Good Girls is good enough for me
It won’t be on any Best of the Year lists but it’s a fun watch
We think we all want the best but we don’t. Not all the time anyway. Even the finest of diners occasionally wants to slob out in relaxo-pants with some greasy K-Fry.
So, with that in mind, how good is good enough? This has been on my mind as I’ve made my way through Netflix’s new crime-dramedy series Good Girls. Good Girls. I start each episode expecting it to be my last. That tomorrow will be the night I see it in the “Continue watching” queue, shrug and move on. Leaving it to its fate with all the other abandoned castaways stuck in that loser limbo.
But that hasn’t happened. I’m surprised to say I’m seven episodes in. With only three to go I may as well admit I’m in it for the long haul. Probably. We’ll see what happens in tonight’s episode . . .
The show is about three girls — well, women really, but we’ll let it slide because Good Women isn’t anywhere near as catchy a title — who are all facing financial hardships.
You’ve got solo mum Annie, the diner waitress Ruby whose sick daughter needs $10,000 a month medication and Beth, a suburban mum of four who’s just found out her husband has been cooking the books at their car dealership and having a long running affair with his 20-something secretary.
In a moment of ill-advised desperation they decide to rob the supermarket where Annie works. Expecting a $30,000 payday they end up getting away with a cool halfmil. Which ordinarily would be cause for celebration and a reason to hang up their fluffy balaclavas for good. If only the supermarket wasn’t a front for a violent, money laundering street gang. It’s never really explained how the neck-tattooed, perpetually smirking gang leader Rio and his goons track the good girls back to Beth’s kitchen, but they quickly do. And, as you’d expect, they’re quite keen to get their money back. Which the girls would happily hand over if they hadn’t already spent wads of it on lapsed mortgage payments, highpriced medicine and a bright red Porsche.
All this stuff happens in the first episode, and from there we follow them get in and out and back into troubles with Rio as they slowly begin to embrace a life of crime without arousing the suspicions of clueless husbands, ex-es, bosses or the FBI.
This journey from the suburbs to the FBI’s most wanted list is basically
While it does have those deeper themes, America’s insane medical costs or a dissolving marriage, mostly the tone is light and bright.
a makeover of Breaking Bad. Only here it’s not a dark and violent parable. It may have borrowed Walter White’s arc but the vibe here is straight outta Ocean’s 8.
Indeed, whenever the ladies are committing crimes — sticking up a supermarket say, or pulling off an elaborate money laundering scam at a big box retailer — the show goes into classic heist movie-mode, splitting the screen to show different character’s viewpoints, wins and near misses.
While it does have those deeper themes, America’s insane medical costs or a dissolving marriage, mostly the tone is light and bright. The main focus is on Beth, played with just the right level of gravitas by Christina Hendricks, and she really carries the series — even if most eps end with her walking off camera with a sassy swing in her step.
She’s backed up by the fantastic Retta (Ruby), who gets to have the best of both worlds by providing comic relief and having the most weighty storyline worrying about her sick daughter. Mae Whitman rounds off the ensemble as Beth’s spiky, trouble-causing younger sister.
It’s strange to be talking about a good show. Usually, it’s something you don’t want to miss or something you don’t ever want to watch. This is neither of those. It’s an untaxing, easy watch that does just enough to keep you interested and entertained. And sometimes that’s enough.
It might be damning with faint praise but Good Girls is good enough. It’s not great. It’s not the best show you can watch right now. It’s not must-see TV. It won’t be on any Best of the Year lists. But it’s good enough. Good enough to watch, enjoy and go back to.
Good enough to recommend? Um . . . maybe? I guess it depends. How good is good enough for you?