'Girls' on HBO: 'The Return' recap

This week's episode is all about Hannah. She heads back to her hometown (Lansing, Michigan) to celebrate her parents' anniversary.

It makes sense that Hannah isn't a native New Yorker. Not only is she always trying to create memories in order to write her memoir, but she's trying to be the city girl she wasn't raised to be. In Lansing, the young pharmacist (he went to Hannah's high school) asks her on a date. As she gets ready, she gives herself a pep talk: "You are from New York, therefore you are naturally interesting."

She is sure to tell everyone she is a writer, never mentioning any part-time jobs or unpaid internships. Sure, that's Hannah being Hannah, but I think it also makes a point about New York. A city full of people who think of themselves (or trained to be) one thing -- writer, lawyer, actor -- but work a string of unrelated gigs to make ends meet. Certainly not something new, but something that is just part of living in the city. Your identity isn't necessarily defined by your current job, but instead by the career your imagine for yourself.

We get a glimpse into Hannah's childhood (I loved the Goo Goo Dolls poster in her bedroom). She seems to revert back a bit, throwing a teenage tantrum when he parents tell her not to text while they watch a movie.

She's surprisingly pretty laid back on her date with the pharmacist -- until they're in his bed. He's looking for straight-forward, quiet sex, but she's offering the type of night she usually has with Adam -- role playing, talking dirty, etc. It's sad to see her assume every guy, even this nice one, wants her to put on the same act Adam expects.

Speaking of Adam: Hannah calls him a few times during the weekend but hangs up before he answers. On her last night in Michigan, as she's falling asleep, he calls her. This is nicest side of him we've seen so far -- he says he's missing her and talks about what he's seeing outside his window. It's all so friendly, which he has never been before. Maybe there's hope for him yet. We'll see what happens when Hannah is back in New York.