Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
Well, Ginny & Georgia season 2 ended with a great cliffhanger: Georgia gets arrested right after her wedding to the mayor on charges of murder. So, season 3 of the Netflix series is all about Georgia screaming at her lawyer to prove her innocence, while her kids, Ginny and Austin deal with the horrid aftermath of becoming the children of the ‘Mayoress Murderess’, while grappling with the fear of losing their mom to prison. No more running for Gerogia in this season!
Honestly, at this juncture of ‘Ginny & Georgia’, there have to be many viewers that think Georgia (Brianne Howey) ought to finally face the consequences of murdering people. But the series is intent on trying to prove how ‘hard’ her life was through flashbacks, as a way to defend her. And these flashbacks were plain boring in season three. So this season, I only stuck around to watch what happens to Ginny (Antonia Gentry) and Austin (Diesel La Torraca). And given that a full-blown murder trial is going on against Georgia, the sub-plots involving Ginny’s teen friends pale out and become annoying distractions in this edition.
Georgia’s husband Mayor Paul (Scott Porter) is unsure if he should continue to the marriage, or get a divorce to save his public image. Meanwhile, Ginny has it worse, she is still in therapy, in danger of reverting to self-harm, and her love life is on the rocks. If you remember, Marcus Baker (Felix Mallard) breaks up with Ginny in ‘Ginny & Georgia’ season 2, so this season sees their continued struggle to cope up with the heartbreak. Marcus is too depressed to focus on romance, while his twin sister Maxine pursues new crush Silver (Katelyn Wells). And even though some of Ginny’s friends at high-school start behaving weirdly, Maxine and Abby (Katie Douglas) continue to have her back.
The two most crucial new characters introduced in ‘Ginny & Georgia’ season 3 are Georgia’s lawyer, and a potential new romantic interest for Ginny called Wolfe (Ty Doran), who she meets in her poetry club. Unlike the broody, depressed, pseudo ‘bad boy’ Marcus, Wolfe is a lot more easygoing, funny, and has the right kind of energy to counter all the harrowing experiences Ginny is going through. Ty Doran and Antonia Gentry surprisingly make a very cute onscreen pair. Unfortunately, the writers stick to being predictable, and keep Marcus as ‘end game’ for Ginny.
Apart from the legal conflict and suspense over Georgia’s murder case, a lot of the drama in ‘Ginny & Georgia’ involves the fathers trying to take influence their kids. Austin’s biological father Gil (Aaron Ashmore) tries hard to convince Ginny’s dad Zion (Nathan Mitchell) that it would be best if they fight for custody for their kids and not leave them with Georgia. So, there’s a lot of tension involving the parents in this season. Then there’s some sappy suspense over who has Georgia’s heart, is it her ex Zion, the Mayor husband, or Joe (Raymond Ablack) from the coffee shop. Who cares if there’s a serious murder trial going on, right?
Between Ginny & Georgia, I used to be ‘Team Georgia’, but in season 3, Georgia is quite unbearably entitled and bratty, her constant scheming is no longer entertaining. Brianne Howey continues to be loud, bold, and convincing as Georgia, but the character arc is awful this time around. Nikki Roumel reprises her role as the younger Georgia in flashbacks, but like I wrote earlier, the throwbacks to her past felt absolutely unnecessary this time around, doing little to rouse viewer interest, although it does look like some of it will serve as background for new characters in season 4. But at ten episodes long, ‘Ginny & Georgia‘ season 3 is already overstretched and should’ve simply ended.
For me, this season was underwhelming in terms of Georgia’s subplot, although Antonia Gentry has grown by leaps and bounds as a performer and was riveting as a more mature Ginny. Her character also touchingly steps up as Austin’s guardian, taking him to school and helping him navigate the new challenges of being without their mom. While the show earlier clearly stood out with its mother-daughter theme, the siblings’ relationship takes center stage in the second half of season 3. Earlier, it was Ginny and Georgia against the world; this time around, it’s Austin and Ginny versus the world for their mom.
The climax wraps up Georgia’s trial in an all-too-convenient manner, and the end message seems to be “like mom, like daughter.” Despite their differing personalities, Ginny and Georgia prove to be two sides of the same coin. While this season has its merits, I still think Netflix really should’ve ended this series by episode ten, but the climax leaves ample scope for a fourth installment.
Watch Ginny & Georgia on Netflix.
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