What Will Happen in 'Girls' Season 4?

Now that we know that Girls Season 4 will premiere January 11, 2015, the anticipation for the return of Hannah, Marnie, Shoshanna, Jessa, Adam and Ray couldn’t be any greater. To keep the buzz going, HBO has just released a brand-new trailer and photos of your favorite frazzled Brooklynites. Season 3 was a rocky one to say the least, though there were at least a few stand-out episodes and moments. Overall and in general, Season 3 felt like a bad dream in the Girls universe — the characters were especially cruel to each other and I was left wondering, “Do I really want to keep watching?” Lena Dunham, I trusted you!

Thankfully by the looks of the newness, the show is going in a much brighter direction. This may be due to the fact that the characters themselves also have direction and purpose in their lives. Hannah is devoting herself to the Iowa Writers’ workshop, Marnie becomes her own person, Shosh finally faces “the real world” and Jessa gives and faces some serious tough love.

Season 4 of Girls is shaping up to be about what happens when decisions are made. During the first three seasons, we watched these young women manically try to navigate faux-adulthood while changing the course of their careers and love lives at every turn. Now that they’re all a bit more settled, we just might see what their worlds look like when they stick to their guns. But then again, it is Girls, so there will be plenty of embarrassing disasters and cringe-worthy poor choices ahead of us. I’m just glad Charlie is nowhere to be seen or spoken about in the trailer.

Based on the new trailer, here’s what I hope will happen in Season 4 vs. what will probably actually happen:

Hannah sticks it out in Iowa

The trailer gives us the impression that Hannah is all about Iowa and is ready to start the revolution. She even says OUT LOUD that she made the "right decision." But then we get a snippet of her peers criticizing her work... Any fan will tell you how Hannah responds to critiques of her writing. In short: not well. The crushing defeat of not being the most brilliant and unique in her class along with her pining for Adam just may send her packing back to Brooklyn.

Jessa and Adam learn a lesson

Hey! It looks like those two get arrested! The two most selfish characters (which is saying a lot in a series full of extremely selfish characters) just might finally get the slap on the wrist they most assuredly deserve. Though, I have a sneaking suspicion they will keep on keeping on with their bad behavior. Adam was an alcoholic turned sex fiend turned relapsed alcoholic turned actor and Jessa is a runaway addict who faked her own death. I’m not really sure these two will ever learn anything... nor will they ever stop being self-righteous about their personal shittiness.

Marnie does something interesting

Marnie seems to care about Hannah again and... well, ugh. It looks like Marnie’s world is still focused on her music and the dude she’s pining after. Please oh please give Marnie SOMETHING this season!

Shosh learns about the real world

After college Shosh discovers the hard way that not everything is handed to you on a silver platter. The professional world is hard and you’ve got to grow up fast and always bring your A game. It should be easy for the former work-a-holic, but I think her more “free-spirited” friends have rubbed off on her. I smell a lone wolf. She just might fall back into the arms of Ray, who though successful in his own right, is supposedly lower on the class ladder... and therefore she can feel just a little better about herself.

Hannah and Adam break up

It would probably be better for both of their careers and sanity. Hannah’s parents see her becoming the adult they hoped she always would and find Adam to be a deterrent to her success. But those two need each other for bad, bad reasons. I’d love to see Hannah grow into her own person on her own, but again, she is a hugely dependent person who cares far too deeply what other people think about her. She thinks Adam “understands” her and so they will probably stick it out. I just sure hope it doesn’t end with a wedding this season.

Check out the brand-new trailer here:

Images: Craig Blankenhorn/HBO (2), HBO/YouTube (3)