Image via Complex Original
Criticism of HBO's Girls has largely been uncalled for. Hannah, Marnie, Jessa, and Shoshanna are ridiculed by critics for being white, privileged, and entitled, though they live in one of the most diverse cities in the world. But that's intentional. We’re supposed to laugh at their naiveté and poor life choices.
There’s been too much talk about Lena Dunham’s body and not enough talk about the real star of the show—the awkward, embarrassing, and humiliating scenes that we hate to watch, but can’t look away from. We might not admit it aloud, but there’s a lot of truth to the show when it comes to relationships, sex, and snippy microaggressions.
Here are the 15 most cringe-worthy moments on Lena Dunham’s Girls, which returns for season four tonight on HBO at 9/8c. Even if we love to watch it, we’d hate to live it.
Don't Bring Up "Date Rape" in a Job Interview
Episode: "Vagina Panic" (Season 1, Episode 2)
Key quote: "I do object to any bar that calls its bartenders mixologists."
Cringe factor: Embarrassing
This is a perfect example of when someone hits rock bottom and continues to dig. Hannah's trying to find employment beyond an unpaid internship, and initially it all seems like it's going well. But then Hannah make a crack suggesting that her interviewer is a rapist, and things go downhill very quickly. We'd say that it was the wrong joke at the wrong time, but there likely isn't a ever a right time for this.
Meeting the New Girlfriend
Episode: "It's A Shame About Ray" (Season 2, Episode 4)
Key quote: "What was he going to do? Turn away a crying mess? He probably thought you would slit your wrists."
Cringe factor: Embarrassing
Marnie is an anal retentive mess, and she deals with her breakup with Charlie by getting creepy, stalky, and jealous. In one of Hannah's many failed dinner parties (a rite of passage for most hipsters in their mid-twenties), Marnie, and Charlie's new girlfriend, Audrey, get into an nasty fight that just escalates until there's no going back. Sometimes, you just have to admit you've lost.
When Your Ex Comes Out to You
Episode: "Vagina Panic" (Season 1, Episode 2)
Key quote: "You were never fat. You were soft and round. Like a dumpling."
Cringe factor: Humiliating
How good is Hannah's gaydar? Apparently, not good enough. It's perhaps not easy to learn that your boyfriend wasn't really sexually attracted to you when he was having se with you. It's definitely harder to learn that you inspired him to come out, because of how "handsome" you were. This unexpected admission, along with the vicious argument that immediately follows, is one of the funniest, most painful sequences on the show.
The Third Wheel in a Threesome
Episode: "Weirdos Need Girlfriends Too" (Season 1, Episode 8)
Key quote: "No more excluding me, Mary Poppins! It's not fair!"
Cringe factor: Awkward
What happens if the guy in a threesome gets put in a corner? Hopefully, it won't result in a childish temper tantrum like this one, when Marnie and Jessa decide to make it a twosome. Thomas is the entitled douche who wants all of the fantasy, but none of the complications. Enjoy the blue balls, bro. (Fun twist, though: Thomas then marries Jessa—kind of surprising, given his introduction here.)
Hannah's Parents Cut Her Off
Episode: "Pilot" (Season 1, Episode 1)
Key quote: "We can't keep bankrolling your 'groovy' lifestyle."
Cringe factor: Embarrassing
At what age should children make their own living? After high school? College? After they've spent a few years 'pursuing their dreams?' For Hannah's parents, it's right in the middle of a fancy dinner—and it goes about as well as you'd expect. Sure, Hannah's pretty entitled, but who made her that way? Between Hannah's brattiness, her mother's hostility, and her father's ineffectiveness at defusing the situation, no one comes out of this scene looking good. And that's just the way we like it.
Car Ride From Hell
Episode: "Truth or Dare" (Season 3, Episode 2)
Key quote: "Wow. When was the last time an addict lied?"
Cringe factor: Awkward
We've all been there—trapped in a car, subjected to Top 40 radio, and forced to listen to your passengers sing the lyrics, with all the pauses, gasps, and affectations. What makes this scene so good is Adam's burning anger, which just boils and boils until the punches the radio with his fist.
Adam Driver is rumored to play a Sith character in the new Star Wars, and we can definitely see his Dark Side come through here.
He's Just Not That Into You
Episode: "Forbid" (Season 2, Episode 8)
Key quote: "Do you need money? Is that why you're here?
Cringe factor: Awkward
It's the worst part of a breakup—realizing that your ex has moved on, and you're still carrying the torch. Marnie, in her self-loathing style, visits Charlie at his new office. Charlie's doing well. A bit too well. The app he built, Forbid, was inspired by Marnie, and Charlie is now rich beyond belief. He's finally everything that Marnie wants him to be—wealthy, alpha, moody, and motivated—and he doesn't give a damn about her anymore. That's got to hurt.
An Excerpt From the Diary
Episode: "Hannah's Diary" (Season 1, Episode 4)
Key quote: "How does it feel to date a man with a vagina? Doesn't she want to feel an actual penis?"
Cringe factor: Humiliating
A diary is almost quaint by today's standards. It seems like people would rather share their thoughts online rather than hide them underneath a mattress. Maybe there are some things that should never be written down, because you might have it sung onstage, with guitar accompaniment. Hannah loses Marnie and breaks up Marnie's long-term relationship at the same time. Even for her, that's pretty impressive.
A Failed Sexual Harassment Lawsuit
Episode: "Hannah's Diary" (Season 1, Episode 4)
Key quote: "Hannah, you barely have the wherewithal to get to work at 10 a.m., let alone sue somebody. There's no suing app on your iPhone."
Cringe factor: Embarrassing
A lot of the sexual harassment that happens in the workplace isn't the "sleep with me or you're fired" kind—it might be way more subtle. It's the weird massage, or the inappropriate joke, or the flirtation from your supervisor. Hannah deals with her boss in an assertive, but entirely bizarre manner—she goes from offering him sex to threatening to sue him in under a minute. In her defense, the boss is definitely not behaving correctly.
Oversharing at Group Therapy
Episode: "Females Only" (Season 3, Episode 1)
Key quote: "Mindy enjoys wearing scrunchies. No one has addressed that."
Cringe factor: Awkward
Out of all the main characters on the show, Jessa would probably be the toughest to be friends with. She can't sit still, she's unreliable, and she's way damaged (issues with parents, drugs). All of the men and women on the show are addicted to her—they love to be around her, except when they really, really don't. So when you take someone like Jessa and stick her in a group therapy circle, it's a recipe for disaster. Just wind her up, and watch the fireworks. Talk about "unsmotable."
Emotional Meltdown
Episode: "One Man's Trash" (Season 2, Episode 5)
Key quote: "Please don't tell anyone this, but I want to be happy."
Cringe factor: Bad
This might be the best episode of Girls—it's an almost entirely self-contained narrative, where Hannah spends the day hooking up with Joshua, an older, divorced doctor played by Patrick Wilson, who lives in a beautiful apartment. At the climax of the episode, Hannah has a total emotional breakdown and begins spilling her guts—about her pain, and her childhood, and her selfishness—it's raw, disturbing, and real. It's the defensive mechanisms of someone who wants to be loved, and yet, feels undeserving of it.
Hannah Doesn't See Color
Episode: "I Get Ideas" (Season 2, Episode 2)
Key quote: "The joke's on you, because you know what? I never thought about the fact that you were black once."
Cringe factor: Humiliating
Throughout season one, fans and critics complained that there weren't people of color on the show. Perhaps in response to this, Dunham introduced Sandy, played by Donald Glover, who dates Hannah for the first two episodes of season two. It doesn't go well—before long, his politics and his skin color are up for discussion. Hannah, of course, acts like she's the self-appointed expert on black people, and Sandy kicks her out of his apartment. There aren't a lot of minorities in Hannah's social circle, but maybe it's because they'd rather not be in it.
Claws Out
Episode: "Leave Me Alone" (Season 1, Episode 9)
Key quote: "You think that everyone in the world is out to humiliate you. You're like a big ugly fucking wound."
Cringe factor: Near catastrophic
This is the first major blowup on the show, and it's a doozy. All the resentment that Marnie and Hannah have built up over the course of nine episodes comes to a head. Between Marnie's vanity and status seeking, and Hannah's self-absorption and obsessiveness, it all gets laid bare in a fight for the ages.
Shoshanna Gets Drunk and Gets Real
Episode: "Beach House" (Season 3, Episode 7)
Key quote: "What is that, like some AA bullshit? Seriously, she goes to rehab for five f****** seconds and we have to listen to everything she comes up with."
Cringe factor: Nuclear
Shoshanna comes across like the most naive and sheltered of the four friends, but she's also the one who has her act together. She's got a life plan and clearly defined goals, which is more than can be said for everyone else. During a beach house party from hell, Shoshanna gets drunk, and she finally does what every Girls viewer has been dying to do for three seasons: airs everyone the fuck out.
The Worst Kanye Cover Ever?
Episode: "On All Fours" (Season 2, Episode 9)
Key quote: "She's still going..."
Cringe factor: Eyes wide shut
Awful. Just... awful. If you have a friend who wants to be a singer (despite their best judgment), you'll notice that every time there's an opportunity to perform, they'll grab the mic hoping to be discovered. That's Marnie in a nutshell. In her grandest, worst attempt to get Charlie back, Marnie covers Kanye West's "Stronger" in front of Charlie's new friends and colleagues. It's just as bad as it sounds, but she keeps going, even when the crowd starts laughing and face-palming out of sheer second-hand embarrassment.