Thursday, November 7, 2019

The Book of Rannells: Girls: Season 5, Episode 7 – “Hello Kitty” (2016)


Another good episode for Elijah, although it’s coming after two episodes without him.  A pretty tight episode, I think, in which several important character things come together in the same plot.  Brief relationship spoilers.

Hannah and Fran are arguing, again – this time, it’s over some massively-unprofessional behavior she pulled with her principal.  However, much to Hannah’s annoyance, the argument is put on hold while they and most of their friends attend a new play Adam is in.  Based on the murder of Kitty Genovese, the theatrical event plays out in numerous apartments in the same building, with the audience wandering from room to room to see the different characters’ responses to what’s happening outside.  Hannah isn’t the only one distracted from the play, though.  Jessa got together with Adam at the end of episode 4, and she’s worried about Hannah finding out, and Marnie arrives with some big news for Ray.  Elsewhere, Elijah attends a party at Dill’s apartment, where another guest gets in his head and he starts to worry about where he stands with Dill.

Adam’s play is another instance of something that seems pretty off-the-wall but is probably more common than I’d expect in Brooklyn.  I find the construction of it interesting, especially the idea that someone would have a completely different experience of the play depending on when you went into which apartments.  But while it’s an intriguing concept, what I saw of it didn’t convince me that it would actually be all that compelling to watch.  Still, I enjoy seeing what sort of stuff Adam does, and I was appropriately horrified at what poor audience members most of the cast is (except Ray, who valiantly tries to keep the others in line.)

The play is also a good story device, since it brings all these characters into the same place but the play itself is “free-form” enough that many of them have no qualms about getting into their personal drama at the same time, either while they watch or in side conversations in the hallways.  There’s one really nice scene here between several characters that features an entirely-wordless revelation that’s quite well done; it’s a strong “less is more” moment for this show.  Additionally, there’s another scene that features a terrific line from Marnie about not having time to “worry about the sex lives of our second-tier friends.”

Now for Elijah – Andrew Rannells gets to stretch his muscles a bit here because Elijah’s relationship with Dill pulls him in a couple different directions.  Dill’s a slightly perplexing character, although not as much as Mimi-Rose last season.  As Elijah himself acknowledges, Dill is a pro at making him feel special, and in their sweeter scenes together, we can all but see Elijah melting in puppy-love before our eyes; he makes moderate attempts to play it cool (and still gets in some funny lines,) but it’s all over his face.  Whenever we’ve seen Elijah in relationships, he definitely feeds off what the other person gives him, and he seems so settled and confident, right up until the moment when someone else at the party starts whispering in his ear and he gets freaked out.

When Elijah makes his concerns known to Dill, Dill is kind of infuriatingly vague about it.  Much of his tone and demeanor seem calm and reassuring, but there’s little to hang onto in his actual words, and it’s clear that it doesn’t do much to allay Elijah’s fears (he takes his frustrations out on Dill’s toiletries, which is a petty/impulsive Elijah moment that I love.)  Corey Stoll, by the way, does a nice job with these different sides of Dill and making them feel like they’re coming from the same person.

Oh, and this has little to do with anything else, but it has to be said:  Dill’s apartment has a climbing wall.  That is so cool.

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