Girls Season 6 Episode 2 Review: Hostage Situation

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Has Hannah actually grown up and gained some self-awareness? 

Girls Season 6 Episode 2 appears to suggest that the impossible has, in fact, happened. With a disastrous trip upstate, Hannah lays out some harsh truths for Marnie.

Meanwhile, back in the city, Shosh has some realizations of her own about her relationship with Jessa and her friendships.

The Awkward Reunion - Girls

Some of Girls' best moments take place when said girls are out of the city, thrust into new and strange environments. This was the case for Hannah with the Girls Season 6 Premiere, when she was in Montauk for the majority of the season opener.

Similarly, "Hostage Situation" found Hannah reluctantly accompanying Marnie and Desi on their secret "jaunt" to Poughkeepsie. Fittingly, that was where Marnie and Desi's relationship reached its (hopefully) final breaking point.

The revelation that Desi is actually a drug addict was, in itself, not terribly surprising. Desi has always had a penchant for being an erratic weirdo – strange behavior and mannerisms, saying weird pseudo-enlightened bullshit, impulsiveness. 

Desi is not a main character, so the fact of his addiction to Oxy was besides the point.

The major development here was that Marnie's head is shoved so far up her own behind that she didn't realize that her husband has been taking an exorbitant amount of painkillers for an entire year – the majority of their relationship.

It's a testament to how dramatically self-involved Marnie is. Everything is about her, all the time.

The Desi situation led to one of the series' best scenes to date: the conversation between Hannah and Marnie on the kitchen floor, after they teamed up to toss Desi out of the house.

Hannah: But seriously, Marnie, it can be pretty hard to have observations about other people when you're only thinking about yourself. I would know. And I'm not judging you, okay? I promise. I'm done with that. I'm done judging, I'm done being superior, I'm done acting like I know anything at all. None of us know fucking anything!
Marnie: We don't know shit, do we?
Hannah: Nope.

This was, easily, the most self-aware and relatable that Hannah has ever been. And what's more, I honestly believed her when she promised that she would help Marnie get out of the terribly tangled situation she's found herself in.

Of course, Hannah has had "awakened" moments like this before when it seemed like her eyes had been opened. In many ways, Hannah is like a sponge, absorbing the characteristics of whatever notable new personality is in her midst.

This is all getting very Teen Witch-y, like when she goes into that store and gets the amulet.

Hannah

With "All I Ever Wanted," Hannah adopted Paul-Louis' laidback beach bum attitude. With "Hostage Situation," Hannah was clearly echoing much of the Poughkeepsie shop owner's chill attitude about "living her truth." The free tea set (that Hannah's "life depended on," according to the shop owner) clearly had an impact on our main character.

Speaking of the tea set – it felt very meaningful (and funny) that it was broken, mere hours after she'd gotten it, during the scuffle with a raging, pill-deprived Desi.

If this is the last we see of Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Desi, I'll miss him but be okay with it. He certainly went out on a high note. Literally and figuratively.

What is the meaning of this fucking cunt parade?!

Desi

Moss-Bachrach is wonderful in this annoying, cliche hipster-musician role. He can also deliver absurd lines like the above, fully in character, without blinking an eye. And bonus: He inspired the show's single best description ever, courtesy of Hannah.

He looks like someone in the Pacific Northwest knit a man.

Hannah [about Desi]

I laughed – nay, GUFFAWED – aloud at that line. It was so priceless and perfectly accurate.

As stressful and intense as the confrontation in the Poughkeepsie house was, it was played with a note of humor that made it one of the show's funniest moments ever.

Desi popping up in the window and Hannah screaming like a maniac? Hilarious. Lena Dunham looked like she was barely able to keep a straight face throughout all of it.

Meanwhile, back in the city, Shosh revisited her past by attending a networking event with Jessa and Elijah, and she took a good hard look at how much she'd changed from her Girls Season 1 self.

Shoshanna Shapiro

When we first met Shosh, she was extremely driven and on a set career path, attending NYU. Then, she became more and more drawn into Jessa's life and her friend circle. Now, we've come to find out that Shosh has turned Jessa into an emblem for all of her life failures.

Now, this isn't entirely fair on Shosh's part. Sure, Jessa was a bad influence on Shosh – that much is undeniable.

But Shosh is a grown woman, and it was her own choice to drift away from her friends. Just because she regrets her decision now that Rachel and Ziva have become successful business owners doesn't make it Jessa's fault.

It was so, so uncomfortable watching Shosh attempt to suck up to her old friends when they were clearly cold and uninterested in hanging out with her again.

And there's much to be said about Jessa's faults, but she was completely on point about Shosh's two hideous ex-friends. Those girls are the worst.

Shosh, first of all, I can't believe that you ever hung out with those girls, they're awful. They're like Khloe Kardashian and Bethenny Frankel, if those women weren't amazing and total revolutionaries.

Jessa

Now that Jessa is entirely on her own and has been rejected by every one of her former friends, I'm curious to see how she'll deal. I'm also curious to see whether Hannah will truly be able to help Marnie attain the kind of growth and self-awareness that Hannah herself has apparently achieved.

Stray thoughts:

  • Loved Elijah's "I survived the 3rd season of Ally McBeal" shirt.
  • Also amazing: the fact that, during the entire conversation with Hannah in their apartment, Elijah was pantless and bare-assed.
  • I'm not 100% sure about this, but during the nighttime drive to the Poughkeepsie house, were Desi and Marnie playing a cover of Marnie singing "Karma Police" by Radiohead? Such a classic Desi and Marnie move, if so. Also, Marnie's karma has hit hard, so it is super relevant.
  • It was a minor plot point, but I love the fact that Hannah was writing an article about Staten Island's last remaining sex club. I'm enjoying these wonderfully bizarre writing assignments she's been getting.
  • I'm not the biggest fan of Allison Williams' acting, but she can play the humor up in awkward sex scenes like a pro. Between her awkward and stale morning sex with Ray in the premiere and her pained but aggressive sex with Desi this time around – her facial expressions are hilarious.
  • Shosh's GIGANTIC hoop earrings – seriously, an infant could use those things as a hula-hoop – gave me so extreme early-2000s flashbacks.
  • We better get a Jessa-centric installment soon because at this point she's reaching peak-unbearableness. She was so insufferable on the premiere and with Shosh at the networking party.
  • The score during the Desi-Marnie Poughkeepsie confrontation was wonderful and spooky.
  • So now the secret is out about Desi and Marnie. Elijah, who was told by Hannah and instructed not to tell anyone, spilled the beans to Jessa and Shoshanna. I can't wait to see Ray's reaction and the fallout from that. Good riddance to Ray/Marnie (Rarnie?), my least favorite TV relationship possibly ever.

What did you think of "Hostage Situation"? Leave me a comment below with your thoughts. Remember that you can watch Girls online here at TV Fanatic anytime to relive the show's final season.

Hostage Situation Review

Editor Rating: 4.75 / 5.0
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User Rating:

Rating: 4.3 / 5.0 (33 Votes)

Caralynn Lippo is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow her on Twitter.

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Girls Season 6 Episode 2 Quotes

I'm happy to share my Google Cal with you, if you want to make actual plans.

Shoshanna

Hannah: And now, she and Desi are seriously considering trying anal!
Elijah: He's not getting anything up Marnie's ass!