Ginny and Georgia, season 3, review: a perfect example of the addictive Netflix formula
In the market for a soapy drama about a beautiful, whip-smart single mother and her clever yet dreadfully dull and endlessly ungrateful teenage daughter? Gilmore Girls might have already nailed that formula 20 years ago, but because television is just an infinite cycle of reboots, sequels, prequels or blatant rip-offs these days, it was only a matter of time until a streamer tried to replicate that show's schmaltzy charm. Enter Ginny & Georgia (Netflix).
Among Netflix 's most popular original series, it's back for a third season that is once again filled with – deep breath – murder, small-town politics, mother-daughter bickering, sex, snogging and property porn. One imagines it came about when an executive marched into work the morning after his daughter forced him to watch Gilmore Girls and demanded a modern update, only crossed with Narcos, because American audiences can't get enough of crime.
Georgia (Brianne Howey) is a Southern belle and single mother-of-two with a dark past: childhood sexual abuse, domestic violence, poverty. A cycle of marrying rich then moving on, culminated, prior to the events of the first season, in her murdering her grope-happy husband (spoiler alert: he's not the only man she's sent to the pearly gates). Now, a few years on, her perfect new life in an idyllic New England town – complete with perfect New England man, in the form of local mayor Paul Randolph (Friday Night Lights' Scott Porter) – is starting to unravel.
Season two ended with Georgia being escorted in handcuffs from her fairytale wedding to Paul , accused of murdering a neighbour's terminally ill husband. In her eyes, it was a mercy killing, though the rest of the town – and the law – doesn't see it that way. Most of season three's 10 episodes revolve around the court case, which turns into a media sensation.
Howey is warm, funny and impossible not to root for, despite her penchant for killing off her exes. Flashback scenes patch together her traumatic past (her younger self affectingly portrayed by Nikki Roumel) and further elicit the audience's empathy: she might be a killer, but all of her victims were abusive or cruel. She might lie and steal, but it's only to provide for her family.
The latter consists of teenage daughter Ginny (Antonia Gentry), possibly the most annoying TV character to have emerged in the past decade – and I've watched all of And Just Like That, so I'm unfortunately familiar with Che Diaz – due to her constant whining, whingeing and weeping. Fair enough, her mother's a criminal, her little brother (Diesel La Torraca) is painfully shy, troubled and keeps mauling other kids at school, but that's no excuse. Ginny and Georgia would benefit hugely from the showrunners omitting the Ginny half of the title.
Season three ends, as expected, with Georgia walking free, having recruited her kids to frame an old nemesis for the crime. After bingeing all 10 hour-long episodes, you might find yourself in a rut of self-loathing: 'I know this isn't 'good',' you'll think, 'so why can't I stop watching?' Because it's the perfect example of the Netflix formula: soapy, cheesy fun led by unbelievably good-looking actors. It's not The Sopranos. It's not even Gilmore Girls. It's just shiny, addictive escapism.
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