The Book of Rannells: Girls: Season 4, Episode 1 – “Iowa” (2015)

And how ‘bout some more Girls?  We go straight from season 3 into season 4 (technically, Andrew Rannells’s short run in Hedwig and the Angry Inch, replacing Neil Patrick Harris, came between these two, but since there’s no official recording of that, there’s no review to had.)  This is a pretty decent episode setting up the general state of season 4, and it comes with a few establishing spoilers that are unavoidable.

At the end of last season, Hannah was accepted into the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, a grad school program that – you guessed it – is in Iowa.  This episode follows her last day in the city, excited to go on this new adventure but worried about what it’ll mean for her relationship with Adam and feeling insecure about some of her friends’ reactions.  Everyone gets together to watch Marnie and Desi perform at a “jazz brunch” (yikes,) where Marnie continues to wrestle with both her hopes for musical success and her complicated situation with Desi.

It probably won’t surprise you to know that it’s only temporary, but for the moment anyway, Hannah is in a relatively-mature headspace.  While she’s nervous about going to Iowa – she repeatedly pesters Adam about their “plan” for keeping in touch, and she’s thrown by the seeming cold shoulder Jessa gives her – she doesn’t let those fears derail her, and her behavior around Adam is in large part out of concern for him.  As she continually checks in with him, it’s not because she thinks he doesn’t care that she’s leaving; it’s because she’s afraid he’s struggling with the idea more than he’s letting on.

Girls is fond of outings or occasions that put most of the main cast together, and Marnie and Desi’s gig is a fairly good example of that.  Marnie, of course, is otherwise occupied for most of these scenes, but everyone else gets in some good interactions.  Shoshanna is probably my MVP here, as she has both a fun bit with Adam about auditioning and an interesting conversation with Ray, in which they charmingly make the exchange, “How goes it?”  “Swimmingly.”

Also present at the jazz brunch is, naturally, Elijah.  He’s pretty fun here – he has a great exchange with Marnie’s mom, giving tantalizing hints about his Harlem exploits of the previous night, and he gets to be deliciously-petty following a run-in with an ex.

The best Elijah scene, though, is a tough-love speech he gives to Marnie when her confidence is shaken.  It kicks off with, “This business isn’t for sissy bitches,” invokes Judy Garland and Lady Gaga, and is generally what Marnie doesn’t realize she needs in that moment.  The brunt of Elijah’s screentime is pretty much always with Hannah, but I do always like whenever he has scenes with Marnie.  They have an interesting energy together.

Oh, and it’s very brief, but the episode also features a guest spot by Natasha Lyonne a.k.a. Megan from But I’m a Cheerleader and Nicky from Orange is the New Black.  I’m a little befuddled by the extent to which her character simultaneously does and doesn’t remind me of Nicky, and her costume is a genuine headscratcher.