Even though the final season of Girls has yet to air, the sadness is already starting to set in. On Instagram, Lena Dunham recently documented the last days of filming and to say that they were tear-filled would be a major understatement. While the series doesn't return until Winter 2017, fans can't help but wonder: Is Girls Season 6 really the end? You can breathe a slight sigh of relief, because at the red carpet before the New York Television Festival's "Creative Keynote: A Conversation With Girls," Dunham and showrunner Jenni Konner tell Bustle that this may not be the last of Hannah, Jessa, Marnie, and Shoshanna. When I ask the pair if they'd ever be up for a limited series or movie in the future, without missing a beat, Konner says, "Absolutely." Dunham then adds, "Yeah, we would love to. We love these characters. We love this world. And it would not be that hard to drag us back."
And just like that, I'm dancing with joy, à la Hannah and Marnie jamming out to Robyn's "Dancing On My Own" in the first season. Of course, any more installments of Girls would probably be in the far future, so don't clear your Sunday night calendar just yet. Girls Season 6 will still mark the end of this chapter of the characters' lives — there's just a good chance they will eventually have more chapters.
When I ask about what impact Girls has made on the women who have watched it for the past five seasons, Dunham says, "That's a tough one for us to answer." Similarly, Konner seems stumped and thinks they're not the right people to ask. But Dunham elaborates a little further and explains what she hopes the series has accomplished. "I think what we have always hoped was just that Girls would open the door for more female creators to tell their specific stories, and so we're really excited and heartened to see how many different kinds of women are getting shows on television at the moment," she says.
It is powerful to see fellow women in the industry not only succeeding (especially since it often seems like the odds are stacked against them), but also sharing a variety of perspectives. And Dunham hopes that Girls can inspire others to share their stories — TV creators or not. "We want women who watch the show to feel like they can do that too," she says.
Though they Dunham and Konner can't speak for their viewers, it's clear to me that Girls has impacted the landscape of TV over the past four years in a major way. Hopefully, they will be able to bring its characters back someday and continue that legacy.
