A bit of
an odd episode, but I like it quite a bit.
While it shows plenty of the characters at their worst, it also finds
some of them ultimately taking steps to try and improve their lives
(relationship spoilers.)
Hannah is
heading off on another trip, this time a weekend in Poughkeepsie. Rather than for work, though, it’s to very
reluctantly help Marnie in a lie:
Marnie’s been seeing Desi again behind Ray’s back, and “going upstate
with Hannah” is her cover. The three of
them head out together, and the weekend getaway quickly goes off the rails in a
surprising way. Meanwhile, Shoshanna
ropes Elijah into coming with her to a professional women’s event hosted by two
of her former friends from college, and things get tense when Jessa invites
herself along.
Some of
Desi’s whole thing goes over the top, but I like a fair amount of his nonsense,
like his weird “Where’s Waldo?”-esque outfit, significantly quoting Simon &
Garfunkel, and Hannah’s description, “He’s like someone from the Pacific
Northwest knit a man.” More importantly,
this plot has some good stuff for Hannah and Marnie. The events of the episode force Marnie to
take a hard look at herself and her choices, and Hannah offers some supportive
tough love with a dash of her own self-reflection. Considering where both of them begin at the
start of the episode, they come out pretty well.
I enjoy
the Shoshanna plot, too. This isn’t the
first time we’ve seen Shoshanna start to get over Jessa, but this is probably
the most serious she’s been about it.
Seeing her old friends and where they are now makes her think about
professional opportunities she lost out on because she was following Jessa
around, and while she does admittedly attempt to shift blame by putting it all
on Jessa’s bad influence, Shoshanna seems to get that it’s ultimately up to her
to decide which influences to nurture in her life.
I’m
pretty sure this is the first time Elijah has ever shared a plot with Shoshanna
and Jessa – they’ve certainly been in group plots together, but I think this is
the first time it’s been just the three of them together onscreen. Shoshanna and Jessa obviously have a lot of
history and a specific dynamic together that’s changed over the seasons, and
Elijah makes an interesting addition to that.
His imitation of Shoshanna calling to beg for his help/moral support at
this event is hilarious, and it won’t surprise you much to learn that, even
though he’s there, he doesn’t offer much of either. Instead, he mostly provides great reaction
shots and makes his own fun; he has an awesome unspoken exchange with a waiter
before leaving Shoshanna and Jessa to their drama.
Despite
being next to no help, however, Elijah is adamant about his intention to help, especially in
comparison to Jessa. This might also be
the first time we’ve seen Elijah interact with Jessa since she got together
with Adam, and in light of his obvious allegiance to Hannah, he’s not prepared
to cut Jessa any slack. I appreciate
that Elijah isn’t in this plot solely to give him something to do and to add
more humor to the Shoshanna-Jessa story – when you add the dimension of
Jessa/Adam, it gives him more of a personal investment in the plotline, and
quite a bit of dirty laundry gets aired between these three. I especially like how immediately Elijah goes
on the defensive when Jessa tells him to grow up. It’s a subtle thing, but, as with his
reaction in the last episode to Marnie suggesting he take an acting class, it’s
a small reminder that the stuff from the end of last season is still on his
mind; this is a sore subject for him, although none of the other characters
seem particularly aware of that.
Besides
this plot, we also get a fun scene between Elijah and Hannah near the start of
the episode. As she prepares for her
trip with Marnie and Desi, Elijah critiques her secret-keeping skills, they
once again demonstrate the weird level of their closeness, and the scene ends
on a hilarious sight gag that retroactively puts the whole thing in a new
perspective.
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