Girls Episode 7: Video Games And Rabbit Stew

Girls Episode 7: Video Games And Rabbit Stew

Reprinted with permission from www.survivingcollege.com

Hannah and Jessa are out in Manitou, which is about an hour and a half outside of New York City (aka “the middle of nowhere”), waiting for her estranged father to pick them up from the train station. Hannah has a urinary tract infection and has to pee really badly, so Jessa suggests crossing the tracks to pee in the woods. Cue Hannah’s bare ass…and squat.

Another train rolls by, and Jessa’s father still hasn’t picked them up. When Hannah wonders why they are even there to begin with, Jessa explains that she received an incomprehensible text from her father and felt like he was trying to tell her something. Hannah, ever the supportive friend, suggests that maybe it was just a butt text.

Jessa’s father finally arrives. He has a grubby hippy look about him and his car is filled with junk, so they all pile in the front seat and drive to a broken down house. Jessa’s stepmother, Petula, launches into an awkward “sorry about your two month marriage” speech. As Jessa wanders off with her father to talk things out, Petula explains to Hannah that she is the buffer. She shows Hannah her collection of fuzzy little bunny rabbits, and I just realized that the stepmother is played by Rosanna Arquette. She has a theory that life is just a video game, and they are all players with guns. Or something.

Petula also has a weird nineteen-year-old son, Frank, who is wearing a turtleneck and denim shorts because why not. Hannah can’t decide if he is attractive, but decides to shelve the thought for later.

Dinner is, of course, the rabbit Hannah was petting just minutes earlier. Frank’s friend Tyler shows up, and he’s one of those stunningly gorgeous young men. Because Jessa’s father has previous plans that he won’t cancel, Jessa and Hannah spend the evening with the boys. Everyone but Hannah is doing whippits and Tyler is driving insanely dangerously, so Hannah wants out. Tyler stops the car, Hannah gets out and walks to a cemetery, and Frank follows. They have disappointing sex in the cemetery while Jessa and Tyler have a deep conversation in the car.

The next day, Jessa has a heart-to-heart with her father. She had a crappy childhood, and all she ever wanted was for her father to do even one thing that he said he was going to do. He says that Jessa is just as unreliable, and Jessa explains that he shouldn’t have to count on her because she’s the child, which is an excellent point.

Meanwhile, Frank is waiting for Hannah in the kitchen. He feels used. He insists it was not his first time, and then there’s something about Tyler, and eventually she gets the heck out of there and Jessa’s father drops them off at a country store to buy groceries. Jessa explains that he’s not coming back for them, that this is what he does, so they walk all the way back to the house with the groceries. Hannah finally gets to experience first-hand what it’s like to have an unreliable family.

Oh joy, Hannah on the toilet moaning about her urinary tract infection. When she’s done, she finds a note from Jessa on the bed: See you around my love. X

Somehow, Hannah finds her way to the train station. She calls her parents and it’s a typical dysfunctional-but-comfortable parental conversation before she thanks them for doing such a good job of raising her, which freaks her parents out. Her mother suspects it’s a ploy for cash and hangs up.

Next week, Hannah’s parents take her to a therapist.

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