This week on “Girls,” Hannah gets a job at GQ magazine where she is slated to write for an advertorial section, or as Ray so kindly puts it, “It looks like a real article so they trick you into reading it, and then you find out it’s a paid advertisement. Which is both morally and creatively bankrupt.” Either way, Hannah quits and goes off to her corporate cubicle.
At her cubicle, Hannah meets a coworker named Joe, who kindly shows her where the bathrooms are, babbles on about “selling your soul” to corporate, and most importantly shows her where the snack room is. Hannah makes her way to her first meeting, copious snacks in tow.
Meanwhile, it seems that Ray has a spark in his jaded heart for Marnie. The two spontaneously had sex in the last episode, and now Ray calls her up to “checkin.” Their phone conversation is awkward and cordial, while hilariously enlightening. When Marnie criticizes his “f- ----- weird” use of the word “checking-in,” Ray hilariously exclaims, “I’m using semantic convention to sound accessible!”
Later they get lunch where they mostly laugh and call one another stupid. They resolve to hang out, primarily because neither of them have anyone else to hang out with. Jessa is inexplicably working at an upscale baby clothes store for a “touch of innocence,” and Shoshanna is there ranting about how she needs direction and declares that she wants to be in a “solid, mature, committed relationship with someone who understands my goals and values.” She is also suddenly retrospectively smitten over Ray, whose coffee shop is getting press attention.
Hannah is on fire at the meeting, coming up with tons of creative ideas off the top of her head; it seems that she’s finally thriving. Suddenly the audience remembers why we ever rallied behind her in the first place – she’s hilarious. Her brilliance in this episode is a “type” of man for the advertorial called the “Kaballer.” He is “a little sleazy… but he’s wearing kabbalah bracelets, so you know he’s spiritual. He’d like f--- some serious enlightenment into you.” Audiences cheer when she later bashes the fedora.
After an awesome first day, Hannah comes home to Adam, who has apparently decided to give acting a shot. Of course, Adam screws up his audition due to artistic integrity. “I just like reading emotional cues from strangers in a high pressure situation,” he explains, not particularly concerned about making rent. Hannah comes to the realization that her cushycorporate job might not be the most creatively fulfilling.
