I’ve been waiting for a Lena Dunham renaissance since Girls wrapped in 2017, which in internet years is just about a century. Now, of course, Lena EPed and wrote a few lovely female-forward projects over the years, like Catherine Called Birdy and Generation. But Too Much is the Lena revival that brilliant lady fuckups everywhere have been thirsting for, and its hot mess heroine did not disappoint.
Comedian and internet sensation Megan Stalter plays Jessica, a woefully unprepared but wildly individualistic young woman who takes on London off the back of a traumatic breakup. Jess is a bull in a china shop that’s made of stained glass; she’s kind of a trainwreck when it comes to ticking society’s boxes, but her resilience to being told no is infectiously endearing. She’s beautiful, she’s sexually charged, she should talk a little less, she should never sell any of her clothes, and every time she gets riled up, I’m ready for her to drop some knowledge. These are Jess’s best one-liners from Too Much that are actually iconic life lessons to live by.
Best Lines From Lena Dunham’s Too Much
Image Credit: Netflix
“I’m always adjusting my expectations.”
The way this line hit me like a ton of relatable bricks in the very first episode. When Jess explains to her new love interest, Will, that she knows she’s going to have to adjust to her disappointing new accommodation and unfulfilling job in London because that’s been the story of her life… this woman’s work!
“How come whenever an intense woman meets a flame, people yell witch?!”
While Jess meant this one literally (as she set herself on fire by accident, happens!), there are LEVELS to this quote. Women are unapologetically doing our best to light the patriarchy’s playground up in flames, and honestly, I’m okay with being called a witch for it.
“Actually, you know what, chaos chose me because I’m fucking irresistible!”
In the second episode, Jessica also nails the feeling of every girl in her 20s (and 30s and 40s and forever) with this openly toxic call to arms. We’ve all been there, and may we be this brazen about it if we ever go back!
Image Credit: Netflix
“I would never let my boss fuck me, especially in the ass.”
Incredibly crass words to live by! Meg Stalter’s delivery as she kookily misunderstands another bit of British slang said by her boyfriend Will was 10/10, no notes here.
“Maybe I’m not too much, maybe you’re just not enough.”
Love that we only had to wait until episode 4 for Jess to drop the titular line on Will. It so happened that Will, who is one to casually drop his own fucked-up wisdom himself (“If you’re damaged in like exactly the right way sometimes you can kind of fit perfectly with someone,” “I don’t want a voice message I find it kind of violent,” “Who told you, you were supposed to be a Lord?”), actually meant “too much” as a compliment. But the way their relationship goes (no spoilers), I’m glad Jess spoke her truth here anyway.
“I just like the dress.”
I literally clapped during the flashback episode where the story revisited the trauma lowlight reel of Jess’s seven-year relationship with her New York ex (who may or may not invoke Jack Antonoff). At one point, Jess is wearing a kitschy sailor dress, and her then-boyfriend Zev scolds her for dressing so outlandishly, because he thinks it’s Jess’s coping mechanism for not being “Bella Hadid beautiful.” If Jess would only dress in pretty clothes, people could see “her kind of beautiful.” Jess response? “I just like the dress.” She said that for man repellers everywhere who don’t give a shit how our ~beauty~ appeals to the male gaze.
“Yeah, I get it. I’ve done a lot of things out of vengeance.”
As a Cancer and a tried-and-true middle child, I felt this. Like, it’s not holding a grudge, it’s holding out for the bliss of the perfect petty revenge in the future.
Image Credit: Netflix
“I always wanna know.”
During one of many emotional battles between Jess and Will, after Will had spent the day with his comically awful family, Jess (painfully) begs the man for emotional intimacy since she could tell there was more to the story than his curt English lips were willing to say. Will warns Jess that if he tells her about what happened to him as a child, he can’t unsay it. Jess’s reply offering a forever safe space is so perfect and pure!
“First of all, don’t ever tell me to talk calmly. Don’t tell any woman to be calm.”
Why do men have to keep being told this?!? This wedding episode was a hilarious disaster, and a fantastic reminder to men everywhere to go ahead and control-alt-delete “relax” and “calm down” from your vocab when speaking to a woman at least until the wage gap is closed, and for 100 years after that, OKAY??
“My joy’s not going to come from his destruction or yours.”
Jess spends the entire series having one-sided conversations with Zev’s new fiancée, Wendy, over social media. This realization in the finale (that ripping her boyfriend and his hot ass GF limb from limb) won’t actually solve all of her problems is what we call growth, people.
MARISSA is a trending news writer at Betches. She's more than just another pop-culture-addicted-east-coaster-turned-LA-transplant...she's also an upcoming television writer and aspiring Real Housewife (whichever comes first). Live, laugh, balegdah.