Surrounded, Lena Dunham, we missed you

In one of the first episodes of Without measure, the protagonist, Jessica (Megan Stalter), watches on TV with her older sister, mother and grandmother, the adaptation of Sense and Sensibility directed by Ang Lee, while praising Alan Rickman's performance as Colonel Brandon. Even in classic cinema, English actors triumphed in Hollywood as romantic movie heartthrobs. A love story that still makes young American women dream in the 21st century. To the point that when Jessica goes into crisis because her boyfriend leaves her for a spectacular girl, she decides to take advantage of a job opportunity to move to London in the hope of finding her Darcy or her Brandon in a responsible woman. Key series to understanding the renewal of audiovisual media in our century, especially from a female perspective. the success and impact of Girls It's an impossible task for multiple reasons, most of them linked to the current stripping scene. With Jessica's older sister, Dunham has ceded the spotlight to another actress, comedian Megan Stalter, who nonetheless plays a role inspired by her. Girls, Jessica is a loudmouthed and sharp girl, with a tendency towards emotional excess and getting into uncomfortable situations. But this time the protagonist is not driven so much by professional ambition as by romantic one. When in the first episode she meets Felix (Will Sharpe), an attractive indie musician with whom she connects immediately, the relationship will occupy the center of her life.

Dunham approaches the idealized imaginings of romantic comedy from a certain demystification. One of the humorous lines of Without measure It has to do with the distance between the aristocratic and pink England in which the protagonist would like to live and the grey and precarious one she experiences in reality. Girls She moved in the uninhibited and somewhat provocative register typical of a creator in her twenties, Without measure shows that we are witnessing a more mature Dunham. The series tells the story of an author and co-creator who have experienced the deepest pain and vulnerability, to the point of recalibrating the importance of love in their lives. A warm tenderness permeates the best moments of Without measure, whether in the portrait of the protagonist's family (which deserves a spin-off own) or in the best moments of Jessica and Felix's relationship.

Dunham's new offering is somewhat uneven. Stalter doesn't always find the balance between being thealter ego from the creator, a character with her own identity and a comedic actress with a very distinct register. But Without measure reminds us that few television writers have Dunham's writing talent, a master at creating the most attractive male characters and a brave woman who continues to challenge the canons of feminine beauty. Surrounded, Lena.