Adam saves the day — shirtless.
Last night was the season two finale of Girls. If you’ve been watching the HBO series from the beginning you probably got a bit emotional, as things became a little too “perfect” in the final moments. Or maybe you became angry, because perfection can have that effect on people.
SPOILER ALERT.
We watched Marnie and Charlie come full circle, Shosh realize that maybe Ray isn’t a keeper for someone like her, and the most intense and heart-wrenching scene where the forever-shirtless Adam raced through the Brooklyn streets to get to his beloved and equally fucked-up Hannah. It was in those last few moments, although you may or may not have cheered on Adam’s modern-day attempt at chivalry, that you probably asked yourself: “Are you fucking kidding me? That’s not how life works!” You also may have cried. I cried.
But as I watched Adam run with Hannah on iPhone FaceTime in his hand to her apartment, coddling her like the wounded bird she is, I thought of all the other moments in television and literature where the male lead runs after the female lead. When he kicked in her locked door, I thought about the grand gestures that have been shoved down our throats in the media from the moment we were first put in front of the TV.
Typical: Guy and girl break-up, realize they’re meant to be because of some epiphany that their brokenness is compatible, and guy chases after the girl… where he promptly picks her up into his arms and the happy ending stamp of approval is set in stone before the credits roll. It seemed no different than in Sex and the City, when Big ran all the way to Paris to tell Carrie he “fucking” loved her. Girls, last night, became just like everyone else.
As a show that was supposed to be so “realistic” in the way it portrayed these four women in Greenpoint, their struggles with early adulthood and the endless awkward sex seasons, it was a disappointing ending. Yes, it was charming and what most girls dream will happen to them at some point — that whole chasing thing — but it felt as though Girls succumbed to that conventional ending that appeals more to the masses than to those who respect an ending that doesn’t fall under the guise of expected.
I guess I had hoped for more, something a bit less sugary-sweet and final; or maybe I’m just bitter because I’m still waiting for the chase scene to happen in my life.
We don’t know what season three of Girls will bring us, so maybe it’s a bit too soon to be using the word “final.” But if this is how season two came to an end, the end of the series, when we get there, can’t be much different. I get that in the real world where chase scenes don’t happen, to watch one play out on television is both dreamy and even, dare I say, thrilling. I just think that Adam being hit by truck is far more plausible, as he did at the end of season one, than what we witnessed last night. The last thing we need is another show that contributes the delusion so many have about what love is and what it means to be in love.
I guess we just might need Adam to be hit by a truck again in order to feel truly satisfied; because that’s far more likely than a shirtless man running through the streets to get to his wonky love.
What do you guys think of last night’s show?
Photo: HBO
