Girls: The Complete Fourth Season

In the fourth season of creator-star Lena Dunham's HBO comedy about twentysomething women in New York City, aspiring writer Hannah (Dunham) leaves the city for the prestigious Iowa Writer's Workshop, where housing is cheap and the nightlife is dead, while her three best friends back in the Big Apple get on with life without her just fine. Shoshanna (Zosia Mamet), fresh out of school, goes looking for a job; Marnie (Allison Williams) embarks on a musical career with a philandering singer-songwriter (Ebon Moss-Bachrach); and Jessa (Jemima Kirke) joins AA with Hannah's actor boyfriend (Adam Driver), but continues to stir situations that drag her friends into trouble along with her. Four seasons in and not only have the girls failed to grow up, they don't even act much like friends anymore. The caricatures of privileged, neurotic white girls confronting the disappointments of adult life are still often funny, but their constant self-sabotaging impulses and inability to break out of their self-centered bubbles and empathize with anyone else is starting to feel a little old. That goes for the men in their lives as well, who are (apart from Alex Karpovsky's Ray, campaigning for city council this season) just as messed up. Presenting all 10 episodes from the 2015 fourth season, extras include episode commentaries and behind-the-scenes featurettes (the Blu-ray release includes additional featurettes, deleted scenes, music videos, and a gag reel). A strong optional purchase. (S. Axmaker)