Previously, on GIRLS…
Marnie got engaged to folksy Bon Iver wannabe, Desi. Jessa helped deliver Caroline’s (and Laird’s) baby leading her to believe she should dedicate her life to being a therapist. Ray fought Marc Maron for a councilman position and won. Shoshanna forwent love and a comfy, soup-money life for her dream job in Japan. And Hannah? Well, she finally made an adult decision by not taking Adam back.
Season 4 was Girls’ rockiest season yet. The major theme? Uncertainty, which is maybe why it was my favorite season thus far because, like many other people my age, I’m at a stage in my life where almost everything seems up in the air.
Despite all the ambiguity, season 4 ended on a bit of a high note for most characters. It seemed like each character did that very grown up thing where you say no to instant gratification and instead opt for something that may provide more long-term happiness.
While there certainly weren’t any cliffhangers, the ending did leave me reeling with quite a few questions, and with the release of season 5’s trailer, I’m left wondering where this next season will lead us as we transition into the final season.
1. Has Hannah finally found her calling or will she get fired?
Much of Girls has chronicled the ups and downs (let’s face it, mostly downs) of Hannah’s path to financial stability and career success. I was skeptical at first when she took on high school substitute teaching, but after watching her command the classroom so naturally, it seemed like a perfect fit. Sure, she’s irreverent and lacks the boundaries that teachers need to have with their students, but she’s also very down-to-earth and speaks teen fluently. Unfortunately, that could also be her undoing given the close call with Maude Apatow’s teenage character where Hannah regressed nearly 10 years to fight in the hallway rather than be a true role model.
2. Will Marnie actually go through with the wedding?
While season 5’s trailer certainly hypes up newly minted songbird Marnie’s boho-chic nuptials to her ass-eating scrub of a boyfriend, we don’t actually see her go through with it. In fact, we don’t see Desi at all in the previews. And it seems like the day is filled with disaster—Shoshanna’s choppy peroxide hair, the Kylie Jenner Lip Kit-looking makeup fail, and Hannah’s predictable ill-fitting bridesmaid dress. Am I the only one who equally wants her to go through with it because I hate her and equally don’t want her to do it because it’s just a bad, bad idea?
3. Will Ray pull a Graduate move and crash the wedding?
So even if Marnie goes full speed ahead with walking down the aisle, it doesn’t mean someone else won’t try to stop it. The most likely culprit? Ray. His emboldened, passionate, and thinly veiled speech at his victory party about always being there no matter what was clearly directed at Marnie, not the public he serves on the council.
4. Is Jessa finally growing up and settling down?
I don’t mean settling down in terms of finding a man and making a home, but rather, laying down roots by finding a career path and letting go of her nomadic tendencies once and for all. After the birth of Laird and Caroline’s Baby, Jessa-Hannah, Jessa declares to Shosh that she wants to be a therapist. At first, this conclusion seems impulsive, but on second thought, it does kind of make sense. She’s been through plenty of her own struggles and perhaps she’d finally be able to work out some of her daddy issues. But we’ve seen Jessa make these kinds of impulsive, brash decisions before, so it begs the question: is this time just like all the others or is this time different?
4. Have we seen the last of Mimi-Rose?
Sweet, bunny-faced Mimi-Rose Eleanor Howard. At the end of the season, she’s trying to work things out with ex-boyfriend and Jessa’s new love interest, Ace, played by Zachary Quinto. This leads Adam to rethink the situation with Hannah, offering to give it another try, but is ultimately turned down. Will Ace and Mimi-Rose break it off again, leaving her heart open to Adam once again?
5. Why did Fran decide to give Hannah a second (or third, really) chance?
Fran is kind of the perfect man. And I do mean a man. He’s direct, but sensitive. He’s smart and bookish, but not to the point of alienating others. He has a good, acidic sense of humor that matches Hannah’s. What’s not to like? Throughout last season, Hannah pretty much treated Fran like garbage. Case in point: dragging him to Mimi-Rose’s art show on their first date. But the last shot of the season, after Hannah rejects Adam, we see Fran and Hannah holding hand trudging through snow. Oh, and also they’re obviously still together in the season 5 trailer.
6. How will Japan change Shoshanna?
We’ve never seen any of the Girls try to make it someplace else firsthand. Sure, we’ve briefly heard about Jessa’s trysts and conquests in Italy and Spain, but we’ve never actually seen it or gotten any details. And well, okay, Hannah did go to Iowa for like a second, but being from the Midwest anyway, it didn’t seem like that much of a stretch. Plus, Elijah showed up on day two. Shoshanna, however, arrives in a completely foreign country this season. As the most nervous and neurotic of the group, living in Japan on her own is sure to bring some fish-out-of-water life lessons. The question is not really will Japan change Shoshanna, but how.
7. Will the aftermath of Hannah’s father’s coming out make up for the fact that I no longer have Looking to look forward to?
