Girls recap: Hello Kitty

Last week’s fantastic Marnie-centric episode put several of Girls‘ ongoing storylines on hold. With “Hello Kitty,” the show dives back into those dangling threads with a very funny installment. “Hello Kitty” opens with Hannah in a meeting with her boss, who is scolding her after receiving complaints from other teachers that she disparages them to other students, including commenting on their sexual lives and expressing her disdain for some of them. The principal says he has to take serious action, and Hannah responds by pulling a Basic Instinct — opening her legs to reveal she’s not wearing any underwear.

Hannah’s stunt pays off, somehow, but that doesn’t stop Fran from being pretty upset about it. Last time we checked in with Hannah, she was contemplating breaking up with Fran, and it’s clear they still aren’t doing any better. In fact, it seems as though their relationship is starting to fracture even more, somewhat due to Hannah’s inability to see things from his perspective. She doesn’t seem to understand why Fran is so upset.

“Oh, so now I’m not supposed to show my vagina to anyone but you Fran? It’s about to be summer,” says Hannah in a line that is quintessentially Hannah.

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Adam is starring in a play called 38 Neighbors, a Sleep No More-style dramatization of the murder of Kitty Genovese that allows audience members to roam through the rooms of the neighbors who overheard Kitty being murdered in the street below and did nothing to help her. This case is known because of the bystanders’ indifference or lack of empathy for Kitty, which is very relevant to Sunday’s episode. Several of Girls‘ characters are either unable to empathize with someone else in their lives or need someone to look out for them while they get into terrible situations, but neither need is fulfilled.

Before the play starts, Hannah tries to break up with Fran by letting him know this isn’t working. But he assumes she’s not serious and refuses to talk about it at that moment since they’re in public. So Hannah grabs Ray, who is also in attendance, and goes off without her boyfriend.

Watching Hannah, Ray, and eventually Marnie move through the various rooms is kind of fun because they are completely oblivious to what’s going on in the scene as they are too focused on their own personal problems. Marnie thinks this is a great time to pull Ray aside and tell him about her decision to leave Desi. She asks Ray if he thinks she made the right decision to leave Desi and focus on being alone, but he avoids the question because he still has feelings for her and can’t possibly give a non-awkward answer.

NEXT: Elijah comes back to reality

Eventually, Hannah makes it to the room Adam is acting in. Then, she moves on to the apartment next door to watch Kitty get murdered. While watching, she notices Jessa standing on a fire escape across the street, making eyes at Adam who is making eyes back at her. The juxtaposition of Kitty’s murder and Hannah realizing that Jessa and Adam are making the beast with two backs and the accompanying camera work is particularly effective. Hannah, obviously blindsided by this epiphany, rushes to find Marnie to see if she knew about it, but Marnie says she’s been too busy with divorce lawyers to worry about their “second-tier friends.” God bless you, Marnie. Desi, who shows up with news that the woman who handles the music for Grey’s Anatomy (and worked on The O.C. and Gossip Girl, so every show with great music choices) wants to use one of their songs in a scene where someone dies or in a montage, then interrupts their conversation. Because of this new opportunity, their manager says they need to start touring the song.

Desi: We gotta make this work.

Marnie: Yes, we do. We have to make this work… You mean just as a band right?

Desi: Yeah…

Hannah, annoyed by their entire conversation, groans. This isn’t the ideal reaction because the way Marnie and Desi look at each clearly indicates this isn’t a good idea. Also, it’s possible Desi could be lying, especially knowing his history of bending the truth. Marnie could very much use Hannah’s input in this situation, but Hannah can’t be bothered to offer any support. You know, like Kitty’s neighbors!

“The ugly truth is, Hannah, human apathy continues to be one of the grossest threats to mankind,” says Ray after the immersive theatrical experience ends. It’s rare for Girls to be quite this on the nose, but it’s not off-putting. Hannah is more concerned about Jessa and Adam and not knowing about it or being able to stop it. Her worries about that entire situation lead her to walk back what she said to Fran earlier in the episode. She shares a moment with Adam and Jessa after the play ends, but it’s quite awkward.

Elijah and Dill

The last time we saw Elijah, he was falling head over heels for Dill, his new main squeeze. However, this week Elijah attends one of Dill’s parties and learns that the feelings may not be entirely mutual when he finds out that Dill is seeing multiple guys and pampering them in the same way. Based on the fact that this realization is paired with Hannah finding out about Jessa and Adam, the show seems to be implying that Elijah should’ve seen some signs before now.

When Elijah confronts Dill about it, Dill doesn’t even bother apologizing and coldly tells Elijah to decide if he can handle such an arrangement. Elijah, defiantly, leaves the party early. However, Dill shows up at his apartment drunk later that night, and they start hooking up, but Dill proceeds to fall asleep on his crotch. On Girls, touching moments like the ones we saw in “Old Loves” tend to never last.

Sound Bites:

“It’s when a guy has an ass that really sticks out to the point where it seems like a whole horse has been cut off him.” —Hannah explaining to Principal Cook what “phantom centaur butt” is

“Honestly, men are so afraid of the female vagina, we should be galvanizing and using this tactic to literally win wars.” —Hannah to Fran after the incident in the principal’s office.

“I didn’t do anything that bad. I’m not like Bill Cosby or something.” —Hannah defending herself to Fran…again