Normally, I would never squawk when Corey Stoll appears on my TV, but that was my initial reaction when Dill showed up on Girls during the March 26 episode. After causing a scandal by trying to buy a white baby on the black market, news anchor Dill Harcort decided to hide out from the media at Hannah and Elijah's apartment. The timing couldn't have been worse for Elijah, who was finally revisiting his dream of becoming an actor by going to an open call for the Broadway musical White Men Can't Jump. But despite this roadblock of his ex-boyfriend messing with his head, Elijah still went after his dream and showed that the guys on Girls can grow up too during the final season.
Although Hannah told Paul-Louis about her pregnancy and Marnie got an unexpected wake-up call from a pawnbroker, "The Bounce" episode belonged to Elijah. After spending most of the season in his underwear and using drugs because of Dill rejecting him back in Season 5, he finally had the confidence to believe in himself again as a talented performer. So when Dill showed up, Elijah could have easily skipped out on the audition as was his immediate instinct. Instead, thanks to an encounter with a fellow auditioner named Athena Dante, he put himself first with an air of confidence that the casting directors couldn't deny despite Elijah's hilarious inability to dance with a basketball.
Elijah's trajectory was all about his confidence. Beyond Elijah having genuine feelings for Dill, Dill had made him feel important because a celebrity was acknowledging that he was special. So when Dill unceremoniously dumped him in Season 5, it was a double blow to his self-esteem. But "The Bounce" episode could have been called "How Elijah Got His Groove Back" because he regained confidence in himself not only because he acknowledged that he is "really, really f*cking talented" (and Andrew Rannells so is), but he also respected himself enough not to let Dill intruding back into his life take this confidence away.
Elijah's big ego is part of his character and something he needs to succeed in the brutal entertainment business. And he transferred it to his romantic life when he shut down Dill's grand apology at the end of the episode. The power dynamic between Dill and Elijah had never been equal, but that changed when he stood up to Dill and told him off for ruining this confidence last season. They still ended up in bed together by the end of the episode, but now the couple is more on an even footing and, though there is sure to still be some dysfunction between these two, they'll probably end the series together — and I'm surprisingly OK with that.
With only three episodes left of the entire show, it seems that Girls will leave Elijah in better place than he started out in. While that doesn't make the ending of Girls go down any easier, it's at least some consolation knowing that Elijah just might end up in an adult relationship and — even better — on Broadway.
