We don’t need another glossy revival of wealthy New Yorkers losing touch with reality. We need messy women, questionable decisions and the kind of second-hand embarrassment only Girls can deliver. Here’s why Lena Dunham’s reunion could get it right.
When the world needed them most… they announced a seventh season of Girls. Yep, this is not an April Fool’s Day prank, nor is it a drill. It’s the best news we could have hoped for in what has been a pretty dark autumn so far. And we heard it straight from the powerhouse team themselves.
In a video shared by HBO, the show’s creator and star Lena Dunham can be seen hopping on a Zoom call with her three original co-stars: Allison Williams, Jemima Kirke and Zosia Mamet. Dunham asks whether they’d be up for returning for one more season, and all three agree. Although Kirke, very much in character, is quick to clarify that it’ll be just one summer.
Dunham will be back as Hannah, alongside Williams as Marnie, Kirke as Jessa and Mamet as Shoshanna.
Andrew Rannells, who played Elijah Krantz in the series, then joins the call to confirm that he’ll be back, too. What a relief. After all, Elijah was the only person who could reliably put Hannah in her place when her ego got the better of her.
The teaser announcement confirmed that the limited series will go into production in 2027, although it’s still unclear when the five episodes will be available to watch. Fans were quick to take to social media to share their excitement or, in some cases, their absolute dread.
“This is the best news of the century my god!” one person wrote, while another declared, “This will heal the world.”
Others were less convinced. “Ruining the show with a reunion mini series, so on trend,” one person commented on X. And, of course, plenty of people seemed more preoccupied with the actors’ appearances than with the actual news.
But will the Girls revival really ruin the show? Understandably, some fans are drawing comparisons with And Just Like That, the much-criticised spin-off of the beloved Sex And The City, which ran for three seasons and, in the eyes of many viewers, undermined some of the original series’ storylines.
As a fan of the original Girls (and an insufferable Hannah-Marnie hybrid myself), I’m not convinced we need to panic just yet. Here’s why I think this reunion could be a very different story.
Show me Shoshanna leading the PTA into revolution
The characters were never meant to be likeable
Not a month goes by for me without some mention of Girls, whether it’s a muttered “good soup”, someone dropping “all adventurous women do” into the group chat or a direct reference to the TV show itself. I’ve spent long evenings with friends discussing which character we’d be in the group, and the difference between Girls and other ensemble shows, such as Sex And The City, is that more often than not, the answer reflects the worst parts of ourselves. It pains me to admit that I relate to Hannah in many ways: an oversharing writer who thinks nobody understands her craft. But I’m also Marnie, desperate to be liked and placing my self-worth in the hands of the men in my life, while utterly oblivious as to how I’m perceived by others.
This isn’t a criticism of Girls. Quite the opposite: it’s the biggest compliment I could give it. Dunham and her cast were unafraid to make us dislike their characters or even hate them at times. And that, to me, is one of the greatest strengths a writer can have. Anyone can create a nice character you sort of like. But to create a fictional person you hate with a burning passion? That’s great writing. Someone who exists only on your screen, yet somehow manages to provoke an anger that follows you around for the rest of the day.
The Girls sequel will work because the show has never been afraid to make its characters the butt of the joke, the recipients of our collective fury. We weren’t just mad at Jessa; we were mad at that friend we all have who is so careless with other people’s feelings, who would sleep with our ex and then act ‘surprised’ by our hurt. We cringed at Marnie’s wedding make-up because we all have photos where we’ve looked exactly like that, and we know those photos could resurface on the internet at any moment. Personally, I still have sleepless nights about my casual-office-wear-in-nightclubs era.
And Just Like That wanted us to sympathise with its leading ladies and understand their choices. Its writers have often seemed taken aback by the sheer fury Carrie inspires in viewers, while Carrie herself has always seemed equally bewildered. Never forget when she got angry at Charlotte for not giving her a loan… and then Charlotte did. But Girls knew exactly what it was doing. It weaponised our fury, and that will be its greatest strength in this sequel.
Show me Hannah being an insufferable mum to a preteen. Show me Shoshanna leading the PTA into revolution or having a breakdown while breast-pumping at the office. Show me Jessa constantly offending all her mum friends or sleeping with men two decades younger than her. I want the mess, the cringe and the spectacular lack of self-awareness. Above all, I want Girls to remind us that growing up doesn’t necessarily mean growing out of our worst qualities. And if there’s one thing this show has always understood, it’s that the most entertaining thing a woman can be is a deeply, magnificently flawed human being.
The lead writer is the show creator
Sex And The City was created by Darren Star, while And Just Like That was helmed by Michael Patrick King. Star didn’t return for the revival, reportedly due to scheduling conflicts with his other shows, Emily in Paris and Younger. King was involved in the original show as part of the writing team and a director.
I’d argue that one of Girls’ greatest strengths has always been Dunham’s writing, and I think her involvement will be key to making this sequel work. She’s writing about the life stage she’s actually experiencing, rather than imagining what it might look like for an entirely different generation of women. Girls has always excelled at capturing the mundanity of the female experience, from unwanted advances and friendship betrayals to mental health struggles and the deeply disorienting feeling of losing your way.
Dunham’s more recent work, including the Netflix series Too Much, gives me confidence that her writing remains as sharp and revealing as ever. Honestly, watching Jessica (Megan Stalter) in Too Much felt like watching a woman who grew up on Girls and took all the wrong lessons from Hannah.
All the lead characters are returning
From the outset, fans were disappointed that Kim Cattrall wouldn’t be returning alongside her Sex And The City co-stars. Samantha was the balance the group needed, and her absence couldn’t be compensated for by new characters or Miranda getting felt up in Carrie’s kitchen. Sorry. Cattrall’s decision not to return was reportedly tied to the planned storylines, leaving a Samantha-shaped hole that the revival never quite managed to fill.
But from the get-go, the Girls reunion has one major advantage: all four leading ladies are back. Despite all the wars waged on screen, these four have apparently managed to tolerate one another long enough to reunite for another season. And that’s already promising. It means the original chemistry can be recaptured and carried into the new episodes, rather than forcing us to get to know a new cast of characters who feel like they could never live up to our favourites.
We need them now more than ever
In case I haven’t said it enough already, I love the Sex And The City ladies. I would ride for them. But given the state of the world, I didn’t necessarily need to watch three wealthy women in New York navigate their problems from the comfort of their designer wardrobes. Carrie’s financial struggles were part of what kept her relatable, but now she was a hotshot widow… RIP, Big. Of course, the women still had their issues, but they no longer felt quite so urgent when everyone I know has been priced out of homeownership, is questioning whether they can afford to have children and is exhausted from juggling side hustles just to get by.
The women of Girls, however, still have a chance to feel relatable. The fashion was realistic, the storylines were stripped back, and so much of the tension lived in what went unsaid. I have little doubt that the seventh season of Girls will follow four women in their 40s dealing with real problems, navigating real lives, and having the kind of petty, complicated arguments that only old friends can get away with. And honestly? That’s exactly what I want to watch.
Images: Getty