Lena Dunham has confirmed five new episodes of the hit HBO show Girls, reuniting with the core cast nearly a decade after the series ended in 2017. One character was noticeably absent from the announcement: Hannah's on-off boyfriend Adam, played by Adam Driver. A Metro columnist argues the revival is better off without him.
Why Adam Driver's absence is welcomed
The columnist says Driver should have been written out of the show a long time ago. They also point to unflattering details about the actor shared in Dunham's recent memoir, Famesick, in which she recalls him being verbally aggressive and once throwing a chair at the wall when she forgot her lines during a rehearsal. The columnist says Dunham has a valid reason to keep him out of the reboot, and fans likely don't want to see him either.
Since Girls, Driver's films have grossed more than $5 billion at the box office, largely thanks to the Star Wars trilogy where he played Kylo Ren. He has earned two Oscar nominations. In the memoir, Dunham says she felt intimidated and confused by his violent behaviour, and that they haven't spoken since filming, even though his last words to her were: 'I hope you know I'll always love you.'
Character arc had become redundant
The columnist argues that Adam should have been written out when Hannah and Adam split after she moved to Iowa for a Writers' Workshop. Instead, he began a relationship with Hannah's close friend Jessa, which the columnist describes as unbelievable and serving only to keep Driver in the show.
The columnist compares this to the Sex and the City reboot And Just Like That, where Carrie's love interest Big was killed off in the first episode, but Aidan Shaw later returned to rekindle a relationship that barely worked 20 years ago. The recurring ex serves no purpose, they argue, with the possible exception of Chandler Bing's on-off fling Janice in Friends.
The columnist concludes that the Girls revival should focus on Hannah, Marnie, Shosh, Jessa and Elijah, all of whom appeared in the video confirming the new episodes. They express excitement about catching up with the characters as they enter their 40s.
