by Jon Partridge
Ahead of its fifth season coming 21st February, HBO has released season 4 of Girls. The show looks at the messy lives of four friends living in New York. In this season creator, writer, and star Lena Dunham took something of a risk in taking these characters — who at times could be infuriating — and breaking them down, driving home life lessons in a number of arcs to strengthen them and in essence make them grow up. It’s an awkward phase, but as we all know, a necessary one.
This season finds the girls tentatively edging towards maturity as they take on new personas in new worlds. As the season begins, Hannah (Dunham) leaves New York to attend the prestigious Iowa Writers’ Workshop in the hopes of becoming a more serious writer, while confronting uncertainty in her relationship with Adam (Adam Driver). Meanwhile, back in New York, Marnie (Allison Williams) pursues a music career while balancing her professional and romantic relationship with Desi (Ebon Moss-Bachrach); Shoshanna (Zosia Mamet) graduates and begins interviewing for jobs, while sorting out her relationship with Ray (Alex Karpovsky); and Jessa (Jemima Kirke) is trying out sobriety through AA, though her ability to stir up drama remains undiminished. By turns hilarious and heartbreaking, this season’s 10 episodes offer up some unexpected twists, as the girls of Girls continue to hunt for success — creatively, professionally and romantically — in New York City and beyond.
Season 4 ushers in a time of change, as Hannah (Dunham) is preparing to leave New York City to get her M.F.A. in Iowa, throwing her relationship with Adam (Adam Driver/Kylo Ren) into turmoil. Marnie (Allison Williams) is intent on becoming a successful musician together with her partner Desi (Ebon Moss-Bachrach), whom she is intent on stealing away from his girlfriend. Jessa (Jemima Kirke) is struggling with her sobriety and inability to avoid causing trouble, while Shoshanna (Zosia Mamet) has graduated and is intent on securing her dream job. The realities of the world and a few curve balls ensure each of the characters is pegged back before they get even close to their goal.
It proves a hard journey for both the characters and the viewers. These girls have always had some negative qualities, and season 4 sees them come to the fore. Superficiality, selfishness, pettiness, and at times just plain unlikeability are hallmarks. There is a harder edge to the humor and characters; rather than insightful and incisive writing, the show feels to have become a little bit of a caricature of itself. It’s still entertaining to watch, but in the back of your mind you know how abhorrent it would be to encounter such behavior in real life.
Perhaps the key thing to highlight the innate bad qualities of Hannah is her move to Iowa, where her writing and opinions are set against the backdrop of both learned and ethnically diverse people. The contrast in life experiences and perceptions is staggering. In one scene, a writing group whose critique of Hannah’s story in turn reflects much of the criticism against the show in its first season. Dunham’s engagement with fans and critics alike both in real life and through her artistic medium is a commendable one, whether you view it as a wink at supporters or a means to fan the flames of those with a dislike for her work. Whichever side you take, Dunham remains intent on telling tales from her experiences, looking to empower and showcase women in a multitude of ways. The show still takes on issues like abortion or homosexuality with the insight it always has; the wit is still there, it’s just less prominent with the focus on the muddled lives of the core cast.
Taken as a whole the season is a step forward. Girls has felt a little repetitious over the last few seasons, and season 4 seems to deliberately retread the same old ground for these characters, but slowly finds its way to making a clean break from the destructive, cyclic nature of their lives. To explore friendships you have to test them, and that is one of the key aspects of season 4. The girls are thrown against each other, but more importantly events break them down as a group, removing some of the support mechanisms they enjoyed previously. It’s very much about forging independence, breaking them down to build them up with a finale that offers a form of redemption for the quartet and the show in general. Each has a hard earned victory. Some small, some big, but a victory nonetheless. Getting your recognition, getting your man, getting that job, or just getting yourself to a place where you are strong enough to stand alone. While uneven, season 4 of Girls is ultimately successful in delivering its intended message.
Should you need more insights into this season I urge you to checkout Victor and Rhea’s weekly recaps from when the show originally aired the episodes. They’re both insightful and fricking hilarious.
THE PACKAGEThe release contains all 10 episodes of season 4 with a solid picture quality, as you’d expect from any recently filmed hi-def TV series. There is also a UV code allowing for download of a digital copy.
Special features include a number of deleted and extended scenes, blooper reels, and two (comically painful) music videos of “Desi and Marnie.” Dunham also filmed “Inside the episode” segments where she discusses each installment and also provides audio commentary for each episode with a number of different cast and crew members. Rounding things off is a “The Making of Girls” featurette. It’s a well stuffed release with some insightful additions, largely courtesy of Dunham’s contributions.
THE BOTTOM LINEGirls season 4 is a bittersweet phase, where the dysfunctionality and unlikeability of the quartet comes to the fore and makes it a more difficult show to enjoy. While uneven, it often remains entertaining and insightful. As a whole it is ultimately successful and provides a necessary step forward for the show and its characters. Backed up by some solid extras, notably key insights from Dunham herself, this is a quality release.
Girls Season 4 is available from HBO Home Entertainment on February 16th, 2016 on Blu-ray™ with Digital HD & and DVD
If you want to checkout Girls season 4 yourself, enter our giveaway for a chance to win the first season from HBO.
