GIRLS S5xEp04 OLD LOVES

Episode 4 dealt with issues in each of the current major relationships of the series – Fran/Hannah, Desi/Marnie, Adam/Jessa, and Dill/Elijah.

Once again Hannah proved that for her, being right trumps being happy when she and Fran landed in their first heated argument over how to grade papers. But Fran learns a bit about Hannah in this episode. She is going to be irrational, creative, and insubordinate. That’s the way she operates. Either you are in her corner on every issue or you are out to get her.

That brief exchange between Jessa and Adam, right before they step across the line they’ve been toeing between a messy friendship and a messier romantic relationship, is the most illuminating scene in “Old Loves.”What’s worse than sleeping with your best friend’s ex? Deciding to finally give in and sleep with him, only to have it be some of the worst sex of your life.

Hannah is perceptive enough to figure out that there’s something different about the way Jessa is treating her. Jessa won’t confess, and Hannah says maybe they’re just growing beyond their friendship, and Jessa agrees rather than giving Hannah the words of affirmation she’s obviously looking for. Hannah storms out before doubling back to tell Jessa she’s “the biggest bitch I’ve ever met” and “a total cunt.”

On the Desi/Marnie front, both of them are just awful. Seriously. As annoying as Hannah is, she has flashes of humanity that, despite it all, make me want to root for her. Marnie is just self-centered and irritating. And Desi. Oof. Desi is an egotistical man-child.

Those few minutes that Jessa, Marnie and Hannah were together was a nice reminder that these girls are indeed still friends, even if we rarely see them hanging out anymore. While we appreciate the separate storylines and journeys the characters need to take, we also wish there’d be more of those moments in between.

Meanwhile, Elijah and Dill Harcourt (Corey Stoll) are the newest couple on the roster. I was really hopeful for these two (because, as I may have mentioned once or twice already, I absolutely love Elijah), but “Old Loves” already dropped one or two disarming hints that this Dill guy might be a little… off.