A Failed ‘Broad City’ Friendiversary Will Make You Feel Better About Your Own Friendship Mistakes

Part of a great friendship is the different dynamic that each person brings to it. Abbi forgets their friendiversary in the Broad City Season 4 finale, while Ilana brings her friendship A-game. While the latter is understandably annoyed by her friend's obvious forgetfulness, Abbi does make up for it in the end by proving how truly devoted she is. Abbi and Ilana's friendship on Broad City is stronger than any one day — even a "Friendiversary."

While Abbi is usually more on top of things than Ilana, it's Ilana who orchestrates a friendiversary for the ages. (Shoutout to Ilana's hair for looking so remarkably like a puppy.) And Abbi has become so accustomed to those over-the-top gestures that she doesn't even realize that the epic scavenger hunt and their favorite meal are for their anniversary until Ilana brings up exchanging presents. Abbi has struggled in her professional and personal lives throughout Season 4, so perhaps her forgetfulness can be chalked up that. But she still shouldn't have lied to Ilana that she remembered their friend anniversary. And she definitely shouldn't have double downed on that lie by presenting Ilana with an intensive hydrating face mask sheet and acting as if it was a meaningful gift symbolic of their friendship.

To keep up the face mask-thin facade, Abbi continues to lie and says she planned an evening at the Empire State Building. This leads Abbi and Ilana on an adventure in the pursuit of justice for a woman that they think was murdered by a man (guest star Denis O'Hare). Both of their delusions are on full display as they stalk O'Hare's Lenny and eventually break into his house. (It's revealed that he didn't kill a woman, but that his sex doll accidentally fell from his balcony.) Yet, their escapades take the heat off Abbi for forgetting their special day.

Abbi also proves how much she loves Ilana when she proclaims, "Kill me and let her go!" to Lenny when he discovers the pair in his closet. Sure, she has some guilt since it was her idea to go to the Empire State Building in the first place and her fart is what led Lenny to find them. But it's still an impulsively selfless act. So while Abbi might not wear her heart on her sleeve — or wear a picture of Ilana's face on her actual sleeve like Ilana does with her — Abbi shows she loves Ilana by protecting her BFF in a life-or-death situation.

At the end of the episode, the friends return to where they began — at the bench where they wrote their names in the cement on the day they first met. This moment brings the season full circle, since Season 4 kicked off with the origin story of their friendship. It also demonstrates that while you can progress in your life, some elements stay the same.

As creators and stars Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson told Entertainment Weekly, a theme of Season 4 was this idea that Abbi and Ilana would be "slowly getting more mature" with the show taking place in the gloomier winter months for the first time. Glazer also told EW at San Diego Comic-Con, "They're growing at their rate of growth, which is not very fast ... They do kind of keep getting older where they're not as embarrassing and as messy, but they're still so messy. It's barely an iota of growth."

With the premiere and finale ending in the same place, Season 4 portrays a slow pace of growth that should be familiar to many 20-somethings. The women have come a long way since the day they met, but they are the same people at their core. That means that even though they are creeping toward the age of 30 and evaluating their life decisions more, they are still people who will break into a stranger's home. Or eat so many chicken fingers that they can't control their farts.

Their personal development over the years parallels how their friendship has developed. As they grow up and deal with new obstacles, their friendship is impacted. Abbi was down in Season 4 due to her failing career, but she takes advantage of her strong friendship with Ilana. And since Ilana had a better job with more money this season, she was able to express her feelings for Abbi by giving her stuff. They also have become just a bit more self-aware in their relationship. Abbi admits she was lying about remembering their friendiversary, and Ilana recognizes, "My love for you is sometimes inappropriate." But in the end, they are still the same girls who wrote their names in cement back in 2011.

So while Abbi may have forgotten their special day, she will continue to put Ilana's needs before her own. And while Ilana may have taken back the necklace with her great-grandmother's diamonds, she will continue to shower Abbi with affection. Because even as the women ever so slowly mature, their friendship is strong enough to weather the storms that come with the passing of time and the changing of the seasons.