Girls Episode 8: “Weirdos Need Girlfriends Too” Recap: The Real vs. The Ridiculous

We have to congratulate Girls on surprising us this week (Season 1, Episode 8: “Weirdos Need Girlfriends Too”). We thought we knew Adam, but our eyes opened just as wide as Hannah’s did last week when his character opened up. And Hannah still has that look of amazement in her eyes whenever she looks at her new boyfriend. We, too, have been turned into Adam fans. Just when we think we know everything, we realize we never will — another important life lesson gleaned from this show, and life in your 20s.

On to what we found very Real in “Weirdos Need Girlfriends Too,” and what we found flat-out Ridiculous.

The Real

Marnie’s Facebook stalking. Facebook can be a curse when you’re fresh out of a breakup. On one hand, you can get clues as to how your ex is handling things, and what’s going on in his life without having to look desperate. On the other hand, what may be going on in his life is another girl. All of a sudden their cutesy pictures are the most romantic images you’ve ever seen, and he’s somehow the best guy you’ve ever met. We’ve been exactly where Marnie was when she said, “I am now dealing with the very painful fact that I probably won’t wind up with him.”

Adorable Adam. In many ways, we watch Hannah’s life go by the way Hannah does. In the first five episodes of this new series, we saw Adam through her eyes. We had no idea where he came from, what he was like when he wasn’t having sex with her, and how Adam felt about their arrangement. Now that we’re getting to know him in boyfriend mode, he’s a believable character, and no longer one-dimensional. His advice to Marnie was sound, asking her, “What makes you feel good?” Call us suckers, but we like a guy who dresses us in matching sleep onesies, who plasters the word “Sorry” all over a brick wall and wakes us up in the middle of the night to show us, then tricks us to get on top of his shoulders and runs down the street. Isn’t that as close to romance as it gets in Brooklyn in 2012?

The Yupster, Part 1. Hi Chris O’Dowd! How strange it is to see our favorite gentle giant of a fella playing a typical nouveau-Williamsburg yuppie hipster. But he played it so well. He is an amateur DJ, a venture capitalist in a grey suit, his rug cost $10,000 and he lives in a highrise. He has a televised fireplace. He “just wants to be balls deep in something!” He is real. He is to be avoided.

The Ridiculous

Marnie’s inner wild child. Yes, Marnie does look like a young Brooke Shields, and we empathize with her newly single status after four years of being adored. It was cute when she said to Jessa at the bar, “This is exciting, we’re being hit on. He looks like a boss.” But somewhere in between that moment and Marnie’s makeout with Jessa, we felt like we’d missed some important scene, or accidentally fast-forwarded through the episode. Marnie hates being “the uptight girl” because she is an uptight girl. Not that there’s anything wrong with that! She is, and that’s part of why her character is appealing, since no one around her is. And it would be one thing if she went from zero to giggly five-second girl kiss, but to easily lapse into a lengthy kiss with Jessa and not break into a smile once? We don’t buy it.

The Yupster, Part 2. Most assholes aren’t so incredibly likeable. Maybe it’s because Chris was playing the part and he’s basically a human Labrador Retriever and we just want to squeeze his cheeks, but the more he ranted (“No more excluding me, Mary Poppins,” and “There’s no cartilage in a nose that exquisite,” being two favorites), the more hilarious we found him.

So what did you think? Has Adam redeemed himself? Or are you still suspicious? Did you miss Shoshanna as much as we did? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Catch the next episode of Girls on Sunday, June 10 at 10:30 p.m. ET/PT on HBO.

Molly Friedman is an editor at Wetpaint Entertainment. Follow her on Twitter @MollyFriedman.

For the latest from Wetpaint Entertainment, Like us on our Facebook page at facebook.com/Wetpaint, or Follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/WetpaintTV.