The second season of Lena Dunham's genius HBO show GIRLS is officially underway, and we're definitely looking forward to seeing where this season takes us ... and by "us," we mean the girls of course: Hannah, Marnie, Jessa and Shoshanna.
If you don't want to bother with watching the first season but still want to start up with the second, we'll fill you in on the necessities of what you need to know about the characters going into the second season, plus give you tips for the best way to watch the show, and tell you how to catch last season and the current one without actually having HBO.
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Don't have HBO? Don't worry about that either. Since HBO decided to offer HBOGO to its customers, which essentially gives the opportunity for people to supply their moocher friends with access via the Internet, all you need is a friend with HBO and the Internet and you are in the clear. Or if you prefer, you also could buy the season off iTunes for $28.99 or $2.99 an episode.
The five rules to watching GIRLS: 1. Under no circumstance, should you watch with your parents or family members, unless it's a very close sister. Your mom may think she wants to watch it with you, but she, or at least you, definitely do not. 2. Don't watch it with your boyfriend, unless you are prepared for a few awkward moments, and perhaps conversations (see: STDs, abortions, one-night stands, anal, period panties, the list goes on) 3. Do watch with your girlfriends. The more the merrier truly applies with this show. It's perfectly fantastic by yourself, but your girlfriends will make it even funnier. 4. Do partake in an adult beverage during your viewing. Unlike "Sex and the City," which made you want to drink by watching the girls imbibe on wine and fancy martinis, this show will just make you want to drink because it seems to go hand and hand with the girls and their dysfunctional lives. 5. Under no circumstances should you compare yourself, your friends, or you and your friends' boyfriends to any of the characters.
A quick rundown of GIRLS (so far) in 15 points: 1. There are four main characters: Hannah, Marnie, Jessa and Shoshanna. Hannah lives with Marnie, her best friend, and Jessa just moved back from traveling the world and lives with her cousin, Shoshanna. 2. Hannah is self-obsessed and neurotic, Marnie is mature and put-together, Jessa is unpredictable and irresponsible, while Shoshanna is an innocent, quirky, airhead (seemingly). 3. Hannah's parents had supported her while she interned, up until the first episode, where they cut her off. Marnie works for an art gallery, Shoshanna goes to NYU and Jessa takes up a job as a nanny for a couple comprised of an unemployed husband whose wife works in film, James and Katherine. 4. Hannah spends the season chasing after her lover, Adam, who treats her like crap. She manages to get him to be her boyfriend, and he turns into a half-decent guy. 5. Jessa tells Shoshanna she is pregnant, and decides to have an abortion. On the day of the appointment she appears to be second-guessing her decision 6. Jessa's boss, James, ends up falling for her and texts her asking what she's doing one night, only she hadn't saved his number and staying true to her unpredictable nature just replies with the address of the party she's at, telling them to come. The night ends in chaos, and she is fired/quits. 7. Jessa's boss Katherine makes a surprise visit after the party and they end up having a strikingly real conversation about her husband and Jessa's refusal to be true to herself and grow up. 8. Marnie doesn't know whether she wants to be with her longtime boyfriend, Charlie, and spends most of the season loving and hating him. Until Charlie and his friend Ray find Hannah's diary and learn the truth of Marnie's feelings. Charlie breaks up with Marnie, she gets him back, only to realize she does want to break up. 9. Marnie is heartbroken when less than two weeks later, Charlie has another girlfriend. 10. Shoshanna is a virgin, and after accidentally smoking crack at the same warehouse party Jessa invited her boss, Charlie's friend Ray ends up falling for her, and she ends up losing her virginity to him, but on a later night. 11. Hannah and Marnie have a falling out due to Hannah's self-obsessed nature and Marnie moves in with Shoshanna and Jessa temporarily. 12. Adam offers to move in with Hannah, but she doesn't realize it's because he is in love with her, and she asks her ex-boyfriend Elijah, who she just recently learned is gay, to move in with her. When Adam tells her he loves her, she doesn't reply and as he walks into the street a bus hits him. 13. Marnie and Jessa initially have a strained relationship but Marnie's breakup and her moving in with Jessa and Shoshanna brings them closer together. When the two girls go out for drinks they meet a man, Thomas-John, who invites them back to his house for a nice bottle of wine. 14. Jessa wants nothing to do with Thomas-John or the situation at hand, but Marnie is trying to let loose and be carefree, the opposite of her normal personality, and ends up kissing Jessa at Thomas-John's. As they are kissing passionately they knock over their wine on Thomas-John's expensive rug, to which he goes berserk and demands in on some of the action between them, but they take off. 15. Season finale has Jessa inviting everyone to a mysterious last-minute party, which turns out to be her wedding-to Thomas-John.
If you haven't seen the show yet, we implore you to jump on the show's already hefty bandwagon. Trust us, you'll thank us. There's a reason the show had garnered fans and followers before it had even aired its pilot. It's the most talked about new show, and for good reason.
And don't worry; there is still plenty of time to get caught up. The first season was a short and sweet 10 episodes, with most clocking in right around half an hour, making a full season catch-up very doable in a day. What are you waiting for?
"GIRLS" airs Sundays at 9 p.m. on HBO
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