THE final episode of the first season of this HBO series drew to a near-perfect conclusion. It closed with Lena Dunham's character, Hannah, sitting on the beach, eating an ice-cream, enjoying a moment by herself, having endured a hellish 12 hours with on-and-off boyfriend Adam. Yet don't think for a minute that Hannah's bliss would be anything more than fleeting.

First things first: if you don't have Foxtel's Showcase channel, get it now. They are screening the second season of this brilliant comedy-drama a couple of hours after it airs on HBO in the US.

There's more good news. Having seen the first four episodes, we're pleased to report there is no second season slump as yet.

When it made its debut last year, Girls seemed a minor miracle - a fresh, funny, frank and beautifully written piece of television. And so it goes in season two as we return to the Brooklyn-set series' tight-knit group of Hannah and her friends, Marnie, Jessa and Shoshanna.

Early on, change is in the air. Some home truths are set to be delivered. And Marnie is the first Girl to cop it.

''All you girls think that you look really good,'' Marnie's mother, played by Rita Wilson (Mrs Tom Hanks), says blithely near the start of this season, ''but you just look like floats in the Macy's Day Parade - big heads on tiny bodies.''

As for Hannah, she has a new boyfriend and a new housemate. Her boyfriend also happens to be African-American, which most people will see as a wink at one of the show's chief criticisms: that it's too white.

A lot hasn't changed, though. Although they are no longer together, Hannah is still looking after the obnoxious Adam who, you will recall, was hit by a car last season. And their scenes are still painful to watch. Yet Hannah remains one of the most loveable characters on TV.

''I have always marched to the beat of my own drummer ever since I cut my camp shirt into a halter top,'' Hannah says. It's true. And it's also merely one reason why we love Hannah and this show.