobe and the always hilarious Abigail (Aidy Bryant) at her side, she says, “Sometimes I think about Japan and I’m like ‘Did I create this country in my mind?’” which is the most Shoshanna-esque way to describe an entire country, and made me realize just how much I missed her and her unique outlook to life. She said she ran away from her problems by going to Japan and it worked, so how will the new country change her? And what will happen once her problems catch up to her?
2. Hannah in a healthy relationship?
So as much as I love Adam, him and Hannah together were the epitome of toxicness, and last year she seemed to realize that as well as she opted to date Fran, her colleague, instead of Adam and perhaps tone down on the drama.
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The trailer and promos of season five, show us that Hannah might not be as comfortable in her new relationship as we thought, as she speaks about becoming confident with her body shape, and she turns to Jessa and Marnie for advice, but it will be an interesting dynamic to see Hannah deal with her first really adult relationship and the trials that come with that.
3. Marnie’s wedding
Okay, the wedding itself is not something I’m looking forward to, because Desi (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) is the worst. But anything that brings all four girls into the same room together is a plus for me — and the wedding will do that, seeing as all three others will serve as bridesmaids and it’s bound to be a hilarious event. Perhaps Rita Wilson will make another appearance as Marnie’s mother? Perhaps Ray will do a last minute attempt to win Marnie? Either way, it will be eventful.
4. Jessa as a psych student
I’m sure we have all had a friend who has studied psychology and during those formative years when they are still learning their craft they tend to want to psychoanalyze everyone around them. It will be interesting to see Jessa’s — who has always been so detached from the group — opinion and analysis of what they are going through and how they need to change, it is bound to be a whole lot different to advice they usually receive.
5. The boys – Ray, Adam, Elijah
Even though the show is titled Girls and the lead characters are all female, the male supporting characters add some great flavor to the show — from Adam’s antics, to Ray’s cynicism and Elijah’s dramatics — Girls is just not the same without them.
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When we last left them, Ray was still in love with Marnie who is getting married to Desi, Adam attempted to restart his relationship with Hannah only for her to reject him for Fran and Elijah was helping Hannah’s dad adjust to coming out of the closet.
While not much has been revealed about these characters’ journeys in season five yet, we do know that Adam’s acting career appears to be taking off as behind the scenes pictures show him dressed as a vagrant next to Lucy Liu and Jonny Lee Miller from Elementary, assuming that he lands a guest starring role on that show. So now that his career is taking off, is he still hung up on Hannah? Or perhaps as there are cracks in Hannah and Fran’s relationship and both Hannah and Adam have matured a lot since they were last together, maybe they’ll have their chance now?
From the trailer, we learn that Elijah is working for Ray but as flighty as ever, when he just dumps work to go meet Hannah because she’s having a ‘gay dad emergency’ and of course there’s that scene where Fran walks in on him and Hannah kissing which is apparently a part of their morning routine — Elijah has always been an iconic unapologetic character and we look forward to him carrying on that tradition in season five.
Ray has always been one of my favorite characters with his cynical commentary and way of just telling them like it is. I think it works in his favor that he is older and has already experienced what the other characters are going through. In the trailers, we have seen Ray mostly interacting with Elijah and Hannah, and him offering to give advice to Fran, at what looks like Marnie’s wedding. So we are to assume that Ray is going to Marnie’s wedding, even though he’s still in love with her. Maybe she’ll finally realize he’s the one for her and they’ll run away together? One can hope.
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Girls returns on February 21 on HBO, watch the season five promo here:
https://youtu.be/KQeGxQDG7hM
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