Note: Do not read on if you have not yet seen Episode 9 of "Girls" Season 3, titled "Flo."
In the past, episodes that haven't involved all four of the the girls have either fallen flat or sparked controversy. In Season 1, Hannah went home to visit her parents. And while it was fun getting to know Loreen and Tad Horvath a little better, it was also a little boring, as was the Season 2 episode where Jessa visited her dad. And when Hannah spent an episode alone with Patrick Wilson, well, the Internet exploded.
But other than "Beach House," "Flo" -- starring no one but Hannah, Adam, June Squibb and Hannah's wonky relatives -- is the season's best episode yet. Step aside please, self-involvement scale.
The Aunts:
When Hannah's grandma Flo (June Squibb) is suddenly on her deathbed, Hannah's whisked upstate to spend some quality time Flo, her mom, her aunts and her cousin.
While one would think Loreen (Hannah's mom) and her sisters Sissy and Margot would be leaning on each other during such sad time, quite the opposite is happening. Sissy is praying in between making passive aggressive remarks, Loreen is rolling her eyes and Margot is spitting some serious venom.
While it's unsettling to see such immaturity while their mother is naked and dying (Sissy's words), it's also funny. Although the idea of being best friends with your sisters is a nice one, it doesn't always happen, and these three really have that bitter "our childhood was bad and now we hate each other" thing going on. They're dividing up painkillers, fighting over engagement rings and bringing up long-forgotten prom dates.
After keeping mostly quiet for the entire episode, Loreen smugly points out that she thinks Sissy and Margot are resentful because her life is in order and her marriage is intact. A high-pitched explosion erupts in the hospital hallway, and even the nurse can't shut them up.
When they find out that their dying mother may live after all, the three make a pact to spend more time together. Easter, Sissy suggests! But no, Margot doesn't like what it stands for. The sentiment is there, though, and the resentment dies down just enough to make it believable. Bravo, aunts.
Hannah:
The only thing that can top the battle of the aunts in "Flo" is Hannah and Rebecca.
From a very young age, Rebecca has hated Hannah because Hannah told her her dad was convicted of insider trading. Rebecca is now a very serious medical student who loathes all writers, probably because Hannah's one, but she also had a really self-involved writer boyfriend named Rick.
"How are, like, the hot doctors-to-be?" Hannah asks Rebecca in an attempt to make conversation, throwing in a "Grey's Anatomy" reference.
"I'm actually not going there to meet a man. I actually really hate when people say that because I sort of feel like it diminishes what I'm doing," Rebecca snaps back.
Hannah makes a few other failed attempts at conversation -- at one point she calls Grandma Flo "the old Flo job" -- before Rebecca asks if Hannah wants to get a drink.
"Do you want to get a drink with me?" Hannah asks, stunned.
Flash forward to Hannah and Rebecca sitting at a bar. Rebecca doesn't drink on weeknights, she just thought a bar was the kind of place she should go with "a person like Hannah." Hannah is none too pleased to hear that this, but they continue to talk, and Rebecca confesses that she has a boyfriend named Dane who she only sees on Wednesdays, because he has another girlfriend. Still, he's way better than her aforementioned self-involved writer boyfriend, Rick.
On the way home, Rebecca gets a text from Aunt Margot saying that June Squibb a.k.a. Flo has a fever. Hannah starts yelling at her to stop texting and driving, Rebecca yells back, and they crash.
Luckily, "Girls" fans, they lived to tell the tale.
Did I mention that at one point Hannah told Rebecca she wished they'd been molested by the same person? Yeah, that happened
Hannah and Adam:
Perhaps the only thing that makes this episode of "Girls" feel like any other episode is Hannah's interactions with Adam. For the first time all season, they hit a significant bump.
The bump is caused by Loreen, who asks Hannah to please just tell Flo that she and Adam are getting married. Hannah calls Adam to tell him about the ridiculous request her mother has made, and he clams up a little.
"I am very committed to you ... at this time," Adam says carefully, after Hannah says that although she always promised herself she wouldn't get married until she had a swimming pool in her living room, she kind of hoped they were headed in a committed direction.
But Adam turns it around when he meets Flo and tells her that he's marrying Hannah. Although Hannah pretends to be glad that he's pacifying her dying grandmother, there's also some pretty obvious relief going on.
But whatever peace of mind Hannah had quickly turns around when Loreen tells her to keep the job and not the guy. "I see certain things. He's odd, he's angry, he's uncomfortable in his own skin," she says. "I don't want you to spend your whole life socializing him like he's a stray dog."
Ouch, mom.
"Girls" airs on Sundays at 10 p.m. EST on HBO.
