When âGirlsâ returns tonight in the UK on Sky Atlantic, it will be a bittersweet moment for the showâs many fans.
The sixth season is the last in the series covering the romances, and enormous rows, between the four lead girls, and a handful of boys, in the show that has done so much to dispel any glamorous myths about sex and the single Manhattan twenty-something.
On the eve of the final season, we spoke to one of the showâs biggest stars, the effervescent Allison Williams, whose character Marnie remains as frustrating in Series 6 as she is perfect, about the three biggest elements of the legacy that âGirlsâ will leave in its wakeâŠ
âOne of the biggest things people talk about is girls coming to them at a moment when theyâve known they need to let go of someone or something,â says Allison. âThey canât admit it to themselves. And theyâve told me âGirlsâ helps them realise that.â
The second thing? âI think itâs also helped with their female friendships, that the purging that happens during a fight is a necessary evil and discomfort, and that if your friendship can survive it, it will be stronger for it,â says Allison. On her own friendship with the showâs creator Lena Dunham, Allison describes the quid pro quo - âShe broadens my mind, I write packing lists for her.â
Finally, and most importantly, perhaps, the show provides a genuine antidote to so much material escapist fodder that passes for drama on our TV sets.
âIt puts less pressure on an aspirational lifestyle for this age group,â is how Allison puts it. âThereâs almost nothing thatâs aspirational about it. We donât have a chic brunch thing, none of us can always pay for our beer, if there is something aspirational, it gets thrown up on or perverted in some way.
âSo it becomes about the real things underneath. Youâre not watching a show and envying loafers. So you can focus on the things that are real, and that you canât escape, the brutal reality of the show.
âWhen youâre not allowed to get lost in the accoutrements, youâre in it with them, thereâs no escapism so you can have a more intimate relationship with whatâs going on screen, and how it relates to your own life.â
Allison doesnât strip on the show with Lena Dunhamâs nonchalance but, inevitably, she has her own moments of vulnerability in filming some of the more intimate scenes. One in particular still plays on her mindâŠ
âOne of the most vulnerable moments Iâve ever had was when we all went to the Hamptons. Sitting at the table, and everyone was laughing at her portions, because she didnât know the boys were staying for dinner, so everyone had tiny portions of food.
âItâs hard to do a scene with so many improvised insults are being thrown at you, without it starting to feel personal. I was on her side at this moment, she didnât know how many people were staying for dinner, and all these boys came over, she wasnât expecting them and then people were making fun of her⊠it was the feeling of being ganged up on, and as someone whoâd been bullied, that was very familiar to me.â
As for Marnie, Allison remains protective even as she groans with everyone else every time Marnie falls into bed with someone elseâs ex, or another character equally unsuitable.
âEvery time I watch her make a mistake, I just wonder, is this her last mistake?â she laughs fondly. âBut we make the same mistakes over and over again, and some lessons are just really hard to learn, and this area of boys is a hard one for Marnie.
âIt doesnât feel great to portray, just like it didnât feel great to sleep with Shoshâs ex-boyfriend, or Hannahâs ex-boyfriend, and she even knows that it has to do with her dad. She said this two years ago.
âHeâs a sex addict and absent from her life, she knows it, but you donât get credit just for knowing, you get credit for no longer doing them. She frustrates me because I want her to get out of her own way, but I think eventually sheâll learn.â
Girls Season 6 premieres exclusively on NOW TV and Sky Atlantic on 13 February at 10pm or binge on the complete S1-5 Box Set now