Girls Season 5 Episode 8 Review: Homeward Bound
Caralynn Lippo
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And thus the Frannah romance chapter in the book of Hannah has come to an end.
Right?
Girls Season 5 Episode 8 saw Hannah finally make the decision she's been gradually inching towards nearly all season, breaking up with secret-jerk Fran and doing it in the Hannah-iest way imaginable.
Based on the way Girls Season 5 Episode 7 ended, with an incredibly wounded Hannah finally realizing that Adam and Jessa were now together, I would've expected Hannah to turn needy and glom onto Fran at all costs – despite the fact that she could hardly stand him, at this point.
Had Hannah not found out the Adam/Jessa news at that point, I'm sure the Hannah/Fran relationship would have ended in the closing moments of "Hello Kitty." Instead, Hannah presumably stuck it out a bit longer (it's unclear how much time has passed between "Hello Kitty" and "Homeward Bound), but reached her breaking point after realizing she was trapped in a tiny RV with Fran for three freaking months.
What's completely bizarre, but ultimately very realistic, is that Fran was perfectly content to be in a relationship with Hannah while she was palpably unhappy. This was emblematic of the fundamental disconnect between the two of them. They were never going to work out, and so they didn't. It took Hannah long enough, but halle-freakin'-lujah for her finally taking the initiative and ending it.
Hannah running away from Fran through the many doors of the rest stop public restroom was a hilarious gag and also an obvious metaphor for their relationship. He was chasing her, and she was trying to escape. She wanted so badly to be away from Fran that she forced him to abandon her at a rest stop while she was wearing her pajamas.
Oh, Hannah. Obviously, there are a million and one better ways that she could have done this, but she's Hannah, so of course she chose the worst possible break-up scenario.
Fran flipped out at hearing she was breaking up with him, and freaked out even harder when she refused to allow him to drive her back to the city.
After Marnie blew her off, since she was in the studio recording with Desi (who was actively ignoring her when not performing, on Lisa Bonet's orders), Hannah called Jessa. Jessa also couldn't help her out – she was with Adam, babysitting his niece.
Hannah's realization scene in "Hello Kitty" couldn't be topped, but Hannah outright saying that Jessa and Adam were having sex was a great small moment. Hannah's pain was, again, palpable, and I love that we got to see the more human side of Jessa.
Despite what she wants to believe, Jessa actually does care about Hannah. Otherwise, she wouldn't be so anxious and worried about whether Adam believes they're doing something wrong. She wouldn't be actively trying to convince herself that she's in the clear and shouldn't feel bad.
Of course, it now seems as though the Jessa/Adam relationship may be going the way of Frannah.
After discovering that Caroline had fled the home she shared with Laird and their daughter (affectionately nicknamed "Sample") due to her hidden post-partum depression, Laird took off and asked Adam to watch over his daughter.
I really, really hope that Laird hasn't gone off on a drug binge. Caroline and Laird were adorable and quirky and great together, and for him to fall off the wagon because she's gone AWOL due to her mental health crisis would just be utterly tragic. Tragedy on top of tragedy.
There are only two episodes left this season, and a lot is set to unravel, but I really hope this Caroline PPD storyline is addressed before the season wraps.
Naturally, the stress of his sister's disappearance and being left to watch a baby was weighing heavy on Adam's mind. Jessa's willful ignorance of all things baby-related wasn't helping much either.
Jessa: Why aren't you helping me?
Adam: You're an adult. She's a baby. Why do you need more help than a baby?
This was a completely fantastic scene and a fantastic bit of dialogue that opened up so many potential cracks in this otherwise-promising romantic pairing.
Adam's priorities may just be elsewhere. If Laird also disappears, and Adam is made to watch over his niece as a semi-permanent guardian (I can totally see the show going there), Jessa may not be able to handle that. She's just not ready for it, much as she cares for Adam.
Meanwhile back in wherever-the-hell Upstate New York, Hannah napped in a grassy knoll beneath a rest stop sign and waited for Ray. When he picked her up, she inexplicably decided to reward him with road head, in an awkward, deeply uncomfortable scene that made me feel like I need to rinse my eyeballs out with bleach.
Rannah is not a 'ship I want any part of, no sir. It's also clearly not a 'ship they're going anywhere with, thank goodness.
After causing Ray to crash his brand new coffee truck, they wound up stranded. Antsy Hannah was not willing to wait to be rescued by Ray's trusted mechanic, so she hitchhiked with a random stranger named Hector who pulled over for her.
This led to one of the most heartwarming scenes in Girls history. Seriously, I mean it.
Hannah spotted a gun in the back of Hector's car and initially thought she was having a moment of stranger-danger. This led to a very funny safety-call with a totally oblivious Marnie, who suggested Hannah pretend she needed to pee and make a run for it. Hannah, being the most awkward human on earth, couldn't pull that off and wound up peeing in a jug instead, to Marnie's incredulity.
Lucky for Hannah, Hector was harmless. In fact, he was just a guy escaping an abusive relationship back in Nevada and looking to start over. Hector's situation was an excellent foil for the predicament Hannah found herself in.
Obviously, Hector's situation was much worse, but the parallel was there and (hopefully) put Hannah's relatively not-so-bad situation in perspective for her.
Hannah: You're gonna like it, it's a good place to live. There's a lot of different kinds of food. Good pizza.
Hector: It's a good place to start over.
Hannah: Yeah.
This was a fully unironic, uplifting moment, and some incredible, subtle acting from both Lena Dunham and Guillermo Diaz, who played Hector. Great way to close out this installment.
Other thoughts:
- Lisa Bonet was amazing as Desi's friend/new ladylove, a specialist in rage issues. And clearly, Marnie has no rage. She's "cool as a fucking cucumber," okay?
- Also, Lisa Bonet's character's name – Tandace Moncrief. Perfectly terrible.
- Desi sucks. The fact that I dislike him more than Marnie is really a testament to his portrayer's acting abilities.
- Shosh was in very little of "Homeward Bound," but she, too, is bound for home. She's back in New York. Her two brief scenes, the episode-opener and her sushi restaurant confrontation with her ex-boyfriend Scott over her potentially trying to get on welfare, were both fantastic. Shosh frustrated and screaming in the airport, scaring everyone, was hilarious.
- Hannah briefly laughed at Hector recounting the ways he'd been abused by his girlfriend, which was a really screwed up moment. But it was clearly meant in a "Hannah is just the worst" way and not a "this is something that should be belittled" way. It was self-aware terribleness.
- One more time for the readers in the back: Ray and Hannah. Road head. NEVER AGAIN.
What did y'all think of "Homeward Bound"? Re-watch it or catch up if you missed it – you can watch Girls online right here at TV Fanatic.
Caralynn Lippo is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow her on Twitter.
