Girls Season 6 Episode 9 Review: Goodbye Tour
Caralynn Lippo
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Can you believe that Girls Season 6 Episode 9 is the second-to-last episode of Girls ever? I think I'm in a little bit of denial.
That denial isn't because I think the show should continue on. Actually, it's wrapping up beautifully, and it's clear that tons of thought and care was put into bringing each character's storyline to its organic end. I'm just always sad when good TV takes its final bow – no matter how well it concludes.
"Goodbye Tour" found Hannah interviewing for (and then abruptly being offered) a teaching position at a small liberal arts college in Upstate New York.
I rolled my eyes pretty hard at that one. Hannah hasn't held a consistent job ever — her previous teaching gig went not-so-great and ended pretty quickly, if I remember correctly — so it's more than slightly unbelievable that an amazing teaching position (teaching kids about the internet?!) would just fall into her lap like this. Talk about a fantasy ending.
In retrospect, though, the disastrous jaunt to Poughkeepsie on Girls Season 6 Episode 2 turns out to have been a great piece of foreshadowing for where Hannah would end up.
Her conversation with the shop keeper who abandoned city life and "found herself" upstate takes on a much deeper meaning now that Hannah has paralleled that woman's choice.
As she made the rounds throughout the city she'd loved, hated, and loved-to-hate so much, Hannah checked in with various people who weighed in with their opinions on whether or not she should take the job and leave town.
Elijah, understandably, was heartbroken at the idea of his partner in crime up and leaving him behind. Earlier this season, the two had seemed to settle on the idea of raising Hannah's baby in their dinky little apartment. Now, Hannah will be doing it solo, and Elijah wasn't thrilled about it.
I just don't understand why you would want to leave New York, okay? That's like something your family makes you do when you're too deep into crack to stop them. It's not something that a young, vibrant, albeit pregnant, person does.
Elijah
On the bright side, the resulting scene – where Elijah serenades Hannah from across the apartment with a very mournful version of Demi Lovato's "Cool for the Summer" – was lovely. A great, minor moment closing this chapter of their friendship.
Of course, Elijah probably won't remain too down in the dumps for long – as he sassily announced when he interrupted the girls' "group meeting" in Shosh's bathroom, he landed the lead in "White Men Can't Jump," making him a Broadway star on the rise.
I got it! I got the part in "White Men Can't Jump" the fucking musical spectacular, you feckless whores! Hannah, I will see you at home tomorrow roughly around noon when I'm done partying this out. Eat a dick!
Elijah
Take that, you "feckless bitches."
Hannah even ran into Adam's sister Caroline, who abruptly returned to the city, reuniting with Laird and their baby.
That was a surprise reappearance that I didn't expect at all, given that we haven't seen Gaby Hoffmann on the show since Girls Season 5 Episode 2.
Though she was never a major character, it was great that her arc didn't get left dangling in the wind and that she managed to recover from what was apparently a mental break. Mostly because Laird deserves all the happiness in the world (even if it's not with Hannah...).
Caroline gave Hannah her unasked-for blessing to leave the city behind and take the job. Hannah's dad Tad and his partner Keith were equally supportive. But Hannah had a hard time reaching Marnie and Shoshanna for their advice – and, of course, she wasn't inclined to speak with Jessa about it.
Which made it all the more satisfying when the four main girls had their big breakthrough moment in the bathroom at Shosh's engagement party, realizing that they're not really friends anymore... and maybe never were.
With the help of Byron, who has completed all 12 steps of Al-Anon, I have come to realize how exhausting and narcissistic and ultimately boring this whole dynamic is. And I finally feel brave enough to create some distance for myself. If you guys happened to notice all of those really pretty girls out there who have, like, jobs and purses and nice personalities, those are now my friends. Not you guys. I think we should all just agree to call it.
Shoshanna
The obvious parallel here was to Shosh's big, drunken speech on Girls Season 3 Episode 7, when she epically called everyone out with incisive (yet totally correct) insults at the beach house.
In this case, Shosh similarly put into words what everyone was thinking deep down – the friendships that the four had made with one another were not in any way, shape, or form healthy ones. And whether or not the other three were willing to admit it, Shosh had had enough and was ready to call time of death on their already-shaky bond.
Shosh's words made sense – and it equally made sense that she wouldn't invite Hannah to her engagement party, or even tell her about the fact that she was engaged.
Hannah: You had a party and you didn't invite me? I mean, this place is, like, at capacity.
Shoshanna: Yeah, I did. Which would be strange, except you're having a baby, and you neglected to tell me after you literally told everyone else on the face of the earth. So, I guess that just kind of says who we are to each other.
It honestly hadn't even occurred to me that Hannah hadn't ever bothered to directly tell Shoshanna (or Ray, for that matter) about her pregnancy news, when pretty much everyone else found out very early on.
But it was ultimately realistic – people grow apart, and Hannah and Shosh were never particularly close to begin with. For Shosh, Hannah not telling her about the major life event she was going through was enough to put into context just how not-really-friends the two wound up.
I complained all season long about the lack of Shosh, but it was worth it for the awesomeness of the reveal that she wasn't around because she simply had better things to do, off-screen and out of the other girls' orbit – like make a ton of new friends and find a normal guy who seems like a great fiance.
Shosh has grown the most as a character since the early days of Girls Season 1, and "Goodbye Tour" perfectly represented that.
The party setpiece was wonderful because it provided several stand-out, major emotional breakthroughs. The forced "group meeting" in the bathroom, with Shosh telling it like it is, was one of them. But Hannah and Jessa's pseudo-reconciliation was arguably even better.
Jessa: I think it turns out that I wasn't as ready to help people as I thought. I just needed to take a long, hard look in the mirror, as my mother would say.
Hannah: What'd you see?
Jessa: A fucking bitch.
It's not clear whether Hannah and Jessa will ever be friends again – and it's basically impossible for them to ever resume the friendship they once had – but the moment of clearing the air was extremely cathartic, much needed, and wonderfully acted.
Seriously, bravo to both Jemima Kirke and Lena Dunham for the realistic apology scene. Even the stilted, unfinished bits of dialogue as they both struggled to find the words to convey what they meant was beautifully organic and true to life.
It was also a nice touch that Jessa wound up being the first person to find out Hannah is having a boy (along with the audience) and to have her reassure her former friend that the kid would turn out alright.
Hannah: It's okay. It's okay. I mean, think about it. We were all just doing our best, so.
Jessa: Our best was awful.
Hannah: Worst best.
Finally, the penultimate installment of the series closed on a montage of the four girls dancing at Shosh's engagement party – not quite together but not quite apart either – intercut with scenes of Hannah moving into her new house upstate.
This almost could have served as the series finale (with its sense of, well, finality), but of course we're going to meet Hannah's baby before the show is over.
Stray thoughts:
- Why on earth would Shoshanna invite Marnie to her engagement party? Jessa and Elijah I can sort of understand, but Marnie?
- On a similar note, why wasn't Ray at this party? Ray and Shosh have been pretty close as friends for a while now. What gives? Was Ray too busy with his new maybe-girlfriend Abigail?
- That shit conversation in the bathroom ("You're telling me every shit you've ever taken has been on a toilet?" / "Yes") perfectly encapsulated the difference between Marnie and Jessa.
- I'm so curious to see who will pop back up in the series finale. Girls Season 6 Episode 8 felt pretty final for Adam, and "Goodbye Tour" very well might have been Shosh's grand exit. Will the finale be 100% Hannah? I really hope not. I need to see at least a bit of all of the other characters – both major and minor – one last time, despite the fact that Hannah wlll (presumably) no longer be in the city.
- Still convinced Desi just up and died somewhere. Here's hoping we close the book on him too, before the end.
- Are we in for a time jump for the finale? The brief preview seemed to hint that we might be jumping forward in time.
- The conversation Hannah overheard in the shop from the two girls who were just moving in together was a really poignant, sweet moment.
What did you think of "Goodbye Tour"? Share your thoughts by commenting below, and remember that you can watch Girls online anytime here at TV Fanatic to relive the show's final season!
Caralynn Lippo is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow her on Twitter.
