Girls Review: American Bitch (Season 6 Episode 3)

Hannah Horvath is growing up. Her transformation is especially evident on Girls Season 6 Episode 3, “American Bitch.”

It’s a bottle episode with Hannah and an author she admires who has been accused of sexual assault by four women.

The author, Chuck Palmer, is played by The Americans’ Matthew Rhys. Rhys does an especially good job in this episode to seem both arrogant and likable. Through Rhys’ performance, we have conflicting thoughts about him, just like Hannah.

Hannah looks put-together as she takes the elevator up to Palmer’s impressive apartment. Her outfit is still young and Brooklyn-cool, but even the way she dresses now tells us that she’s evolved from the girl who once wore a mesh top without a bra.

From the previews, “American Bitch” looked like it was going to be a half-hour of self-indulgence, where Hannah was going to be praised and hurl a couple of quick-witted insults.

Thankfully, it’s not like that.

“American Bitch” tackles issues in the “gray area” and takes them from the “shadows,” like sexual assault and puts them front and center. We can see that Lena Dunham is definitely doing some of the talking for Hannah, but it makes for a very powerful and thought-provoking episode.

Hannah writes a piece for a feminist website talking about how she is sick of finding out that authors she admires are using their position to sleep with women without consent. Chuck Palmer wants to meet her because he thinks that she is funny and a good writer.

Chuck: You’re not a journalist. You’re a writer.

Hannah loves flattery, however, she holds her own with Palmer and accepts his compliments, but still, tells him how she feels. She’s not bratty, nor does she speak disrespectfully to him. She is able to get her point across by acting like an adult.

It just proves that Hannah is on the track to growing up like the two previous episodes showed us.

Palmer says that these girls want to sleep with him so that they will have a story to tell. Hannah then tells him about a teacher who thought she was bright and used to rub her shoulders or touch her head during class.

It gives us insight as to why Hannah is particularly upset about a man in a powerful position abusing that power. It also shows us a peek into Hannah’s life when she was young. It also drives the point home that yes, she has a story to tell, but it makes her feel awful.

The end of the episode is pretty amazing. Just when you start thinking that Chuck Palmer maybe isn’t that terrible, he goes and completely disrespects Hannah, without even really realizing it. The look on Hannah’s face at the end is perfection.

Overall, “American Bitch” is a great half hour of television. It’s completely relevant but also continues to show character growth in Hannah. It’s funny, sad, and disturbing and will likely be remembered as one of the best episodes of Girls.

Last Thoughts:

• Chuck Palmer’s library is amazing.
• There aren’t a lot of typical “Hannah moments,” but one is when she wipes off her sweat from under her arms and under her pants. Oh, Hannah.
• As much as I loved this episode, I’m eager to see the other characters on the next episode. I want to see Hannah with the others and not just Marnie.

Were you as impressed with this episode of Girls? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Girls airs Sundays at 10/9c on HBO.

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