The
triumphant return of Elijah to Girls
after his New Normal-induced
hiatus! According to Rannells, Lena
Dunham called him the minute The New
Normal was cancelled to invite him back to Girls, which is a pretty damn good concession for the loss of his
performance on that series. I think both
shows are similar in that neither are as good as they ultimately could have
been, which makes them frustrating to watch at times, but Rannells is also so good in both of them.
In the
wake of assorted unresolved interpersonal conflicts between the core four,
Marnie has planned a weekend getaway of “healing” for her and the others, at a
beach house in a town “for people who think the Hamptons are tacky.” Hannah, no surprise, wants to avoid Marnie’s
precise, tightly-wound plans to manufacture their collective emotional
breakthrough, and when she runs into Elijah and a group of his friends, the two
have a quick reconciliation before she invites them over to the house to “save”
her from Marnie’s micro-managing.
This is
quite a solid episode all around.
Everything about Marnie’s game plan here feels extremely in character,
right down to her refusal to see that absolutely none of her friends would be
into something like that. Her
plastered-on hostess smile gets tighter and more painful the longer things go
on, until it inevitably implodes with a big four-way blowout featuring a lot of
defensiveness, accusations galore, and the discovery of what Shoshanna is like
when she’s really drunk.
But even
though the tension and clashes are evident from the start, the episode also
does a nice job showing what a good time everyone but Marnie is having once the guys come over. The chill, beach-house hang-out atmosphere
feels so authentic and low-key fun. Not
every show could really nail that vibe, but Girls
has it down pat: the aimless lounging
around, different configurations finding little corners for private chats,
swimming-pool fun, jokes around the dinner table, and a pretty delightful dance
sequence (which, by the way, mostly involves the girls, but there is an
absolutely fantastic shot of Elijah dancing on top of a kitchen counter.)
Speaking
of Elijah, it’s immediately wonderful to have him back. I don’t exaggerate when I say that Rannells
lights up the screen. Seeing this
episode again, I was reminded a little of his performance in The Boys in the Band, in just how
naturally he enlivens the tone of the party.
Elijah is currently in a somewhat-more-introspective space than usual,
inspired by his new boyfriend Pal (played by Danny Strong, a.k.a. Jonathan from
Buffy!), but he obviously still loves
a good time and brings such a sense of fun to all the hang-out scenes.
Making up
with Hannah this time around is, as usual for them, incredibly quick but does
feel a little more heartfelt than when they did it at the end of season 1. Elijah sells his regret at his part in the
rift between them, and while Hannah’s desire to avoid Marnie might be an extra
incentive to forgive him, I can buy that she genuinely wants him back in her
life. Because soon enough, they’re
pretty much right back where they were as roomies, cozying up on the couch to
catch up or having fun together in the pool, and all feels right with the
world. It continues to be weird that
they make so much sense together, but they just do. There’s a near-instant comfort and platonic
intimacy there that I love.
I really,
really love the stuff that goes on between Elijah, Hannah, and Pal, with Hannah
noticing that Pal acts kind of condescendingly to Elijah and urging him to
stand up for himself. It gives us a
terrific window into a side of Elijah we haven’t seen much of so far, a deeply
vulnerable side that emerges behind the bitchiness and self-absorption. Rannells is hands-down excellent here, both
in the initial scene of Elijah and Hannah talking about it and again as Elijah
broaches the subject with Pal; in particular, how Elijah’s expression at/response
to Pal’s reaction is really, really good.
Elijah is so vain and self-centered that you don’t necessarily think of
him being insecure, but he very much is, and this amazing scene of him trying
to keep a hand of the wheel of this situation reminds you how young the
character is – like the girls, Elijah is still trying to figure himself out,
and that can be a tricky road.
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