This article contains spoilers. 
Trigger warning: This article contains commentary about deceased pets.

Lena Dunham, who created and starred in the HBO show “Girls,” returned to television last week with “Too Much.” In this 10-episode Netflix series, Dunham has a minor but important acting role as the main character’s heartbroken sister. The limelight, however, shines on Megan Salter, who plays the lovable-and-problematic protagonist, Jessica.

Jessica, a late-30s New Yorker, accepts a job in London after her longtime, gaslighter-of-a-boyfriend leaves her for an Instagram knitting influencer. She moves to England with her dapperly-dressed, elderly lap dog, and meets Felix The Musician her first night in the city. 

Long story short, the two have enough baggage for an entire travel group en route to Mackinac Island, but they are undeniably a match and embark on a funny, messy and meaningful relationship.

Just when you’re certain you’ve seen this one before, you haven’t.

The reviews of “Too Much” are mixed, but Dunham delivers something fresh and unpredictable. The show has echoes of “Girls" – as well as the iconic “Sex and the City” – but it’s a story all of its own that, at times, is delightfully too much.

Here are 13 thoughts I had while binge-watching "Too Much":

1: Within the first episode, I knew this show, which had been described as a “rom-com,” had way more edge. During the first few minutes, Jessica smashes a window in the home she once shared with her ex with a garden gnome, busts into her old bedroom where her ex and the influential knitter are sleeping, and goes offffff. Hannah Horvath (the heroine in “Girls”) almost had the cojones to do this. Almost. But Carrie Bradshaw (“Sex and the City" main character)? Pfft. She wore sharp-heeled Manolos, but in reality, she was about as fierce as a Birkenstock. Let it all out, Jess!

2: Dunham’s razor-sharp, witty and honest writing reaches a new level with “Too Much.” Enjoy these context-less quips:

• “You stole what was mine and you forced me to move into an intergenerational ‘Grey Gardens’ hell of single women and one hairless dog.”
• “No offense, but I would literally never take an open drink from a man. Especially one who doesn’t wash his hands (after using the bathroom).”
• “I like American things: The Simpsons, Capt’n Crunch, Oxycontin.”
• “Do we like him or is he a trauma-bonder-gaslighter-narcissist-tender-swindler?”
• “Isn’t adulthood just a series of things we don’t want to do but have to?”
  “No. I think it’s trying to make sure you can do the things you actually do want to do.”
• "You’re an alien to me, but you still feel like home.”
• (And my favorite:) “I’m so over these ‘Underprepared Jeffs!’ How did they get hired?”

3: During the series, Jessica adopts two dogs at different times. The first is a curly-haired, floppy-eared sweetheart named Cutesy whom she adopts with her ex (in a flashback scene). After a mildly agro run-in with another pooch in the park, he tells her to get rid of the dog AND SHE DOES. Who picks the dude over the dog? What the actual woof?!  I almost stopped watching. But I’m glad I didn’t. 

Freshly single, Jessica visits a shelter and is immediately drawn to a tiny, old, pink-skinned pup named Astrid sporting a smattering of long, stringy hairs and a tongue that dangles from the side of her toothless mouth. The shelter worker discloses that nine-year-old Astrid has a chest tumor. Jessica doesn't find this daunting in the least. She adopts Astrid and empties her bank account for the tumor-removal surgery. 

Astrid becomes the center of Jessica's world – as well as the wearer of many “precious gowns” and other fashions. (When Jessica first meets Astrid, she says to the near-hairless dog, “You are naked! You need jeans!”) 

Their relationship is adorably strange and relatable to anyone who loves a pet like a BFF. 

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But there's a Saint Bernard-sized problem with this relationship, and I should have been warned about it. As an “I do not watch the show if the dog dies” viewer, I was gutted that Astrid crossed the proverbial rainbow bridge – which is more like a black-cloud-filled-with-acid-rain bridge – in episode 9. I know the death of John Wick’s dog is off-screen and very brief, but I WILL NOT WATCH IT. Why wasn't there a trigger warning in the beginning of this episode? Not cool, Dunham!

4: I feel weird writing about this, but finally, finally, finally we get a lead female character who is fat, but that has nothing to do with the storyline or her identity. Her weight is inconsequential to her professional and personal life. By writing about this, I'm pointing out that Dunham didn't point out Jessica's body type, and so I should delete this entire paragraph. But I can't. This shouldn’t be refreshing. But it is. We almost got this with Hannah in “Girls.” We almost got this with Annie (Aidy Bryant) in “Shrill,” but we definitely get it with Jessica in “Too Much.” She never once complains about her weight or makes a joke about her appetite. She takes her space. And she takes her boyfriend’s jacket when he offers it, even though he is smaller than she is. She puts it on and makes zero comments about her size, or his size or the jacket’s size. Standing freaking ovation.

5: Reader, take note: It is, in fact, possible to accidentally light yourself on fire with a candle, and if it happens, remember the good ol’ “stop, drop and roll.” 

6: I enjoyed the British slang, mostly. It reminded me of when my son watched 900 episodes of Thomas The Tank Engine per week and asked after I flipped off a rude driver, "Mommy, are you cross?" Words like "bollocking” and “dodgy” were fun to hear again. I learned “bog roll” for toilet paper. But British slang can also be not fun. "Kiddy fiddler,” it turns out, means someone who sexually abuses children. And sadly, this is at the root of Felix’s inability to say, “I love you.” 

7: I was close to my grandma – my sweet nonie – but we never would have discussed what it means to “overuse the hardware” in a new relationship or told one another in frustration to eat our ass. Nope; never. (Rhea Perlman as Jessica’s grandmother is perfectly cast.)

8: Speaking of casting, Dunham has a knack for cherry-picking the next brunette It Guy. Adam Driver, who had a background in theater, got his breakthrough role in “Girls," and went on to be, well, Adam Driver. And sure, we saw Will Sharpe in “White Lotus,” but Dunham pulls out his sexy, complicated, endearing best in “Too Much,” clearly paving the way for a Kylo Ren-level of fame. 

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9: The portrayal of addiction in "Too Much" is realistic. For many, it’s not an all-or-nothing game. There are no you-did-it chips or "Hi, my name is..." moments. And yet, both Felix and Jessica identify as “sober." (Jessica also refers to herself as "sober curious.") They move in and out of mindsets and behaviors that demonstrate what a slippery, messy, indirect path sobriety can be. “Old habits die hard. Just when you think you’re free, something happens and you're right back where you started.” (Nope, I can’t relate at all.)

10: That said, Jessica should not do ketamine. Maybe no one should do it, but especially not Jessica. Or maybe not that much? 

11: Ugh. Why do we keep carrying cruel words someone told us years ago? When I was 19, a white guy who owned a purple meditation pillow for 72 hours and had an unread copy of  "Tao Te Ching" on his nightstand told me I was the "least Zen person" he had ever met. Mindblowing to me now that his comment bothered me, and even more so that it lived rent-free in my brain for so long. Something similar happens to Jessica, who was convinced by her ex that she had terrible taste in music because she liked a Miley Cyrus song. Turns out she has a really nice voice and terrific taste in music (the soundtrack of "Too Much" is tops). Not only do we believe these things about ourselves, but we also assume that new partners feel the same way about us. "Sometimes it feels like you're fighting with someone who isn't even here," says Felix to Jessica. 

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12: I found it hypocritical that Jessica broke up with Felix for sleeping with the “older woman” after she had an awkward encounter with a colleague. He at least told her about his affair, but she kept her dalliance a secret. Maybe this will come out in season two, if Netflix renews the series. 

13: So. Is "Too Much" too much? Some reviews say it is. Others say it's not enough. When Jessica insists she is too much, Felix agrees, but he defines too much as "just the right amount – and a little bit more.” This perfectly describes the entire show. Lena Dunham's "Too Much" is just the right amount of everything needed for a great series – and a little bit more. Bring on season 2, Netflix.