Girls - The Final Season

All things must come to an end, including series television -- and endings in fiction mean growth and transformation. The endless ups and downs that the four main characters in "Girls" have been rolling with since they left college and set out to pursue their dreams in the big city have come to a close in the sixth and final season of this much talked about show, and youthful dreams have led to comeuppance and consequences.

This ending works well for the series because it specializes in empathetic characters whom the audience never really like.

Hannah (Lena Dunham) typifies the kind of self-entitled, egomaniacal narcissist who would be highly successful (if not sociopathic) as a man, but her episodic successes always end in self-defeat. She makes the most of a personal betrayal in Season 5, when her good friend Jessa (Jemima Kirke) and the supposed love of her life Adam (Adam Driver) get together. True to her exhibitionistic form, she tells the world this story and finally gains some significant work as a writer. Eventually, she gets an assignment writing about surfing on Long Island and spreads open her legs to let the sun shine in. (She thinks this might give her skin an internal glow.) But spreading her legs has never really given Hannah what she wanted, and this is no exception. On the other hand, what she gets from this gig may be exactly what she needs.

True to the genre, the series ends in a marriage. But when Shoshanna (Zosia Mamet) ties the knot she also cuts the ropes that bind her to all her girl friends. She feels like they are pulling her down.

As the freewheeling Elijah (Andrew Rannells) attempts to get serious as an actor, the level-headed Marnie (Allison Williams) is once again knocked off balance. She can't decide whether to get back with her husband Desi (Ebon Moss-Bachrach), pursue her new fascination (believe it or not) Ray (Alex Karpovsky) or just be on her own.

This Blu-ray collection features all the episodes of the final season, plus an extended cut of the finale with never-before-seen footage, audio commentary, the "Inside the Episode" features that we've come to expect and some "Favorite Moments" featuring each of the girls' favorite scenes.

"Girls: The Final Season"
Blu-ray
$29.95
hbo.com/girls/