While things left off in an "on" place for on-again off-again couple Charlie and Marnie on Girls at the end of the series' second season, we may want to prepare ourselves for that relationship to be over come Season 3. Christopher Abbott has reportedly exited the series, or more specifically, "abruptly left the show" due to issues he was having with series creator Lena Dunham.
Abbott plays Charlie, the college sweetheart to Allison Williams' Marnie. The NY Post shared the news of his departure, saying their sources tell them that Abbott and Dunham "began butting heads as the critical-darling series entered production again." Reportedly, they were just getting going on work for Season 3 and Chris was "at odds with Lena." This source seems to be leaning toward Dunham's side of this situation, saying, "He didn’t like the direction things are going in, which seems a bit odd since the show put him on the map."
Abbott's departure was confirmed by his rep, who offered a prepared statement about the actor being grateful for the experience of collaborating with Lena, Judd Apatow and the cast and crew of the HBO series. The official explanation is that he's working on other projects and has decided not to return to the show.
Season 1 saw Marnie and Charlie breaking up as Marnie began to doubt her feelings for her long-time beau. And Season 2 saw them reunite, by which point Charlie had achieved some success in his app-creation endeavors and was looking much more appealing to Williams' character. While their relationship may not have left off in the most stable place (nothing's really stable in the lives of these characters), they were back together and supposedly in love. But knowing this show, it was probably only a matter of time before more drama arrived and things got messy again. With that said, it's disappointing that his exit is so abrupt, as it probably means we won't get any set closure to his departure, beyond whatever's referenced about him when Season 3 gets going.
