You Need To Read These 'Girls' Finale Quotes

Girls has come to an end after six seasons of witty dialogue, flawed but dynamic characters, and hard life lessons. The season finale, entitled "Latching," stayed true to the show. It didn't sugar coat the reality of life or end with a pretty bow. "Latching" almost felt like an epilogue to last week's penultimate episode "Goodbye Tour." Last week's episode ended in a dance party, celebrating the characters even after the heartbreaking realization that they are no longer friends. The finale episode followed the post-dance party reality because life doesn't always tie up in a perfect, full-circle, dance-fueled way. And the quotes from the Girls finale prove this point that life sure isn't perfect, but it's there for us to learn from it.

The writing has always been fantastic on Girls. I often quote episodes long after they air, forever finding truth and comedy in the words. For whatever criticisms are thrown at the show, it is hard to deny that there is beauty in the writing. The finale stayed true to this aspect of the show. In the midst of chaos, heartbreak, and broken relationships come deep truths about life. The show commits itself to reflecting reality rather than a fiction about growing up, and these quotes are proof of that.

On The Competitive Nature Of Friendship

Marnie: "I can admit that I don't have like a lot of other things going on. I'm currently living in my mom's home gym and my band broke up. But the thing is, I still have a lot to give. A lot. So why not give it to you and this little angel? ... You think you have a lot of friends, right? Who's here? Elijah's not here, Jessa sure as hell isn't here, Adam isn't here. Shoshanna literally despises all of us. Who's here? I'm here. I win. I'm your best friend. I'm the best at being your friend. I love you the most."

I wanted to start with the quote that kicked off the finale. Marnie basically tells Hannah that she wins at being her friend because she is the one there for her at the end of the day. There's a sad truth in this speech. Marnie, whose own life has fallen apart, takes a victory from her competitive view on friendship and support. It also speaks to a truth that we tend to sometimes help out others first because we can't help ourselves.

Reality Vs. Fantasy

Hannah: "You begged to come here. You wanted to be here with me and help me. And now it's not matching up to what you imagined, which is that it would be like a Laura Ashley catalogue. Or like a fun, zany sitcom starring Britney Snow and the rest of the cast of Pitch Perfect just carrying a cute little baby. OK, I'm sorry we didn't make any jam. I'm sorry you didn't meet like a hot woodworker. But this is reality. It's happening now. And you suck at it. OK? You're doing a bad job. And the reason you are is 'cause you're the immature one."

While Hannah, in many ways, mistreats Marnie throughout the finale, she does speak to certain truths that Marnie ignores. Marnie is often the most idealistic of the girls. She fails throughout the series to deal with the reality of the situations she's put herself in. Her image of how it should play out often allows her to ignore the harsh truth. We see this in Marnie's marriage, her career, and now in her life with Hannah. This speech, while unfair in some ways, highlights the reality that life isn't a TV show. On a TV show.

Consequences

Loreen: "You want to act like this whole thing was an accident? Like it happened to you? That's fine, Hannah, but that's not honest. You made a choice to have this child. And guess what? It's the first one you can't take back. You can't get your tuition re-funded. You can't break the lease. You can't delete his phone number. Your son is not a temp job. He's not Adam. This is it honey, and this is forever."

When Hannah is overwhelmed and complaining that her son hates her, her mom, Loreen, delivers one of the most powerful speeches of the episode. Hannah's character throughout the series dodges consequences. She quits jobs in a huff, breaks it off with guys, and literally runs from tough situations. But there are certain decisions that have unavoidable consequences. Here, her mom explains that we make choices and sometimes must live with them. And in living with those choices, we grow. Hopefully.

On Pain And Self Involvement

Loreen: "You know who else is in emotional pain? Fucking everyone. For their whole lives. Nobody said this was going to be easy. Nobody guaranteed this would be fun. You didn't sign a contract in the womb saying you were headed for six flags."

Loreen really comes in with the harsh truths in the finale. Hannah has been a character who has grown in some ways and has remained self involved in others. This quote highlights how everyone carries pain on some level, but that Hannah needs to look beyond herself. Humans easily lean towards self-involved. Empathy and understanding is a practice.

On Toxic Relationships

Loreen: "Has it ever occurred to you that the best thing for you and your friendship is that you were happy too? Listen, I spent 30 years supporting my best friend. We even had a child together. But mostly we just got angrier and angrier until all that was left was hate. I hate my best friend now. And all because I didn't know how to let him go."

I know, I know. Another Loreen quote, but she speaks so much truth! Loreen gives advice to Marnie after seeing that she's unhappy living with and helping Hannah. She speaks to a truth that toxic relationships, even toxic relationships with people we love, can end badly for both parties. Sometimes loving someone means giving them space, or even, letting them go. It's the advice Marnie needs to start considering a future for herself that is separate from her current situation.

Sacrifices Of Motherhood

Hannah: "Do you think your mom wants to tell you to do your homework? No. But that's her entire job. That's her job in the world. She has a million trillion things she'd rather be doing. Things she might want to experience. Life things she hasn't enjoyed yet. But she stays and tells you to do your homework cause it's what's f*cking good for you ... She loves you more than anything else in the world. And she knows it's the most important thing, even if it means being emotionally abused by a brat day in and day out. OK? She'll take care of you forever even if it means endless endless pain."

While on a traditional Hannah storm-out, Hannah runs into a teenage girl. The girl is crying and without pants, complaining about her mother. Hannah takes a lot of her decision of sacrifice out on the teenager. In her speech, while in some ways harsh for her audience, is tidbits of truth. Hannah comes to the realization that motherhood will take sacrifice but that she is committed to it. This is one of the first moments that Hannah actually acts like a parent. All while yelling at a random teenager who's in her underwear.

The Girls finale had all the harsh truth the series contained, heightened by the fact that this is the end. All in all, the series did what I believe it set out to do: Show audiences flawed women, flawed lives, and flawed growth that's all so relatable.