Since Lena Dunham and Judd Apatow wrote this episode together, I’m giving them equal amounts of blame and praise. Blame for breaking my heart but also praise for such a beautifully written episode. They didn’t waste any time cutting to the chase as the episode begins with Adam telling Jessa that he wants to be with Hannah and raise her baby with her. Jessa acts surprisingly cool and instead of burning the apartment down, she tells him to do what he has to do.
Adam finds Hannah in a convenience store in her neighborhood and tells her how he feels. Hannah is of course shocked but is quickly swept up in Adam’s plan for their future. They go back to Hannah’s apartment and have sex, followed by a day of frolicking around New York City. Adam talks to Hannah’s belly and they go shopping for baby items together. All of this seems a little too good to be true, which of course it is. It only takes the mention of marriage for their little fantasy world to crumble. At the end of the day Adam and Hannah are eating at a diner when they start discussing where they will live. Adam mentions that he has been on the list for artist housing but that they tend to pick married couples. He then casually suggests that they should get married. As Hannah processes this statement she slowly begins to cry. Although neither of them say it out loud, Adam knows that Hannah doesn’t want to get married. Adam begins to cry as he changes the subject and asks Hannah what her plans are for that night. Through sobs she says she’ll probably go home and write.
I think Hannah liked the idea of someone wanting to raise her child with her, especially after Paul-Louis made it clear he didn’t want to be involved. I also think once she realized that raising the baby with Adam meant a life long commitment, she remembered why they weren’t together in the first place and realized a baby isn’t going to fix that.
While Hannah and Adam are having their delusional reunion, Jessa is not doing too well. She reverts back to some of her old coping mechanisms to numb the pain of being abandoned by Adam. Similar to season 1, she hooks up with a stranger in a bar bathroom. This time however, she starts crying and whispers to the stranger, “I don’t want you”. It’s obvious that Jessa really does love Adam and that nothing she does is going to make it hurt less that he left.
After the diner, Adam comes home to Jessa. He forgot his key so he calls her and she comes to the window. He asks if she would let him up and she agrees. It wasn’t until Jessa smiles in relief that I realized I was genuinely happy for Jessa. As crazy and they behave together, Adam and Jessa just may be the perfect match.
As heartbreaking as it was to watch the diner scene, I’m actually most devastated about Shoshanna and Ray’s storyline. First of all, we haven’t seen much of Shosh this season, which is a crime. Also, after Ray broke up with Marnie I was certain that Shosh and Ray would end up together. Obviously, right?! Well, their storyline begins with Ray and Shoshanna trying to digitize the tapes that Hermie left him. Shoshanna runs into her former boss Abigail, played by the hilarious Aidy Bryant. Shosh warns Ray that although Abigail is super nice, she can be a lot to handle.
The three end up going to lunch together and in a strange turn of events, Ray actually likes Abigial. I think her positivity and enthusiasm is refreshing to Ray. Although it’s the complete oppoiste of his own personaility he is able to find common ground with her. When Abigiail asks if they would rather live in a beautiful building with a view of an ugly building or vice versa, Ray is stunned at first and replies, “That’s my question”. Apparently it’s some deep question you ask people to get to know them better. Shosh is understandably in shock as she watches the exchange between the two. Zosia Mamet should get an Emmy nom for her “WTF” looks in this scene. Brilliant.
Abigial offers to help Ray interview residents of Brooklyn like Hermie did. They spend the day eating ice cream, talking with old people, and end the day kissing on a carousel. I stayed pretty calm after seeing this scene because apparently I’m an idiot and believe that good things still happen. During the commentary after the show, producer Jennifer Konner mentioned that the storyline was the perfect ending for Ray. What?! Exsqueeze me? I understand that Shoshanna’s happiness does not lie in finding a man, but I feel like I’ve been set up for disappointment. Why did they us how well Shosh and Ray get along and communicate in the scene where Ray spends the night at Shosh’s and Marnie scowls holding her conglomerate made coffee? At the end of the day I am team Shosh and I hope the finale shows her finding some clarity and figuring out what she wants. Because if fictional characters can’t even get a happy ending, what hope is there for the rest of us?
