Yes, there is more than just a serial relationship with your favorite programs. There is vicarious embarrassment or second-hand embarrassment — call it what you will, but it definitely exists.

You know you’re experiencing it when you just want to bury your face in your hands or walk out of the room as some mortifying scene or another plays out on screen, even when you’re laughing.

The reason you’re embarrassed? Because the scene is intrinsic to you in some form or fashion. What embarrasses you about a moment in time on the small screen might not feel the same way to other observers.

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With that being said, you can feel extra special the next time it happens to you, as the moment tickles your funny bone and speaks to you in a way nothing else can.

The Art of Cringe Comedy

Laughing while feeling a sense of embarrassment is not a mistake on the part of the showrunners. At least, not most of the time.

It’s all about seeing yourself in the moment. Those who don’t feel any shame simply aren’t connecting the actors’ experiences with themselves.

It’s a simple formula, and it’s also one of the biggest genres on the small or the big screen. That’s not to say there are those who make an effort to stay well away from cringe comedy at all costs.

They either fail to understand it or loathe the feeling of shame and embarrassment these episodes intentionally create.

Unfortunately, we are highly sensitive to emotions, empathy, and the social etiquette of the day. The best cringe comedy attacks those sympathies while making us laugh at our own stupidity and, of course, that of others.

If you want to experience the unique combination of laughing through bouts of embarrassment, Ricky Gervais is the king of this particular branch of comedy.

Classic Examples

The Office is the quintessential voice of laughing embarrassment.

The funny thing about The Office is Steve Carrell’s relationship with Ricky Gervais, something Ricky brings up every chance he gets.

A quiet few, with the exception of Ricky Gervais, know that The Office is a rip-off of the original British sitcom of the same name. Without the first, there is no second.

Ricky ensures that Steve Carrell is aware of this every chance he gets. Of course, this elicits its own form of laughing embarrassment because Ricky is funny even when he’s dead serious.

Even when he’s dead serious, you’re never really sure if it’s an act or the real deal.

Either way, some of the most cringeworthy moments in sitcom history come from The Office (the American version), especially The Office Season 6 Episode 12, the infamous “Scott’s Tots.”

However, some unique competitors are out there for the most cringeworthy, laugh-out-loud scenes. Like that time when Liz Lemon thought Peter Dinklage was a child on an episode of 30 Rock. She even mussed his hair after discovering her mistake.

While everyone points to the scene in Friends where Ross tries to kiss his cousin, his awkward relationship with Monica is even worse, amplified in scenes where sex talk comes into play.

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Sheldon’s pantless-on-stage moment (Big Bang Theory) is still pretty cringe-worthy.

Those who are prone to feeling embarrassment for other people will have a hell of a time trying to get through any episode of Arrested Development and many episodes of Curb Your Enthusiasm.

Modern Takes

Fleabag is the first one that comes to mind.

Phoebe Waller-Bridge is not always my cup of tea, but she’s brilliant here. Only a sex addict falling for a preacher can extort the kind of laughing, cringing embarrassment out of us that makes Fleabag a fascinating, if tentative, watch.

If Millennials are your thing, Max’s Girls is hilarious at times, instructive, and satirical. When narcissism runs rampant in a humorous environment, embarrassment is soon to follow.

The Curse may sound like a horror movie, but it’s actually a ten-episode cringe comedy on Showtime. Though it’s essentially about a cursed married couple filming a reality show for HGTV, we learn an awful lot about sexual anatomy, tomatoes grown in urine, and outlandish ideas to bolster their show.

Back to Max, Getting On is more than worthy of the laughing-embarrassment moniker. What better way to seek out cringe comedy than dealing with old people in the hospital?

PEN15 is all about the cringe-inducing outfits of the turn of the millennia, forced social justice, female puberty, and first loves. It’s the kind of thing people watch who want to sink into the crease between their couch cushions, disappearing from life altogether … while laughing.

Why We Love It

Despite the awkwardness of laughing while wishing for an asteroid to strike your backyard, the embarrassing nature of these shows is clearly an attractive model.

These shows are huge draws because people enjoy the exploitative nature of them.

We see ourselves in these instances of sheer embarrassment, and, in some ways, it serves as a relief valve for our own awkward scenarios.

These shows also bolster our own resolve when dealing with real-life embarrassments. Believe it or not, as cringe and uninspiring as comedy can be, everything has its purpose.

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Koalas are, bar none, the dumbest animals on the entire planet, yet their extinction would likely devastate eucalyptus forests.

They have the smallest brain-to-body ratios, have to excessively eat because they choose the least nutritious plant, and will literally starve to death with food right in front of them.

Yet, they serve a purpose. As it turns out, so does cringe comedy.

Human beings have thousands of years of adaptations to lean on. We learn from what we do. In the modern age, that’s watching cringe comedy and adapting it into our own lives.

Sure, that’s a bit philosophical for a simple article on laughing and embarrassment while watching comedy shows. But it’s why we come back to these hilariously discombobulating programs.

Is there a moment in your history with TV that had you squirming and uncomfortable? Let us know (if you’re not too embarrassed) in the comments!

The post Sure, We Laughed, But We Squirmed with Embarrassment, Too appeared first on TV Fanatic.

It's hard to imagine that TV once featured a landscape without HBO, considering its impact on the television landscape. HBO boasts some of the best talents in television; this can be seen in the number of awards they have been nominated for and won throughout the years.

They have delivered many iconic TV shows with significant cultural impact. Their one-time slogan of "It's not TV, it's HBO" said it all, and their success can be attributed to delivering a solid roster of well-written, acted and produced shows.

We have compiled a list in reverse alphabetical order of 50 of the network's best shows that everyone should watch in their lifetime. It can be a starting point when deciding the next thing to watch or gathering knowledge in the case of an HBO trivia event coming your way.

The Young Pope and The New Pope

One would think that the Vatican is the most boring place on earth. I mean, nuns and priests?

These two shows prove them wrong. In the Young Pope, the Vatican gets a new young American pope. With his age and where he grew up, he has modern and fresh ideas on how to drag the papacy into the 21^st century.

The shows give a fresh perspective on one of the world's oldest institutions and humanize it by showing it as another human establishment with its own set of challenges.

On The New Pope, a sequel to The Young Pope, there's a new pope in town, as the title suggests.

This pope doesn't really want to be here, so he does things without care after the Young Pope goes into a coma.

The show's beauty is found in the final episodes when the Young Pope wakes up and gives a speech that resonates with everyone in St Peter's square.

The shows are largely successful, with creator Paolo Sorrentino and talents such as Jude Law and John Malkovich behind them.

The Wire

Some people hail this as the best HBO and best show ever. It might be true.

Set in Baltimore, the show follows everyone associated with the drug culture of the early 2000s. From the dealers and the cops who arrest them to their families and lovers who die because of them, it leaves no stone unturned.

It captures the 2000s, from fashion and music to the politics and social-economic state of the world then. It is a tale that will take the viewer on an unforgettable journey.

The White Lotus

This was a surprise hit for HBO. They had initially planned it as a limited series, but after it was a hit with audiences and critics alike, they decided to make it an anthology series.

The show follows rich people on vacation in the prestigious White Lotus resorts worldwide.

It has great writing and acting, but the sticking point is its characters.

The characters search for an escape on vacation, but their baggage follows them and the people they are with. Everything starts easy, but things come to a head when it all becomes too much. Each season ends with a murder.

Westworld

This ambitious show is set in the near future and dives into the rise of artificial intelligence and consciousness.

Seasons vary in setting, but it is mainly focused on a theme park where humans indulge their darkest fantasies with intelligent machines.

The best thing about it is the care that goes into every detail.

It has some insane plot twists that have the viewer questioning what they are watching and even their reality.

We Are Who We Are

This limited series comes from the director of the critically acclaimed film Call Me by Your Name.

Luca Guadanigno's style usually focuses on identity and coming of age. The show is not any different.

It follows Fraser and his military upbringing coming into the teenage hood and figuring out his sexuality. It has some outrageous scenes, but overall it is a nice commentary on growing up while being an outsider.

Watchmen

Everyone loves a good superhero show. Many of them toy with the idea of fighting evil, but they do so broadly. Watchmen is based on a graphic novel by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons.

It follows Angela Bar, played by Regina King. Angela is a black superhero who dresses up as Sister Night and fights racists while still grappling with the legacy of former vigilantes in her niche.

It is a limited series that will leave you begging for more.

The Vow

It might not be believable, but even in the 2020s, cults are still a thing.

The Vow follows a documentary-style narrative as it chronicles the experiences of people in the inner circle of the group NXIVM, which featured Smallville's Allison Mack walking in tandem with its leader, Keith Raniere.

This group outdid itself when it was charged with a myriad of charges, including sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy, brought on its top-ranking members, including Keith Raniere, its founder.

Veep

Politics are a dirty game, and when you are one of the first female Americans to get to sit in one of the highest offices in the land, it's even messier.

Premiering in 2012, Veep follows Selina Meyers, a Vice President of the United States. Julia Louis-Dreyfus plays Selina

Veep received critical acclaim and was nominated for multiple awards, with its cast also being nominated for several during its seven-year run. Selina and her team get sidetracked by the day-to-day politics as they try to make a mark and leave a legacy.

True Detective

True Detective is an anthology series that features a new storyline every season, all following detectives as they investigate crimes spanning decades.

The series is known for bringing movie starts to TV with incredible pairings, most notably Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson for True Detective Season 1.

The series received critical acclaim, was nominated for multiple awards, and earned high ratings for HBO.

It premiered in 2014 and has been renewed for a fourth season as of 2023.

True Blood

Alan Ball's vampire drama is one not to miss.

It is adapted from a series of novels about Sookie Stackhouse, a human girl who falls in love with a vampire.

The show does a great job of imagining a world where vampires are real and walk into society. It tackles all the drama and politics that might arise from such a society.

The best thing about it is that it presents vampires in the classic sense, where they are bloodthirsty, cold-blooded killers who make no apologies — mostly — for what they are.

Succession

This hit show follows a mega-rich media conglomerate family and all their issues.

It breeds great drama due to its unfiltered nature and has spawned many arguments about whether it's truly a drama, a dark comedy, or something fresh merging the two. We go with the latter.

The writing and acting are stellar, but it's the characters, their souls laid bare for everyone to see, that have led to Succession's critical success, often dominating during awards season.

The Sopranos

Some people hail this as the most popular HBO show. This, too, might be true.

It follows mob boss Tony Soprano who, apart from the stress of being a boss, also suffers from mental and family problems.

It is a saga that spans many seasons and storylines. Despite continuing the previous, each season feels like a fresh one.

The best thing about it is how it makes subtle or not-so-subtle commentary on 2000s America and American culture in general.

Six Feet Under

Alan Ball kept the lights on at HBO in the early 2000s. Six feet under is a creation of his that premiered in 2001 and ran for five seasons.

It follows the Fisher family, who run a funeral home in Los Angeles. It also looks at the lives of the Fisher family's friends, lovers, and clients.

It has been lauded by critics and audiences for its story, writing, and acting. It was nominated for multiple awards and is regarded as one of the greatest television series of all time, with arguably one of the best finales ever produced.

Sex and the City

Before HBO was the giant it is today, it was relatively unknown. This changed in 1998 when Sex and the City premiered, following the lives of four women in New York City as they navigated myriad issues, some uncommon for the time. It helped popularize HBO as a network.

It ran for six seasons and received widespread acclaim and criticism alike. It was nominated for many awards throughout its run and cemented itself as a culture-defining moment being referenced later in shows set in the time, like 2019's Pose.

It spun a sequel called And Just Like That… that premiered in 2021 and follows three of its four central characters.

Real Time with Bill Maher

America's late-night and commentary shows are divided along political sides, with objectivity almost impossible to attain. Not on Real Time with Bill Maher.

With 22 seasons in as of 2024, Real Time sets itself apart by having informed people on all sides of the political spectrum debate current issues in front of a live studio audience.

It is hosted by comedian Bill Maher and is genuinely one of the funniest political shows. Guests don't have to censor themselves, this being HBO, so it sometimes gets heated.

Real Sex

The name gives it away. Before street interviews became a thing during the social media age, Real Sex did it first.

It is a documentary-style show that features honest and uncensored depictions of sex over multiple segments per episode.

For those of us who happened to wander past the channel without knowing what was on tap, it proved to be a stunning education in short order but quite moving, as well.

The show began in 1990 and concluded in 2009, having aired thirty-three episodes.

The Plot Against America

Sometimes, we all wonder what could have been. And David Simmons, most known for The Wire, also did.

The Plot Against America is an alternate history mini-series that premiered on HBO in 2020 and followed a Jewish working family as they watched the rise of a xenophobic populist to becoming president.

It is based on Philip Roth's novel and stars Winona Ryder, among others.

Perry Mason

This is a remake of a hit 80's show about a lawyer who uses unorthodox methods to find evidence for cases he's working on.

Many of the cases he takes are not as straightforward as they appear, and his ultimate goal is to uncover the truth no matter who it might end up hurting.

It starts slow but culminates in big reveals towards the season's end.

OZ

Prison is some people's worst nightmare, and with good reason. It is a place of torture and suffering instead of correction and penance. OZ tried to portray the latter but ended up with the former.

OZ is set in an experimental prison unit that aims to correct how prison serves its occupants.

The series launched many careers with its no-holds-barred exploration of a life behind bars and of the people tasked with keeping the prison functioning and on track.

It premiered in 1997 and concluded in 2003 after six seasons.

The Night Of

An accusation can alter the course of someone's life and usually for the worst. Such was the case for Nasir when he was accused of murdering a woman.

The Night Of premiered in 2016 and concluded after eight episodes. It received eight nominations for the Emmys and was critically acclaimed.

Although its run was short, it was talked about for a long time afterward and remains one of HBO's best explorations of the human psyche.

The Newsroom

A lot of work goes into any news production before and after viewers have a chance to view it.

The Newsroom looks into the behind-the-scenes workings of the fictional ACN — a news channel. It mixes real-world events in the background amidst the news crew's personal drama.

It was written by Aaron Sorkin and ran for three seasons and twenty-five episodes, and led to numerous awards nominations and wins, especially for its lead, Jeff Daniels.

Mildred Pierce

Mildred Pierce ran for a single five-episode season. It was adapted from James M. Cain's novel of a similar name.

It premiered in 2011.

It stars Kate Winslet as the titular Mildred, an overprotective mother during The Great Depression. She finds herself separated from her husband, opening a restaurant on her own, and falling in love with another man while trying to earn her narcissistic daughter's love and respect.

McMillions

Every day, fraudsters find new and ingenious ways to scam money out of unsuspecting people. Such was the case in McDonald's Monopoly game between 1989 and 2001.

McMillions is documentary miniseries that chronicles the promotion scam associated with the fast-food giant. In the scam, the company's head of security orchestrated a fake game and recruited other people, making $24 million.

The docuseries is told with incredible wit, making it incredibly entertaining.

It premiered in 2020 and aired all six episodes.

Lovecraft Country

Lovecraft Country premiered in 2020 and was canceled by HBO, sparking an outcry from viewers.

It follows Atticus, Letitia, and George as they travel across America to find his missing father in the 1950s.

They encounter the horrors of the racist white middle America and monsters that could be pulled from a Lovecraft paperback.

The show featured a strong narrative with great performances and visual effects.

Looking

Very few shows focus exclusively on the lives of Queer men and women. Looking is a show that does.

It is an unfiltered look into the gay men living in San Francisco in the 2010s.

The show portrays its characters as regular people while not sacrificing the authenticity of queer experiences.

The Leftovers

In a global phenomenon, 2% of the population disappeared. That was the premise of The Leftovers, which picked up three years after the events.

The show began airing in 2014 and ran for three seasons earning critical acclaim from critics and viewers alike.

It explored the whole emotional range of the human experience, taking viewers on an unforgettable journey to its brilliant conclusion.

Some regard it as one of the greatest series of all time.

The Larry Sanders Show

The Larry Sanders Show is a sitcom set in the office and studio of a fictional late-night talk show.

It premiered in 1992 and ran for six seasons. It featured celebrities playing exaggerated versions of themselves.

It is regarded as one of the best shows ever and has influenced other sitcoms in the same genre, and was nominated for various awards during its run.

The Jinx

The Jinx is a six-episode documentary mini-series that premiered in 2015.

It follows the New York real estate heir Robert Durst, who was suspected of multiple murders and convicted of one. A day before its finale aired, Robert was arrested for first-degree murder.

The show is expansive, featuring a lot of supplementary material such as video footage, interviews, and dramatic re-enactments.

It featured one of the craziest self-confessions ever caught on TV when Durst walked out of the interview room with a hot mike, and while behind closed doors, laid his fears on the table.

Insecure

Insecure is a comedy-drama starring Issa Rae that premiered in 2016, running for five seasons and forty-four episodes.

It follows the lives of two black women from their perspectives as black women. It was highly rated during its run and received critical acclaim.

It was nominated for and won multiple awards.

Industry

Industry focuses on young 20-somethings in the world of finance.

In the 2020s, everyone knows something about money and investments, but even if they don't, the drama is too good to pass up. Sex and drugs are part of this universe, but they are handled in a better way than many shows do.

Every episode is tenser than the last one, culminating in an epic season finale.

In Treatment

A patient walks into a therapist's office and starts to go off. A therapist walks into his therapist's office and starts going off about his patients.

If the first premise isn't interesting enough, the second one is bound to be. The show goes into the psychology of patients, exposing the nature of people and what motivates them to do or not do some things.

The show originally ran for several seasons and got a limited reboot.

I'll Be Gone in the Dark

In this true crime documentary series, Michelle McNamara spends her nights researching and writing a book about the serial killer she coined as The Golden State Killer.

McNamara put so much of herself into the investigation that she required medical attention, and she died of an overdose of various drugs in her search for sleep before she finished the book.

I'll Be Gone In the Dark the series follows Michelle's history, from childhood through her death, showing how she was on the only path that would have ever satisfied her longing to understand the mind of a killer.

The series premiered in 2020 and ran for six episodes, with a final special episode in 2021.

I May Destroy You

Michaela Coel stars in this show as a millennial pseudo-famous social media star. The character she plays is raped, but the full weight of its effects doesn't settle in until later.

In an age where consent is crucial to a sexual encounter, the show dives into how complicated sexual situations can be and does it with unabashed honesty and emotions.

I May Destroy You also touches on race, gender, and sexual orientation and how all they play into consent and sexual assault.

Girls

Inspired by HBO's Sex and the City, Girls also follows four young women who navigate life in New York as young people. It was inspired by the creator Lena Dunham's life after her parents cut off their financial support.

It began airing in 2011 and ran for six seasons and sixty-two episodes.

The show received critical acclaim throughout its run. It was nominated for and won many awards.

Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon

These epic shows are some of HBO's most popular.

Based on books by George RR Martin, they're expansive shows with an incredible narrative breadth. They extensively cover stories from many characters without losing a beat.

Incorporating fantasy, drama, war, and politics in a single show, they offer the best in genre programming.

House of the Dragon is the prequel to Game of Thrones, depicting events long before its predecessor and has quickly found a vast audience.

Euphoria

All Gen-Z routes converge at Euphoria.

Euphoria tackles life as a young person in today's world fuelled by drugs, sex, relationships, and social media.

It centers on Rue, a drug addict, and those close to her. It deals heavily with addiction and drugs in general.

Its biggest charm is its well-written characters, who are so unbelievable. It has inspired memes, quotes, and fashion trends bigger than any show.

Entourage

The show focuses on an up-and-coming actor in 2000's Los Angeles.

The show's biggest charm is its unfiltered characters, especially Ari Gold, who wins viewers over with his flawlessly flawed manner of speaking.

It is a product of its time, but it is overall a great show to watch when reminiscing about the 2000s

The Deuce

For many, it is easy to dismiss porn as immoral and a guilty pleasure. For some, it might be the worst evil.

The Deuce portrays pornography as art. The show details the rise of porn in 1970s New York. It features a myriad of storylines, all of which form a greater narrative.

From the pretty girls with dreams that die upon arriving in New York, family men and women looking to feed their children, entrepreneurs, artists, and the mob, to the misguided, The Deuce gives weight to all of their experiences.

The series never stands in place if it can elevate the conversation. It could have easily turned into a sexually gratuitous show, but instead, it chose a more sophisticated direction.

Deadwood

It is a western drama set in the 1870s.

It began airing in 2004 and ran for three seasons and thirty-six episodes.

It chronicles the growth of Deadwood from camp to town and features the appearance of real historical figures against the backdrop of fiction.

The show was critically acclaimed, having been nominated for and winning numerous awards, and returned with a movie to wrap up unfinished storylines.

Curb Your Enthusiasm

The show is a sitcom created by Larry David and follows a semi-fictionalized version of himself.

It premiered in 2000 and is twelve seasons in, as of 2023. It occasionally features celebrity appearances, each playing a fictionalized version of themselves.

Most of the dialogue is improvised, with David only outlining the plot and subplot.

The show has received many nominations and awards throughout its run.

The Comeback

Ever wondered what the entertainment television industry looks like from the inside? This show portrays a satirical look into the environment.

It ran for a thirteen-episode season in 2005 before being canceled nine years later. It was later revived for a second season in 2014.

The Comeback suffered ratings because of the time it found itself when sitcoms all featured the same formula.

Chernobyl

One of the worst nuclear accidents happened in Chernobyl in 1986. The show follows the events that lead to the moment and what happened afterward.

It focused on the lesser-known stories, including firefighters and volunteers, and the horror they suffered in the aftermath of a tragedy that could have been averted if government officials had been properly doing their jobs.

All aspects of the show were lauded by audiences and critics alike.

It premiered in 2019 with five episodes and was nominated for and won multiple awards.

The Case Against Adnan Syed

In a now vacated verdict, this docuseries portrayed the events that led to the conviction of Adnan Syed for the killing of Hae Min Lee.

The series aimed to show how the facts of the case were never simple and questioned the conviction.

The Case Against Adnan Syed premiered in 2019 and was broadcast in four episodes.

As of 2023, HBO is following the events of the case with a follow-up documentary planned to look at life after his release.

Boardwalk Empire

This period drama transports viewers to prohibition-era America.

It primarily centers on Nucky Thompson, a businessman and politician who is as evil as they come.

The show stars include Steve Buscemi, Michael Kenneth Williams, and Michael Pitt.

Big Love

Among some of the hotly contested issues in Mormonism is the practice of polygamy. Big Love follows the patriarch of a fundamentalist Mormon family and his three wives.

It premiered in 2006 and ran for five seasons after fifty-three episodes.

It received wide critical acclaim and won several awards.

Big Little Lies

In a quiet coastal town that presents as a calm and peaceful place to raise a family, it's a façade to hide the dysfunctional relationships in certain spaces.

The show brings together some of Hollywood's best female talent and uses them to great effect.

Big Little Lies maintains a tense atmosphere that draws in the viewer, allowing them to connect intimately with the characters.

Barry

A hitman faces a career crisis when he travels to Los Angeles to kill someone and finds himself wanting to become an actor.

Barry premiered in 2018 and stars Bill Hader as the titular character and bolstered by a strong supporting cast that often steals his thunder on screen.

In its third season as of 2023, the series received acclaim for its acting and originality, among others.

It has been nominated for and won multiple awards in different categories.

Band of Brothers/The Pacific

It is a war drama miniseries adapted from a book of the same name.

Premiering in 2001, the show was one of the most expensive miniseries of the time, having cost around $125 million to make.

Its characters were based on the "Easy" Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division. Effectively, it featured a huge cast ensemble.

Band of Brother and The Pacific are regarded as two of the best portrayals of war ever made.

Autopsy

This documentary series follows a real-life forensic pathologist called Dr. Michael Baden. 

It explores the world of forensic science through case studies and photos.

It premiered in 1993 and ran for nine seasons.

Atlanta's Missing and Murdered: The Lost Children

Statistics show that when many African American children are lost, those responsible for finding them never usually bother.

This documentary series looks into new evidence that comes to light in the abduction and murder of approximately thirty African American children over the span of two years in Atlanta in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

It premiered in 2020, and viewers learned about the unrelenting child murders as broadcast over five heartbreaking episodes.

•••••

We always want to hear your thoughts, so don't hesitate to drop below to leave a comment about your favorite HBO series.

The post HBO at 50: Fifty Shows Everyone Should Watch In Their Lifetime appeared first on TV Fanatic.

At the ATX Festival, I had a chance to sit down with director Richard Shepard and series costars Ebon Richard-Moss and Jon Glaser who portrayed Desi and Laird respectively. We talked about some of the bigger moments of the series and dangling questions remaining In anticipation of the DVD release. Enjoy!

TV Fanatic: Hi Richard. You kind of did all the big episodes that were character-centric. What I really want to ask you is how collaborative were they with Lena, and did you have input into the writing? How big was your part?

Richard Shepard: Lena is a deeply confident writer and creator. Because she's so confident, she encourages discussion as opposed to pushing it away.

The answer to that is always felt like I had a lot of contributions, starting with the script, talking about what was working for me, what wasn't working for me, ways that we could figure out to make it work for both of us.

Lena, to her credit, always listened to what I was bringing to the table, and always created a new draft that may not have been exactly what I was pitching but satisfied the things I needed fixed or changed or whatever. I really valued my creative relationship with her. She was an amazing boss and an amazing writer.

As a director, the three Bottle episodes, the Panic in Central Park, American Bitch and One Man's Cash, those were all her scripts. So to be able to work just one-on-one with her, we would go to a restaurant in New York each time and sit there and dissect them, and it was awesome.

I felt like I had a true partnership creatively. I think that's why she kept throwing these certain Bottle episodes my way, because I think she responded to the way that we would sort of dissect how to do that.

We had the Matthew Rhys/Lena episode in the sixth season, which was really a lot of fun and very deep. What was the catalyst of that episode, and what were your little changes?

Richard Shepard: Lena, as a writer, wanted to approach that had been on her mind, and I think wisely realized that in the sixth season of the show, her character, Hannah, this could actually happen to her. I don't know, if it would have been in season one or two we would have believe that that conversation would have happened like that.

I came in from a very … I really wanted it to be a real conversation. I wanted to see Mathew's side of the equation up to a point, and so I fought for making his arguments stronger, even if I didn't necessarily always agree with them.

I felt like the more that they could volley back and forth, the more he would seem to be impressed by here, and thus you would believe when he asked her into the bedroom that she would go.

I feel like my main contribution beyond the normal things you do as a director was asking Lena if we could change the ending so that the daughter could play music and they would have to sit there and watch her play in silence.

Because I felt like after 20-something minutes of deep dialogue, I wanted the audience to have a real time to unload it and realize what they've just seen.

Great. We're going to move on to you, sir. Your character kind of went out with a strange bang for the season, and kind of had a little meltdown. What we're all wondering is, we're wondering a couple of things … First of all, to back up, first this season we discovered that you … not you, it definitely wasn't you.

Ebon Moss-Bachrach: Desi.

Desi had a severe drug problem.

Ebon Moss-Bachrach: Yeah.

Did you know all through the first five seasons that Desi had a drug problem?

Ebon Moss-Bachrach: I mean, if you look at his behavior, I definitely suspected that there were things going on that we weren't seeing. I always knew that what we were seeing in the actual shows, the scripts, was not everything that was going on with him. He was definitely somebody that had a lot of secrets and was lying a lot.

Because that's kind of what I'm wondering. What was your motivation to make him who he was prior to that revelation, and what did that revelation feel like, to finally have the background, "Oh, now I know"?

Ebon Moss-Bachrach: It was satisfying for me to have this sort of revelation, in terms of a dramatic standpoint, that we get a little bit more information about why. "Oh, he's such a dick."

To me, that's not … I don't believe that, that somebody is just that. He's a very troubled guy, and very selfish, but someone who's also really trying to do the right thing but who's maybe not the…

Richard Shepard: You looked back at other pieces of performance you had given, and once you find that he was such a drug addict and then go, "I might have played that differently if I'd knew that"?

Thank you.

Richard Shepard: Yeah.

Ebon Moss-Bachrach: There's a lot of stories throughout Hollywood lore of people being … Especially, in TV series, where you get to the certain season, there's some kind of denouement, the person is like, "Well, God, if I had known that I was an East German operative, I would have never," and they're pissed off that they felt like they've been manipulated by the director.

I that doesn't bother me. First of all, for me, I always have secrets that I like to keep from the director and the writer, to begin with, so I feel like I have my own things up my sleeve. I think that's interesting. I'm not upset. There's nothing I would have played differently, no.

Where do you think he disappeared to?

Ebon Moss-Bachrach: I think he kind of stumbles out of there and winds up teaching a summer poetry session up at Bard.

That works.

Ebon Moss Bachrach: I don't know. There was a scene that they ultimately cut latter one, like episodes down the line in the last season, where we find Desi on the side of a mountain, in orange monk gear, with a shaved head, and he started taking this vow of silence. It's true.

Richard Shepard: Yeah, I remember that.

Ebon Moss-Bachrach: That's real.

Richard Shepard: I tried to convince him to send us to Tibet. Remember?

Ebon Moss-Bachrach: That's right.

Richard Shepard: I'm like, "Just send us to Tibet. We'll shoot second unit." I was really working hard. I was doing the math of what it would cost.

Ebon Moss-Bachrach: No, we didn't shoot it. I really lobbied hard, and ultimately successfully, because I felt, to me, a really pat kind of … I mean, it didn't take much convincing. Lena and Gina, I don't think, were super into that.

I think they sort of liked the image of it, but it did diminish that kind of thing, and I think the reality is, with that guy, he had to stumble off to die or to figure out what he was going to do. There are other scenes in that episode that got cut, where it got really, really bad.

At one point, he's in the bathroom with Marty's mom's best friend, doing herbal ecstasy and getting a handjob, and crying, getting a handjob and crying and crying and crying. Then he stumbles out of there. I'm talking too much.

Okay, Jon. About Laird. Laird, was it always the plan for him to have as large a part as he did? Because his character is so kooky, that's what I'm wondering. Or was it audience reaction to Laird that kind of brought him up in status?

Jon Glaser: I don't know. I don't know if there were plans for Laird beyond that first episode or not. It certainly seemed like something that could recur, just because he lived downstairs, in physical proximity.

So I don't know what their grand plan was for the character, and if he became more, I was very happy, if the character came back. It was so fun to do, and they were super nice to me, and they brought me in. But the real answer, I'm not sure.

Are you satisfied with the way his story ended?

Glaser: I saw an early pilot script, and the title said Laird's.

[laughs] That’s perfect. There you go. Thank you, guys, so much.

Keep in mind, Girls: The Complete Sixth Season is available now for digital download and on Blu-ray and DVD on July 25, 2017.

All formats feature exclusive new bonus content, including an extended version of ‘A Goodbye to Girls’ featuring never-before- seen behind-the- scenes footage, ‘Inside the Episodes’ featurettes and more.

The post Girls Season 6 Interview: Richard Shepherd, Ebon Richard-Moss and Jon Glaser Speak Out! appeared first on TV Fanatic.

Sort of.

Girls Season 6 Episode 10 was a satisfying end to the long-running show, though it felt much more like an epilogue than the finale.

Girls Season 6 Episode 9 felt much more like a traditional finale – something that Lena Dunham and Co. confirmed was a purposeful choice in various finale post-mortem interviews. That installment found all of the main cast saying a final goodbye and going their separate ways.

"Latching," on the contrary, only featured three major characters: Hannah, Marnie, and Loreen. And, of course, the addition of Hannah's baby boy, Grover.

Can I first just say how hilarious the casual reveal was that Hannah had actually taken Paul-Louis' sole input on parenting to heart, actually naming their child Grover (after a flippin' Muppet) after he suggested it? Too funny.

In pure Marnie fashion, Hannah's self-proclaimed BFF had spontaneously shown up at Hannah's (admittedly gorgeous) house upstate, basically demanding that she be allowed to help Hannah raise her baby.

At the time, Hannah was heavily pregnant but all alone in her big (seriously gorgeous) house, having not started her teaching position yet. What a life, am I right?

Marnie: Who’s here? I’m here. I win. I’m your best friend. I’m the best at being your friend. I love you the most.

Hannah: Okay.

_{🔗 permalink: I love you the most.}

Marnie's insistence that she raise the baby with Hannah was perfectly in character.

Like she said, she has nothing going on in her own life. Being a second parent to Hannah's baby would be the surest way to give her life some semblance of meaning and distract from the fact that she honestly doesn't have anything else going on anyway.

It's good to see that Marnie did gain some amount of self-awareness by the end of the show. I also do legitimately think that she does love Hannah the most – she's certainly dedicated to her friend.

And despite the fact that Marnie was preachy, annoying, and slightly invasive when it came to Hannah's breastfeeding woes, she clearly had only the best intentions with helping her friend and loves baby Grover.

Marnie's help was just done Marnie-style – she needs to be the best at everything, so of course she would look up literally all of the information she could find on breastfeeding and lecture Hannah endlessly on its benefits.

Hannah [to Marnie]: Okay, I need this to stop. Because A) it’s fucking revolving, and B) every time you say “nipple,” a fairy dies.

_{🔗 permalink: Every time you say “nipple,” a fairy dies.}

It was a small moment, but Marnie swiftly schooling Hannah on swaddling by pulling off a picture-perfect swaddle was great, too. Such a Marnie thing to do.

Unfortunately, Hannah was making Marnie miserable. In perhaps the only time throughout the series that I've ever felt legitimately sorry for Marnie, Hannah was all at once both very cruel and dismissive to her while still taking her presence for granted.

In the span of minutes, Hannah went from snapping at Marnie about her "perverse" involvement in the latching struggle to being baffled that Marnie would possibly consider going to a wine bar on her own for a night, leaving Hannah with her own child.

The fact that Hannah unraveled in the aftermath of Grover's birth wasn't surprising. She's never been a particularly put-together person, and motherhood is pretty damn stressful (to say the least).

Grover's inability to latch was just the straw that broke the camel's back – it was more an emblem of Hannah's overall struggle to become an adult than any sort of larger commentary on breastfeeding.

The best part of the finale was the final half, when Loreen showed up after being called in by Marnie for back-up after Hannah was rude to Marnie once again.

Hannah: I don’t understand why you’re yelling at me when I’m in emotional pain!

Loreen: Yeah, well you know who else is in emotional pain?

Hannah: Who?

Loreen: Fucking everyone! For their whole lives!

_{🔗 permalink: Fucking everyone! For their whole lives!}

I love Loreen's ability to tell it to her daughter like it is, and it was so great to see Becky Ann Baker in action as this character for the last time. It was also fitting that Hannah's own mother would be there to help her along in her own "induction" into motherhood.

Beyond the confrontation at Hannah's house, when Loreen drove home the fact that baby Grover isn't something that Hannah can just give up on, Loreen also had a great moment with Marnie near the finale's end.

Loreen: Are you happy here?

Marnie: I don’t need to be happy.

Loreen: Why?

Marnie: It’s just not my time. This is important. Hannah’s my best friend.

_{🔗 permalink: I don’t need to be happy.}

All of the other friends fell away at the end of Girls Season 6 Episode 9, but Marnie stubbornly stuck around – though, as Loreen suggests, that might not have been the best thing for their friendship.

It was beautiful and heartbreaking at once to hear Loreen relate her own marriage to Tad – her best friend, but someone she should've parted ways with long ago – to Marnie's friendship with Hannah.

It was also very apt. Marnie couldn't – and shouldn't – put her life on hold to assist Hannah. In many ways, Hannah and Grover became Marnie's reason not to move on with her life and figure out what she should do next.

Her idea to go to law school was totally on point. I can totally see Marnie as a lawyer, or as Loreen suggested, a judge.

Finally, Hannah's breakthrough moment came as she encountered a stereotypically bratty teen.

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Ironically, the girl (pantless and shoeless) wasn't running from an "emergency situation" as she first said. Much like Hannah, she'd stormed out of her house after an argument with her mother.

In Hannah's case, she hadn't liked the harsh truths her mother had to say about Hannah realizing motherhood was a permanent commitment. For the girl, she simply hadn't wanted to do her homework.

I'm not sure who the teen actress was who played the mystery girl, but that entire scene was hilarious. I loved Hannah's gradual realization that this girl was just a damn idiot, not in any actual danger.

Demanding her pants back after lecturing the girl about appreciating her mother was a nice touch. Because of course Hannah would give this strange girl the actual pants off of her body in an ill-advised attempt to be helpful.

Hannah's monologue about mothers was a bit heavy-handed. She basically shouted at the girl everything that Hannah herself needed to realize about motherhood.

But hey, it did the trick. When Hannah came home, Marnie and Loreen welcomed her back with open arms. But more importantly, Hannah's newfound confidence in motherhood finally allowed Grover to latch.

This was a really stunning shot to end the series on, and yet another strong performance from Dunham, who really killed it in the acting department this final season. More than anything, this last shot represented the culmination of Hannah's long journey into adulthood.

"I've got it," she says to her mother and Marnie – and this time, she means it.  She's got her son and, however tentatively, she's got her life figured out. 

To some degree, at least. This is still Hannah Horvath we're talking about here.

Stray thoughts:

• Marnie is suddenly smoking e-cigarettes now? That was never a thing before, was it? Also, the hilarity of Marnie smoking an e-cig in a pediatrician's waiting room…

• The opening shot of Marnie and Hannah spooning was a great callback to the series premiere.

• Is it weird how sad I am that Elijah was totally absent from the finale? I mean, I'm sure he's busy being a Broadway star, but it's still sad that (at least according to Marnie's rant) he hadn't been around much for Hannah.

• Becky Ann Baker is a national treasure, and Loreen's appearance in the finale provided some of her best work on the show.

• That cop following pantless Hannah home to make sure she got there safely was a small, silly moment, but very amusing.

What did you think of the series finale? Was it a satisfying conclusion to the long-running show? Share your thoughts by commenting below and remember that you can watch Girls online anytime to relive Hannah's journey from the beginning!

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The post Girls Season 6 Episode 10 Review: Latching appeared first on TV Fanatic.

In a five months later flash-forward, Hannah takes her new baby boy Grover to the doctor. She's concerned about his weight loss and the fact that he stopped breastfeeding after six weeks, but the doctor covering her normal doctor is unconcerned. Marnie is in the waiting room, happily playing the role of "Aunt Marnie." She encourages Hannah to keep trying to breastfeed Grover. In the car on the way home, Marnie sings and Hannah repeatedly asks Marnie to stop singing, finally yelling at her about it.

In the house, Hannah repeatedly tries to breastfeed Grover and it keeps not working. Marnie keeps trying to give her tips and show Hannah up when it comes to swaddling, annoying Hannah. Marnie tells Hannah she wants to go to a local wine bar for jazz night, but Hannah shuts her down. That night, Hannah bursts in while Marnie is taking sexy lingerie photos of herself, crying about the fact that Grover is crying and that he hates her.

Loreen shows up to help Hannah, having been called by Marnie. Hannah gets angry at Marnie for calling Loreen, but Marnie says that Hannah hasn't been acting mature and everything going on is "above her paygrade." They get into an argument, where Hannah accuses Marnie of having begged to come help with Grover but now that it's not as she imagined, she's uninterested.

Loreen sits with Hannah as she's in the bath and tells her that she also wasn't able to breastfeed and Hannah turned out fine. She gets upset at her mother and accuses her of not telling her it would be this hard. Loreen points out that this is the first decision that Hannah has made that she can't take back, calling bullshit on Hannah's claim that Grover hates her. Hannah insults her mother, blaming Loreen marrying Tad, a gay man, for Hannah's inability to make a normal home/family life for herself. Hannah storms out and goes for a walk where a man driving by asks if she's okay and she angrily tells him she isn't a hooker.

Marnie has Facetime sex with a guy, pretending to be a British flight attendant and that the guy is a pilot. It's very awkward. Loreen interrupts, barging into the room to ask whether they're out of breast milk. Later, Marnie tells an apologetic Loreen that she wasn't masturbating, she was videochatting with a guy named Dalton P. from Weehawken. Loreen asks if she's happy here with Hannah. Marnie claims that it's not her time to be happy because Hannah and Grover need her, but Loreen suggests it's best for their friendship if Marnie is happy. Marnie comes around about Hannah using formula for baby Grover, saying that the ingredients aren't even that bad.

Meanwhile, Hannah goes for a walk by herself. She comes across a teen girl freaking out and running away, pantless and without shoes, saying she was in an emergency situation. Hannah tries to help the girl, even giving the girl her own pants and shoes. Then she finds out that the girl wasn't in an emergency at all — she ran away after her mom told her to do her homework. Hannah rails at the girl about her mom loving her and taking care of her, demanding her pants back. The girl calls her psycho and runs away with Hannah's pants.

As she's walking home, a pantless Hannah comes across a police officer who drives up to her. The police officer asks if she's okay and Hannah confirms that she is, declining his ride home. He slowly follows her as she's walking home to make sure she gets back okay.

Back at the house, Marnie and Loreen sit outside, drinking wine and smoking. Marnie talks about what might be next for her. She says she was always interested in going to law school because she loves all the rules. Loreen suggests that she be a judge. Hannah arrives, pantless, confusing the two of them.

Hannah joins them, taking a glass of wine. She asks where Grover is and Marnie tells her that he's asleep in her room, and that they gave him formula and he liked it. When Grover starts crying, Hannah declines her mother and Marnie's help, going up herself to take care of him. The baby finally latches, as Hannah softly sings to him and encourages him.

The post Girls Season 6 Episode 10 Recap: Latching appeared first on TV Fanatic.

That denial isn't because I think the show should continue on. Actually, it's wrapping up beautifully, and it's clear that tons of thought and care was put into bringing each character's storyline to its organic end. I'm just always sad when good TV takes its final bow – no matter how well it concludes.

"Goodbye Tour" found Hannah interviewing for (and then abruptly being offered) a teaching position at a small liberal arts college in Upstate New York.

I rolled my eyes pretty hard at that one. Hannah hasn't held a consistent job ever — her previous teaching gig went not-so-great and ended pretty quickly, if I remember correctly — so it's more than slightly unbelievable that an amazing teaching position (teaching kids about the internet?!) would just fall into her lap like this. Talk about a fantasy ending.

In retrospect, though, the disastrous jaunt to Poughkeepsie on Girls Season 6 Episode 2 turns out to have been a great piece of foreshadowing for where Hannah would end up.

Her conversation with the shop keeper who abandoned city life and "found herself" upstate takes on a much deeper meaning now that Hannah has paralleled that woman's choice.

As she made the rounds throughout the city she'd loved, hated, and loved-to-hate so much, Hannah checked in with various people who weighed in with their opinions on whether or not she should take the job and leave town.

Elijah, understandably, was heartbroken at the idea of his partner in crime up and leaving him behind. Earlier this season, the two had seemed to settle on the idea of raising Hannah's baby in their dinky little apartment. Now, Hannah will be doing it solo, and Elijah wasn't thrilled about it.

Elijah: I just don’t understand why you would want to leave New York, okay? That’s like something your family makes you do when you’re too deep into crack to stop them. It’s not something that a young, vibrant, albeit pregnant, person does.

_{🔗 permalink: I just don’t understand why you would want to leave New York, okay? That’s like something…}

On the bright side, the resulting scene – where Elijah serenades Hannah from across the apartment with a very mournful version of Demi Lovato's "Cool for the Summer" – was lovely. A great, minor moment closing this chapter of their friendship.

Of course, Elijah probably won't remain too down in the dumps for long – as he sassily announced when he interrupted the girls' "group meeting" in Shosh's bathroom, he landed the lead in "White Men Can't Jump," making him a Broadway star on the rise.

Elijah: I got it! I got the part in “White Men Can’t Jump” the fucking musical spectacular, you feckless whores! Hannah, I will see you at home tomorrow roughly around noon when I’m done partying this out. Eat a dick!

_{🔗 permalink: I got it! I got the part in “White Men Can’t Jump” the fucking musical spectacular, you…}

Take that, you "feckless bitches."

Hannah even ran into Adam's sister Caroline, who abruptly returned to the city, reuniting with Laird and their baby.

That was a surprise reappearance that I didn't expect at all, given that we haven't seen Gaby Hoffmann on the show since Girls Season 5 Episode 2.

Though she was never a major character, it was great that her arc didn't get left dangling in the wind and that she managed to recover from what was apparently a mental break. Mostly because Laird deserves all the happiness in the world (even if it's not with Hannah…).

Caroline gave Hannah her unasked-for blessing to leave the city behind and take the job. Hannah's dad Tad and his partner Keith were equally supportive. But Hannah had a hard time reaching Marnie and Shoshanna for their advice – and, of course, she wasn't inclined to speak with Jessa about it.

Which made it all the more satisfying when the four main girls had their big breakthrough moment in the bathroom at Shosh's engagement party, realizing that they're not really friends anymore… and maybe never were.

Shoshanna: With the help of Byron, who has completed all 12 steps of Al-Anon, I have come to realize how exhausting and narcissistic and ultimately boring this whole dynamic is. And I finally feel brave enough to create some distance for myself. If you guys happened to notice all of those really pretty girls out there who have, like, jobs and purses and nice personalities, those are now my friends. Not you guys. I think we should all just agree to call it.

_{🔗 permalink: With the help of Byron, who has completed all 12 steps of Al-Anon, I have come to realize how…}

The obvious parallel here was to Shosh's big, drunken speech on Girls Season 3 Episode 7, when she epically called everyone out with incisive (yet totally correct) insults at the beach house.

In this case, Shosh similarly put into words what everyone was thinking deep down – the friendships that the four had made with one another were not in any way, shape, or form healthy ones. And whether or not the other three were willing to admit it, Shosh had had enough and was ready to call time of death on their already-shaky bond.

Shosh's words made sense – and it equally made sense that she wouldn't invite Hannah to her engagement party, or even tell her about the fact that she was engaged.

Hannah: You had a party and you didn’t invite me? I mean, this place is, like, at capacity.

Shoshanna: Yeah, I did. Which would be strange, except you’re having a baby, and you neglected to tell me after you literally told everyone else on the face of the earth. So, I guess that just kind of says who we are to each other.

_{🔗 permalink: Yeah, I did. Which would be strange, except you’re having a baby, and you neglected to tell…}

It honestly hadn't even occurred to me that Hannah hadn't ever bothered to directly tell Shoshanna (or Ray, for that matter) about her pregnancy news, when pretty much everyone else found out very early on.

But it was ultimately realistic – people grow apart, and Hannah and Shosh were never particularly close to begin with. For Shosh, Hannah not telling her about the major life event she was going through was enough to put into context just how not-really-friends the two wound up.

I complained all season long about the lack of Shosh, but it was worth it for the awesomeness of the reveal that she wasn't around because she simply had better things to do, off-screen and out of the other girls' orbit – like make a ton of new friends and find a normal guy who seems like a great fiance.

Shosh has grown the most as a character since the early days of Girls Season 1, and "Goodbye Tour" perfectly represented that.

The party setpiece was wonderful because it provided several stand-out, major emotional breakthroughs. The forced "group meeting" in the bathroom, with Shosh telling it like it is, was one of them. But Hannah and Jessa's pseudo-reconciliation was arguably even better.

Jessa: I think it turns out that I wasn’t as ready to help people as I thought. I just needed to take a long, hard look in the mirror, as my mother would say.

Hannah: What’d you see?

Jessa: A fucking bitch.

_{🔗 permalink: A fucking bitch.}

It's not clear whether Hannah and Jessa will ever be friends again – and it's basically impossible for them to ever resume the friendship they once had – but the moment of clearing the air was extremely cathartic, much needed, and wonderfully acted.

Seriously, bravo to both Jemima Kirke and Lena Dunham for the realistic apology scene. Even the stilted, unfinished bits of dialogue as they both struggled to find the words to convey what they meant was beautifully organic and true to life.

It was also a nice touch that Jessa wound up being the first person to find out Hannah is having a boy (along with the audience) and to have her reassure her former friend that the kid would turn out alright.

Hannah: It’s okay. It’s okay. I mean, think about it. We were all just doing our best, so.

Jessa: Our best was awful.

Hannah: Worst best.

_{🔗 permalink: Worst best.}

Finally, the penultimate installment of the series closed on a montage of the four girls dancing at Shosh's engagement party – not quite together but not quite apart either – intercut with scenes of Hannah moving into her new house upstate.

This almost could have served as the series finale (with its sense of, well, finality), but of course we're going to meet Hannah's baby before the show is over.

Stray thoughts:

• Why on earth would Shoshanna invite Marnie to her engagement party? Jessa and Elijah I can sort of understand, but Marnie?
• On a similar note, why wasn't Ray at this party? Ray and Shosh have been pretty close as friends for a while now. What gives? Was Ray too busy with his new maybe-girlfriend Abigail?
• That shit conversation in the bathroom ("You're telling me every shit you've ever taken has been on a toilet?" / "Yes") perfectly encapsulated the difference between Marnie and Jessa.
• I'm so curious to see who will pop back up in the series finale. Girls Season 6 Episode 8 felt pretty final for Adam, and "Goodbye Tour" very well might have been Shosh's grand exit. Will the finale be 100% Hannah? I really hope not. I need to see at least a bit of all of the other characters – both major and minor – one last time, despite the fact that Hannah wlll (presumably) no longer be in the city.
• Still convinced Desi just up and died somewhere. Here's hoping we close the book on him too, before the end.
• Are we in for a time jump for the finale? The brief preview seemed to hint that we might be jumping forward in time.
• The conversation Hannah overheard in the shop from the two girls who were just moving in together was a really poignant, sweet moment.

What did you think of "Goodbye Tour"? Share your thoughts by commenting below, and remember that you can watch Girls online anytime here at TV Fanatic to relive the show's final season!

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The post Girls Season 6 Episode 9 Review: Goodbye Tour appeared first on TV Fanatic.

Hannah meets with her dad Tad and his partner in Washington Square Park. They encourage her to accept the job and leave New York City, promising that she won't be that far away and that they'll visit often.

Throughout the day, Hannah repeatedly tries to call Marnie to ask for her advice on what to do, while she's going through a "goodbye tour" of the city. Marnie repeatedly ignores Hannah's calls.

On the train, Hannah flirts with a guy, but he abruptly stops flirting with her when he notices that she is pregnant. On her way home, she bumps into Caroline, who has recently returned recovered from a short stay in the hospital, with Sample. Caroline gives Hannah her blessing to leave.

Hannah decides to stop over at Shoshanna's apartment. When she gets there, she sees that there is a party going on. Shosh is surprised and a bit peeved that Hannah just stopped by without asking, explaining that she hadn't invited Hannah to her party because Hannah hadn't even told Shosh that she's pregnant when she'd told everyone else. Shosh informs Hannah that the party is her own engagement party, to a man named Byron Long.

Hannah finds out that Marnie, Jessa, and Elijah were all invited to the party and not her when she spots them there. She confronts Marnie about having avoided her calls, and Marnie explains that she didn't want to make Hannah feel left out by mentioning the party that night. 

When the four women start sniping at each other, Marnie demands a group meeting in Shosh's bathroom, to which they reluctantly agree. Marnie attempts to force the girls to resolve their differences so that they can go back to being friends and hanging out normally. Hannah reveals that she was offered a job upstate and that none of them will probably ever see her again, surprising Marnie.

Shosh interrupts, saying that they can no longer be friends and how she's realized that she doesn't like their dynamic. She explains that the other people at the party are her actual friends. She leaves, saying they can stay if they want to. Midway through the group meeting, Elijah barges in to inform them that he got the part in the White Men Can't Jump musical.

After the group meeting dissipates and they all return to the party, Hannah and Jessa have a heart to heart, crying and apologizing to one another. Hannah reveals to Jessa that her baby is a boy, making Jessa the first person she's told. Jessa reassures her that the baby will be perfect.

The episode ends with a montage of the four girls dancing individually at the engagement party, intercut with scenes of a very pregnant Hannah moving into her new house upstate.

The post Girls Season 6 Episode 9 Recap: Goodbye Tour appeared first on TV Fanatic.

Unlike many other installments, the three separate plots of "What Will We Do This Time About Adam?" wove together perfectly, and I was equally invested in each of them. The lack of Marnie certainly didn't hurt things either.

The biggest development, as indicated by the title, was Adam's spur of the moment decision to break up with Jessa and reunite with Hannah. Say what now?

It was a drastic decision and seemingly out of left field – Adam was completely, 100% into Jessa for all of Girls Season 5 and had, by all appearances, forgotten all about Hannah. But looking at the show's most recent installments, it's not actually as random as it appears.

The biggest indicators, of course, would be all of the many times that Adam has brought up his love of babies. Clearly, Adam very much wants to be a dad – it makes sense that Hannah's single parent pregnancy would instigate this desire in him.

Also, filming Full Disclosure, the movie he and Jessa made about their torrid love triangle, it's clear that he must've felt nostalgic for what he and Hannah once had. 

That much was made clear when Adam and Jessa argued over the point of certain emotionally raw and loving scenes between Adam and his Hannah-character on Girls Season 6 Episode 5.

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For the first time, then, Jessa had to confront the fact that Adam's relationship with Hannah was real – which, I'm guessing, is why she didn't completely freak the eff out when Adam made his big announcement about breaking up with her to pursue a life with Hannah in the opening scene of the latest installment. It was somewhat expected.

The moment when Hannah told Adam that she was pregnant on Girls Season 6 Episode 6 was also a definite hint that this information changed something for Adam.

But regardless of whether or not this big move made sense in context for their characters, it felt truly real on an instinctual, human level. I'm guessing this will be a polarizing installment of the show, but personally, Hannah and Adam's day-long fall back into their old relationship – only older, wiser, more mature – was lovely and devastating.

Now, I was never a particular fan of the Hannah/Adam pairing. When they broke up, it was one of the most reasonable, rational, and realistic depictions of a relationship ending that I've ever seen on TV. Hannah refusing to reunite with Adam on Girls Season 4 Episode 10 will go down as one of the show's best, rawest scenes.

But Hannah and Adam have years of history between them. The way they fell back together so easily made so much sense and was realistic. Anyone who has ever briefly reunited with an ex can understand that initial, joyous rush.

Adam: I want to raise your child with you. I miss you and I miss being with you. And I thought I could move on, but hearing about the baby made me realize we don’t have any more time to waste. Let me show you who I’ve become. I want to be there for you as you become a mother. I want to watch you blossom and love this baby more than anyone has ever loved a living thing. I don’t want to be away from you any longer.

Hannah: I’m so confused.

_{🔗 permalink: I’m so confused.}

Best declaration of love ever, or best declaration of love ever?

For these two, it was even more intense because there was the idea of raising a baby and having a family together in the mix. That's some serious shit.

Again, many may have hated how rushed and over the top it all was, but I personally loved how quickly Hannah went from "WTF is going on" after hearing Adam's declaration to having sex and buying baby products with him.

It was equal parts hilarious, sweet, and pure fantasy. Even as it was happening, it was clear that everything was moving far too fast for it to be real and for it to last.

The first flicker that something was wrong came about when Hannah completely zoned out and stared at the picture of a baby and mom on a product while Adam was talking. Something was going through her head that wasn't yet clear.

The diner scene, the final moment between Hannah and Adam (perhaps for the rest of the series), was where it all fell apart.

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Devastating is the only way to describe their re-breakup. They moved swiftly from talking about getting a home together, joining a food co-op, and even getting married to awkwardly going their separate ways. And not even a word was spoken between them.

All it took was Hannah's quivering lip giving way to tears, sparking off Adam's crying, for the two to both realize that what they once had was gone. Or if not gone, at least that it wouldn't work for them anymore.

I love the idea that there wasn't some sudden, epic argument or that anything bad happened between them.

That's just the point – nothing was bad, no one did anything wrong. It just didn't work anymore. They don't fit together. For a day, they played house, but by that night they realized that's all that it was.

Jessa, meanwhile, tried to maintain her composure, shrugging off Adam breaking it off with her (in the most traumatic way possible, no less) to his face.

Jessa: You’ve gotta do what you’ve gotta do. I’m not a zookeeper.

Adam: Come the fuck on, there’s something else in there. Will you just say it? Spit in my face. Punch me. What? Just do it.

Jessa: Why would I do that? You haven’t done anything wrong.

_{🔗 permalink: Why would I do that? You haven’t done anything wrong.}

On the inside, of course, she was breaking apart. And it was heartbreaking to see.

Jessa went through all the motions of an erratic, pseudo-unhinged person going through an unexpected and emotionally devastating breakup.

First, she hilariously tried to switch her cable package ("elite channels"?!). Then, she scared poor Laird's baby. Finally, she found a random man at a bar and had bathroom sex with him in an effort to dull her pain.

As mentioned by the show's creators during the Inside the Episode post-show clip, this Jessa scene was a mirror image of her actions on Girls Season 1 Episode 2, when she had sex with the guy in a bar bathroom after confirming she wasn't pregnant.

Then, it was fun and sexy and free. Now, it's distressing and depressing.

It was no surprise that Jessa took Adam back with a small smile and absolutely zero hesitation when he showed up at her door that night.

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But I can't possibly imagine how this won't weigh heavily on their relationship or give Jessa serious doubts. I mean, what happened would be massively disturbing to any woman in her right mind, and not something they'd easily get over.

Jemima Kirke's acting was incredible. Despite the fact that Jessa has been far less than sympathetic for a while now, she really made me feel for the character's deep pain and abandonment. So while her taking Adam back doesn't quite logically make sense, it does make sense for Jessa as a character.

The final thread of this installment followed Ray, Shoshanna, and (surprisingly) Shosh's old boss, Abigail.

Abigail, you'll recall, is the boss (played by Aidy Bryant) who visited Shosh in Japan and fired her on Girls Season 5 Episode 3, eventually forcing Shosh to have to move back to the states.

While I was sad that their bonding ended up pushing Shosh to the wayside (and eventually out of this installment completely), I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed Ray and Abigail's connection.

The scene where sweet, friendly Abigail taught Ray how to approach old people for the purposes of continuing Hermie's oral history project was so adorable.

That it ended on a first kiss, mid-carousel ride? Even more adorable.

Aidy Bryant was great in this role. Abigail and Ray may have initially seemed like a poor match, but someone like her (the complete counterpoint to someone self-involved like Marnie or someone completely neurotic like Shoshanna) ended up being exactly what he needs.

Is it weird that I'm already rooting for those two? So much for a Shosh/Ray reunion.

Also, this installment gave us Ray's single best line, ever:

Ray: My favorite show growing up was this obscure Russian cartoon about a tiny cup of borscht that had no father. The catchphrase was “Papa would be so hungry.” Shaped me as a child.

Shoshanna: That explains so much.

_{🔗 permalink: My favorite show growing up was this obscure Russian cartoon}

Stray thoughts:

• I've seen others speculating that Jessa throwing up shortly after Adam's departure – in the midst of attempting to order "elite channels" – means that Jessa herself is pregnant. I didn't think that at all. I myself am a person who has been so deeply upset in the past that I've spontaneously puked out of thin (non-pregnant) air, so my thinking's that it was just a visceral stress reaction.

• Despite the fact that it all ended so sadly, there were a number of absolutely lovely Hannah-Adam moments rolled into this installment. Hannah's confessions about her parenting fears and Adam's easy reassurance was a great one, as was Adam talking to Hannah's belly as she stroked his hair.

• As usual, Lena Dunham and Adam Driver have phenomenal chemistry together.

• Everything about Laird's offer to help Hannah raise her baby was so random but also so perfect and funny. He did have a crush on her for a long while after all.

• Elijah-ism of the Day:

Elijah: Well, honey, of course you don’t feel good. It’s 127 degrees in here and we are poor, you’ve got a parasite growing inside you, and we’re probably both going to die of heatstroke at any minute. Oh god, we’re going to die like those old people in Queens on NY1! I’m too pretty to go to a cooling station.

_{🔗 permalink: Well, honey, of course you don’t feel good. It’s 127 degrees in here and we are poor, you’ve…}

What did you think of "What Will We Do This Time About Adam"? Share your thoughts by leaving a comment below, and remember that you can watch Girls online here at TV Fanatic anytime to relive the show's final season.

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The post Girls Season 6 Episode 8 Review: What Will We Do This Time About Adam? appeared first on TV Fanatic.