Girls

HBO’s newest attempt at reclaiming the glorious days of Sex and the City doesn’t quite reach those heights (at least not yet) but shows much more promise than Entourage (the male version) ever did.

Girls talks about the lives of four young girls living in New York City and their experiences with love, work, friends, and life in general.

In keeping with SATC’s format, each girl represents what can be best described as a stereotype: Hannah is smart, is open to having fun sexually, has a not-totally-committed boyfriend, and is not particularly beautiful.  Marnie is very beautiful, has a good job, and has a stable and doting boyfriend.  Jessa is sexually free spirited, can’t seem to care to have a job or be able to keep one, and generally lives for the moment.  Finally, Shoshanna is still virgin even though not really by choice, seems quite driven but also a little neurotic.

What really works here is the writing, which enables all the characters to grow and develop into relatable people and not just caricatures.  Lena Dunham, who plays Hannah, is actually also the producer, creator, writer, and sometimes director of the show, which makes her the multi-hyphenated to watch of our time.

Girls has been generally well received by critics, and with good reason, but the show still has room to grow and hopefully we’ll see that in its second season.  It’s still an interesting show to check out though.

Grade: 7