Ilana Wexler from Broad City is easily one of the most interesting pop culture figures of the millennial age. The true-blue New Yorker is a total free spirit, an independent soul, and a ride-or-die friend to her BFF Abbi Abrams. Ilana lives a superbly unfiltered life, and her unending exuberance for trying new things has made her a fan favorite.
That being said, Ilana has her share of flaws. Not only do Ilana and Abbi share a codependent relationship, neither of them know how to function independently. Ilana is a lot more reckless than Abbi, and is usually the one who makes the bad decisions. Here’s how Ilana actually got worse and worse in Broad City.
10 Self Awareness
Ilana has always been the fierce, cool one and while that has always helped her be transparent and live her most authentic self, she also lacks self-awareness, and it only got more obvious with each episode. Many a times, she would have zero idea about how her actions affect others, and she has put herself and Abbi at risk on several occasions. Ilana also does not have a sound perspective on socializing, like the time when she relentlessly asked Abbi about her pegging experience during her own grandfather’s Shiva.
9 A Bad Idea Machine
Ilana is clearly the braver one, which also means while both BFFs have crazy ideas from time to time, Ilana has the guts to actually try them out. And sadly, they are rarely good ideas. Ilana has always been very fickle about the idea of a career, which is why she has tried her luck with a string of gigs. And while the gig economy totally agrees with her, her unreasonable, borderline dangerous ideas get in the way of her actually succeeding.
8 Sense Of Hygiene
Remember when Abbi found out that Ilana used her foot grater to grate cheese? Or when she actually ate bagels from the garbage, just because she was locked out of her apartment? Ilana’s sense of hygiene is almost fatal, and fans have often pointed this out.
It’s one thing to live in the moment but Ilana actually puts herself at risk way too often. In fact, her lifestyle gets decidedly weirder with each season and the fact that no one calls her out was even more bizarre.
7 Out Of Touch
As relatable as the Broad City BFFs are, fans have often found Ilana to be too out of touch with reality. She’s in her mid twenties and has no idea about how taxes work. Remember when she came up with She Work, an idea for a work space where she charged people for using the public charging stations? In spite of being creative, she rarely thinks far ahead to actually determine what the outcomes of her actions could be, and post Season 2, her erratic ideas actually became her personality.
6 Denial
Ilana has a crippling sense of denial which takes a much bigger toll on her life than she lets on, and the longer she remained in her comfort zone with Abbi, the worse it got. When she doesn’t want to cope with a new development, she simply denies it’s happening. Like when she would not stop eating shellfish on Abbi’s birthday and swelled up, but denied she was ill until the very last minute when she needed an EpiPen®. Or when she refused to process that they had been scammed for the Lil Wayne tickets by a guy on Craigslist.
5 Really Bad At Advice
Truth be told, Ilana is not exactly the friend Abbi should be trusting with her most crucial decisions, especially when it comes to her love life. Ilana’s lack of self awareness affects her friends too, especially Abbi, who’s not exactly the live-out-loud kind of person. Remember when Abbi called Ilana from Jeremy’s bathroom and revealed that he wanted to peg? Ilana could tell Abbi was not comfortable with the idea, but advised her to go ahead with it anyway. This was a poor move considering Abbi already has self esteem issues, which often makes her do things to please others.
4 Co-Dependent Relationship With Abbi
Abbi and Ilana finally address how codependent they have become in season 5, but this self intervention should have happened a long time ago. For their entire adult lives, they have been each other’s safety nets, and have never realized the need to grow not as a unit but as individuals.
While waiting to get in a Lil Wayne concert, Ilana finally reveals to Abbi that they share a problematic relationship. “I don’t know if I know who I am without you. I don’t have the same sense of self I thought I did,” Ilana confessed.
3 Work Ethic
The reason Ilana has a questionable work ethic is probably because she is not super serious about the idea of a career; for most part of the show she has focused on making cash and not a profile. And while there’s nothing wrong with hustling to make money in the gig economy, Ilana had troubles following through on instructions, and it got significantly worse as she grew older. Like when she hired a bunch of interns without asking for anyone’s permission at her Deals Deals Deals office. Or when she thought her start-up idea for phone wogs was a legitimate one.
2 Sense Of Boundaries
It’s no secret that Ilana has no sense of boundaries, and often does not respect others' privacy. This goes unchecked for a long while since Abbi never calls her out. As the show progresses and Ilana meets new people and has to fit into various workplaces, her lack of boundaries becomes a serious issue as other people in her social circle start calling her out. Like when Jaime calls out Ilana for being intrusive and breaking into his room, or when she invites people over while house-sitting for a rich friend.
1 Averse To Change
Ilana does not cope well with change. While Abbi tries to learn how to function independently, Ilana tries hard to stall adulthood and remain ensconced in an ersatz partnership with Abbi. In fact, Ilana does not bring about a change in spite of realizing how co-dependent they are. In season 5, Ilana tells Abbi that she feels like she has co-opted Abbi’s time and kept her from actually growing. Then again, she has a hissy fit when Abbi tells her that she will be moving away for an artist’s residency.
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