DADDY ISSUES PLOT SUMMARY:
On this week’s episode of Girls, Hannah (Lena Dunham) deals with some “Daddy Issues”, while everyone else deals with their own issues.
Looks like ‘Daddy Issues’ may be the least of some of these Girls worries.
While Hannah, and others, come to terms with Tad’s (Peter Scolari) coming out, the rest of the gang face the facts and come to terms with their own issues.
While the episode is a bit dim in comparison to last weeks, the episode shines in its own way by continuing a realistic tone and theme. It also shows that the writers can still manage a successful episode without the theatre dramatics.
The writing and acting this episode is superb, showing a side of Girls that had been missing. The new sense of reality over drama helps the episode really show all the issues the characters are going through without making it too much for the viewer .
Seeing an episode likes this makes watching all the bad ones worth it.
In particular, this episode is carried, once again, by the magnificent performances of Peter Scolari (as a man who is coming out of the closet and trying to reinvent himself) and the perennially excellent Dunham and Adam Driver.
The scenes involving Dunham and Scolari together are both heartbreaking and funny. Hannah’s attitude towards her father is troubling. It’s not troubling in the sense that she cant admit it to herself that he is a homosexual and is finally happy now that he has come out and can show who he really is. What is troubling is that her reaction is superficial and narcissistic. In the beginning she seemed to not want to make this about herself, but in the end we see her struggling with this. Her struggle to hold onto her maturity is just sad in so many ways.
Scolari’s performance is amazing as usual, and he is quickly becoming one of the power players of the show. His scenes with Elijah (Andrew Rannells) are perfect to say the least. Elijah is a perfect person to help mentor Mr. Horvarth as he knows exactly what to do and what to say to help Tad finally become happy and comfortable with who he is.
The writing for Adam and the performance of Driver complimented each other perfectly. The scene involving Jessa (Jemima Kirke), Mimi-Rose (Gillian Jacobs), Ace (Zachery Quinto) and him is perfect. It’s handles the two relationships masterfully and we finally come full circle in regards to this plotline.
Mimi-Rose has been insufferable from the moment she plagued our TV screens, which is a mind-boggling since Jacobs is so talented and is always adorable and funny in her other roles. Her character’s attitude towards everything is infuriating, and to finally have Adam call her out on it while she is flirting with her ex-boyfriend Ace (an extremely under-used Quinto) is perfect, and seemed to almost echo the cries of every Girls fan out there.
It felt real, while still managing to be shocking nonetheless.
With this scene, it really showed the writers are back to maintaining Dunham’s vision for the show hasn’t changed since day one, and that is to portray the modern day girl in a realistic fashion, while still making fun of everything out there.
All in all, the episode wasn’t as good as last week’s, nor as good as some of the earlier episodes this season. However, the episode is still a good one, and manages to have a voice and a beam of light still shine from it. Thanks to the writers efforts in keeping the show realistic, and really showcasing the talent the show has — thank you Driver, Dunham, and Scolari. Without these precious scenes, the episode may fall flat, but with ‘Daddy Issues’ like these, the episode continues to shine and will hopefully be even brighter next week.
Rating: 7 out of 10
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Laura Dengrove is the one of youngest members of the Pop-Break staff and is a critic for television/movies of all types on Pop-Break. She’s in her first year at college where she will be studying to obtain her bachelors degree at Rutgers University for Journalism/Public Relations. She was the editor for the Arts and Entertainment section of her school newspaper, runs her own blog (Pop Culture Darling), and interns for Design New Jersey. She also has an in-depth knowledge about all things True Blood and an avid Eric and Sookie shipper.
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