Girls Season 3: Growing up with the Girls

Few television shows have captured the pain, ridiculousness and awkwardness of young people in their 20s as well as Girls.

The quotable HBO show's highly anticipated third season starts on M-Net Series Showcase tonight. (Warning: There are spoilers in this preview.)

In the pilot episode, lead character Hannah (played by Lena Dunham, who is also the show's creator and writer) tells her parents: "I think I may be the voice of my generation. Or at least, a generation." This quote has since haunted Dunham, with detractors saying Girls is only the voice of spoilt middle-class white children in the US. This is wrong.

My girlfriends and I - black and South African - couldn't get enough of the first season. For the first time, we were seeing our lives portrayed on a TV show.

Last week, I went to a friend's screening of the show's first two seasons in anticipation of season three. A group of men and women in Johannesburg - gay, straight, coloured, black, white, male and female - came together to watch a story we could all relate to: a story told by a white woman through four white women in New York.

Perhaps Dunham and the other characters aren't the voice of every millennial, but there is plenty of material to which we relate.

At the beginning of season three, Hannah is back with her brooding boyfriend, Adam (played by Adam Driver). Shoshanna (Zosia Mamet) is juggling partying and studying after breaking it off with her drifter man, Ray (Alex Karpovsky).

Marnie is reeling after being dumped by Charlie (played by Christopher Abbott, who left the show after season two because he apparently didn't like the direction the show was taking).

She is also struggling to find her niche career-wise and works in a coffee shop to make ends meet while dealing with emotional attacks by her overbearing mother (Rita Wilson).

The free-spirited Jessa, who abandoned Hannah in a small country town at the end of season two, resurfaces in rehab. She wreaks havoc at group therapy sessions, leaving a trail of destruction. While at first Jessa's free spirit was endearing and even sexy, season three shows us she is self-destructive and petulant.

Meanwhile Adam's passive-aggressiveness has gone up a few notches. It's unnerving to watch.

It looks like season three is set to be intense and even more depressing.

. After all, the tagline for this season is "Happily whatever after".

• 'Girls' season three premieres on M-Net Series Showcase (DStv 113) tonight at 10pm. It's also available on Apple TV. The first two episodes are streaming in their entirety free of charge on YouTube

What the critics say

Take away the sex talk, shabby decor and crying, and you could have almost been watching 'Frasier'. - Ross Jones, The Guardian

A lot of 'Girls' third season is about the empathy gap between major characters, particularly the difference between how we deal with our own misfortune versus how we deal with others. - Matt Zoller Seitz, Vulture.com

It's safe to say the gang has picked up the pieces after the giant mess of Season 2. But with this newfound togetherness has come a disturbing amount of self-involvement which, while comical, is a little disturbing. - Leigh Weingus, Huffington Post

All about Girls

Main cast: Lena Dunham (Hannah), Jemima Kirke (Jessa), Allison Williams (Marnie), Zosia Mamet (Shoshanna), Adam Driver (Adam), Alex Karpovsky (Ray) and Andrew Rannells (Elijah).

• Creator Dunham got a deal for the HBO show after writing, directing and starring in the indie film 'Tiny Furniture'. The film also starred 'Girls' cast members Kirke and Karpovsky, and Dunham's real-life mother and sister.
• 'Knocked Up' director Judd Apatow is the executive producer.
• In season one, the show came under fire for not featuring main characters of colour, resulting in Hannah dating a black guy.
• Season three features an appearance by Richard E Grant.
• 'Girls' won two Golden Globes and a Primetime Emmy Award.
• The show has been renewed for a fourth season, due in 2015.
• Best quote: 'I don't hate your friends. I'm just not interested in anything that they have to say.' - Adam