Girls Season 5 Episode 3 Review: Japan
Caralynn Lippo
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Shosh was living her best (and most colorful) life in Japan... up until the events of Girls Season 5 Episode 3, at least.
After hearing about how much Shosh was enjoying Japan in the Girls Season 5 Premiere, curiosity was definitely piqued. Was she really enjoying it as much as she said, or was she just trumping it up in order to assure everyone who would listen that she'd make the right decision?
Turns out, it was the former.
After not seeing Shoshanna at all in Girls Season 5 Episode 2, it was great to get a very Shosh-centric episode.
Shosh in Japan was completely hilarious and basically exactly what I expected it to be. She'd picked up bits and pieces of the culture (and even a decent amount of the language and customs!) and was fitting right in with her coworkers. She'd even developed a tentative flirtation with her boss, Yoshi.
Her Japanese coworkers, meanwhile, did seem to like her too, but were mostly amused by her. Her two friends lightly made fun of her in Japanese so she couldn't understand them, and they also laughed at her tendency to talk too fast. Plus, they looked legitimately weirded out at Shosh's rant about not caring about anyone in America anymore, since she loves everyone and everything in Japan so much.
First of all, maybe I am a shiny star at the company because even though I've only been here for a very short while, I truly feel like this is my home and you people are my family. And I don't even really care about people in America anymore. But second of all, I also kind of have a boyfriend. And third of all, he's my boss, and Sheryl Sandberg would fucking kill me.
Shoshanna
That was such a Shosh moment, just saying whatever came into her head without any thought for how bizarre and overzealous it sounded.
On the other hand, her friends were clearly quite sad after she got the news that she'd been fired (A+ performance by Aidy Bryant as Shosh's boss Abigail, having the WORST time ever trying to fire Shosh via Skype).
The rules of drama dictate that when something is going very well for a character, it'll be time to shake things up or risk becoming stagnant and boring. This is clearly what's going on here.
Once we found out that Shosh was loving Japan, something was bound to go wrong, and fast. Her firing instigated the tough choice she had ahead of her: stay in Japan with no money to live there, or head back to America to a comfortable life being taken care of by her instant soup-making sorta-boyfriend, Scott?
Side note: Was anyone else completely taken aback to find out that Shosh and Scott had actually stayed together when she moved away to Japan? It did not at all seem like they were setting those two up for a long-distance relationship back in the Girls Season 4 finale.
Yoshi: Hello, Shoshanna. Did you have pleasure on this weekend?
Shoshanna: Oh, uh, yeah... Major pleasure.
Of course, Shosh's lukewarm feelings towards Scott became apparent very quickly, what with the awkward, adorable flirtation with her boss Yoshi and then her unimpressed phone call with Scott. It all culminated in Shosh kissing Yoshi passionately after their night of debauchery (Shosh in a slutty-nurse outfit whipping Yoshi's gross friend was all kinds of win), and Shosh choosing not to get on a plane home to America.
Yes, it was a jerk move of Shosh not to tell Scott that she wasn't showing up, leaving him hanging at the airport holding flowers and a sign like some kind of schmo, but that's kind of what this show is all about. Cartoonishly selfish, self-centered twenty-somethings doing things without consideration of anyone else's feelings.
What is Shoshanna going to do now that she's not returning to America? She has no money. She was clearly packing up her apartment, so had she made arrangements to move in with someone? Maybe Yoshi? Very curious.
Meanwhile, back in New York, Hannah struggled with an incredibly banal relationship issue, one that we'd never have expected the Hannah of early Girls to give a hoot about: she found ex-girlfriend nudes on Fran's phone.
Fran, being such a "nice guy Fran," professed that he was unable to get off to porn (because of the degradation of women and all) which just underscored his whole schtick.
He's nice. He's almost too nice, which is something of a theme this season – so far, both Marnie and Hannah's father have lectured her about what a nice guy Fran is in a sort of warning to make sure she hangs onto him. This is clearly going to drive them apart at some point, because Hannah was never one to do what people think she should do.
Ray and Elijah assisting Hannah in taking sexy nudes to send to Fran was such a great gag. They were doing it in Ray's coffee shop. Uh, no wonder people are choosing to go to Helvetica over your place, Ray. There's a naked lady on the couch!
Hannah: What I lack in skill, I make up for in extreme curiosity.
Ray: So why are you getting your panties in a bunch, then?
Hannah: Because, Ray, I've worked very, very hard to overcome the challenges of my non-traditional body type and accept myself for who I am. And I'm not going to be edged out of my own life by girls who don't even have any interesting fat deposits on them. Until this happened, I was basically Kate Upton to myself.
It also led to the Elijah-ism of the week:
Let me put this in terms you'll understand. Like you know a cake is coming later! There she is.
Elijah
Classic Elijah.
Naturally, by the end, Hannah was not content to be one photo among Fran's collection of ex-girlfriend nudes. She snuck out of bed in the middle of the night to delete the photographic evidence of her competition. How very Hannah of her. I'm sure this will end well for her.
Other thoughts:
- Marnie's pronunciation of Ecuador was so obnoxious and so perfectly Marnie. Part of me can't believe that she and Desi actually went through with the marriage. I'm sure they'll enjoy they'll enjoy their literal "honeymoon" stage before it all falls to pieces.
- The Jessa-Adam subplot seemed a bit shoehorned into this episode, what with so much else going on in it, but Adam's silent mime thing after Jessa turned down his kiss and left was a gift to the world. Such a fantastic, perfectly Adam moment. Adam Driver is a gem.
- Elijah-ism of the week definitely goes to that "smile like you see a cake coming," but the runner up is definitely his response to Ray's eagerness for Marnie news: "Don't be thirsty, Ray."
What were your thoughts on "Japan"? Chime in by commenting below and watch Girls online to catch up on any episodes you may have missed!
Caralynn Lippo is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow her on Twitter.
