A candid conversation with Cady Lang and Sarah Parker
[Warning: episode spoilers ahead!]
Cady Lang: So, what did you think of this week’s episode?
Sarah Parker: Um, I was surprised the lack of nudity.
CL: I was too.
SP: The last few episodes have been a lot of naked Hannah.
CL: I mean, it is HBO, but it has been pretty gratuitous lately. I feel like it’s Lena Dunham trying to make people look at beauty that isn’t necessarily conventional. Either that or she’s just trying to live up to the HBO standards of plenty of sex and nudity.
SP: I feel like the serious tone of the episode was different from the past few episodes. There was no naked Hannah in this one – that’s a big difference. Even when she was with Frank in the cemetery. There wasn’t a lot of naked anybody. I think that was on purpose. There was nothing truly funny in this one.
CL: I agree – for example, last episode, I felt sad for Ray, but there was humor. When Marnie and Booth had their falling out, his ridiculous temper tantrum brought the humor. Even the wistful telephone conversation between Hannah and Marnie at the end had a lighthearted feel.
SP: I wonder if we’ll ever get to see more of Marnie’s background, now that we have an idea of Jessa’s father and her upbringing.
CL: I’m really curious about Shoshanna. Shosh doesn’t get enough airtime and she is absolutely my favorite.
SP: Yeah, I love Shoshanna! And remember that she is Jessa’s cousin. I wonder how that relates to her family background; they have a strange relationship.
CL: What did you think of Jessa’s dad?
SP: I didn’t have any expectations of her dad. I guess I only had ones of her mom because she complains about her. Her dad was never mentioned that much. I guess it makes a lot of sense. Now that I saw her dad, I don’t know what her mom is going to be like. I don’t think that they can both be super off-the-grid people.
CL: I see her maybe being kind of like a bit of spoiled princess type, but rebellious and that’s why she was with Jessa’s dad. Jessa never worries about money, so I’m thinking her mother might be wealthy and she’s a trust fund baby who can bop around traveling in Europe and going to rehab. But she and her dad are incredibly similar – their mannerisms, their dysfunction. Also, her stepmom/step-girlfriend was a little creepy with the whole “We all live in a video game” and “A bunny a day keeps the doctor away.”
SP: Since they all went to Oberlin, that’s a pretty expensive school. Also, this was the first time that we really saw Jessa be vulnerable.
CL: When she broke up with Thomas John, she was sad. But she opened up her heart and really shared how she was feeling with her father, asking him to change.
SP: That’s true. She would never ask anyone for help in earlier episodes, and she would always call out Hannah for being a baby or whining about her book.
CL: Do you remember when she told Hannah about current events and said, “Just read a newspaper, just one newspaper?”
SP: I think Jessa cares about what’s going on in the world. She’s smart, but she’s not trying hard to impress people like Hannah is. This was a weird episode. Hannah was still being weird – she’s still being such a baby.
CL: Hannah is always a baby. It wouldn’t be Girls if someone – especially Hannah – wasn’t sleeping with someone.
SP: You knew that it was going to happen as soon as Frank walked in. And when Hannah was like, “Is he an attractive loser or just a loser?” Also, when Hannah tried to pretend like she didn’t want to have sex and was doing it so Jessa could hook up – just own up that you want to have sex! Also, I’m surprised that they introduced Frank’s sexually ambiguous friend – it’s obviously not going to go anywhere and I don’t think that we are ever going to see him again and he didn’t sleep with Jessa.
CL: I’m glad that Jessa didn’t sleep with him because it allowed us to see her beyond just her bohemian free spirit character; I think she’s always just portrayed as the token sexy hippie girl, which can be a little limiting as far as development – kind of like the manic pixie dream girl, and while she usually exercises her sexual agency, she had a sense of empowerment and maturity by not sleeping with the Frank’s puking friend. Also, sex in a cemetery? Oh, Hannah.
SP: I think Hannah’s mom is being a bitch, but I don’t blame her because Hannah has a history of being selfish, and if it wasn’t for Hannah getting a reality check when she met Jessa’s dad, Hannah would have never called her parents like that. I don’t blame her mom for thinking that Hannah just wanted something. I still agree with Elijah that Hannah’s dad is gay.
CL: I think Hannah’s mom might have been less perturbed with her if she hadn’t been peeing and yelping in pain while she was talking on the phone with her!
SP: Also, I hope anybody watching that knows that if you have a UTI, you need to take care of it immediately!
CL: I’m sad that Jessa flew the coop, but it didn’t really surprise me – just like it didn’t surprise her at all that her dad ditched her. I wonder where she’s at – I guess we’ll figure it out next episode?
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Ithaca chapter.