(Spoilers for the series finale of the HBO original series “Girls” are below.)
And that’s that. The HBO original series “Girls” is over forever.
And judging by the response from fans on social media, a lot of folks feel as though the finale was one episode too many.
The response after last week was generally that the ninth episode of season 6 felt like a series finale, and so there was some uncertainty about where “Girls” would go for the final episode this week. And now that we know, some folks aren’t satisfied.
The finale, titled “Latching,” sees Hannah (Lena Dunham) move into her new house upstate in anticipation of her new teaching gig — and the “miracle” of childbirth. She wakes up one morning shocked to discover Marnie (Allison Williams) spooning her in her bed, at which point Marnie reminds Hannah that apparently nobody else loves her enough to come up to help during this imminently trying time. So, Marnie says, Hannah oughtta just let her hang out and do whatever she can to help as Hannah begins her journey into motherhood.
Then we get a five-month time skip. Hannah’s baby (named Grover) has been born and isn’t really into breastfeeding, which Hannah finds really upsetting. Marnie and Hannah clash, as they always do. Hannah’s mom (Becky Ann Baker) pays them a visit at Marnie’s request and steals every scene as many heart-to-hearts are shared. Hannah eventually calms down after taking a weirdly eventful stroll down the street.
And then “Girls” cuts to black for the final time.
I personally found it a poignant way to end, but the immediate response from fans on Twitter have generally not been so kind. At issue seems to be that the episode did function as more of an epilogue than a proper ending — a lot of folks are already say they’ll go forward considering last week’s episode to be the true finale. In a sense, they are correct, because the ending of the story of “Girls” did occur last week. This epilogue, by contrast, was the beginning of a new story that won’t actually be told.
Though I don’t find that unsatisfying, you can check our sampling of the social media reaction below for a lot of folks who disagree with me.
wow, i haven't been that disappointed in an ending since the election. #GirlsHBO
— 𝐵 𝐸 𝐿 𝐿 𝐸 (@lavendrjuicebox) April 17, 2017
It's almost done with and so far this is one of the worst season finales I have ever seen. #GirlsHBO #GirlsFinale
— TheRedWineGal🍷 (@TheRedWineGal) April 17, 2017
Just gonna pretend like last week's #GirlsHBO was the real finale.
— abigail nora brennan (@abigailnora) April 17, 2017
https://twitter.com/askedfour/status/853798799097114625
Omg @lenadunham what is the return policy on this finale episode because that was terrible and I would like my ~34 minutes back #GirlsHBO
— BadReality (@badrealitytv) April 17, 2017
https://twitter.com/MeganCashman/status/853798915690418179
https://twitter.com/AngelaBelcamino/status/853800714866495489
The Sopranos no longer have the worst Series Finale of all time. That title now goes to #GirlsHBO
— Alex B. Smith (@axsmithsports) April 17, 2017
https://twitter.com/TheLadyRosie412/status/853803038846459905
Feeling underwhelmed by the ending of #GirlsHBO
— kttnmttn (@kttnmttn) April 17, 2017
https://twitter.com/RachelUnfilturd/status/853800697774481408
How was that the finale ? If that were ep 6 or 7 then it would have made sense but to close the show on that is terrible #GirlsHBO
— Jeff (@flashner08) April 17, 2017
https://twitter.com/lormora/status/853805003567443972
Ummm, I'd rather watch Dexter become a lumberjack 100x than watch the #girlshbo finale again. So disappointing.
— kari (@kari143) April 17, 2017