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Reasons to Binge Watch ‘Good Girls’

Earlier this month I spent my entire evening, and a good portion of the next day, watching the show Good Girls. I could not stop watching this show. I immediately became invested and needed to know what was going to happen with Beth (Christina Hendricks), Ruby (Retta), and Annie (Mae Whitman). The only other show I’ve watched in one evening was the first season of The Walking Dead and Good Girls is only four more episodes longer. I have faith in all the binge watchers of the world to complete this challenge.

Let me explain what the show is about first. Good Girls is about three women find themselves in situations they never believed they end up in their lives. Instead of sitting around and waiting on the universe to magically fix their issues, they decide to take fate into their own hands and risk everything to fix the crumbling around them. Desperate times call for desperate measures.

The odd part of all this is I remember seeing my DVR to record it because of Matthew Lillard mentioning it during his panel at the Days of the Dead convention in Atlanta last February. It only took me a year of having it on my DVR to watch it on Netflix. I know. I’m the worst television watcher ever.

I have digressed. Let me get back to my purpose. Now that the show is on Netflix if you have not bothered watching it until now, do yourself a favor and immediately go binge the show. If this urging is not enough for you, let me give you five more reasons why you should binge watch Good Girls immediately.

Matthew Lillard

Reasons to Binge Watch 'Good Girls'
Matthew Lillard & Reno Wilson

Dean Boland is not the most lovable character. He’s really not that great of a guy which audiences almost immediately learn about his character in the series. Various moments make it hard for audiences to be on board with him, but Lillard is amazing in this role. It’s me of the best acting of Lillard’s career. Yes, Lillard shows off his lovely little quips and quirky appeal within the character, but Dean is different than any other role I’ve encountered him in. In many ways you do not want to root for him and somehow we feel by the end we must still root for him. His character development through the good, the bad, and the ugly makes the show worth watching by itself.

Gender Expression

Reasons to Binge Watch 'Good Girls'

What makes this particularity beautiful within the show is how beautiful the relationship is between Annie and Sadie Marks (Izzy Stannard). Annie does not care one bit how her daughter chooses to express herself. She wants her to know that no matter what she chooses to wear to school she is perfect the way she is above anything else. One of the shining moments of the series is the moment Annie discovers that Sadie is having her pants pulled down at school. The entire episode is beautifully handled and one’s heart goes out to Sadie. Well, minus one particular part but in Annie’s defense I think many people would have reacted in a similar manner.  Regardless, her devotion to Sadie and not forcing her into dresses invoking a Sleepaway Camp moment later in life is what truly matters here. Love your child unconditionally.

The Mama Bears

Reasons to Binge Watch 'Good Girls'

These women will do anything for their children.  They are powerhouses.  So many scenarios that they get stuck in somehow that leave viewers tilting their head like a dog at the screen.  The truth is we want to be there in the thick of it with them.  We want to know what happens next.  We must know.  Not knowing is not an answer.  Just when we think things cannot get anymore absurd, we are reminded that these mothers will risk everything if it means protecting their children. A plethora of examples riddled throughout the series, but these women give new meaning as to why one should not poke the bear.  No one should poke the these Mama Bears.

Storylines

Reasons to Binge Watch 'Good Girls'

We are lead straight into the premise of the show.  Instead of making us wait for a season finale of the show, we are put into the thick of the robbery that start a chain of events these women become deeper entangled in as the days go by.  These characters have us invested.  From one moment to the next audiences find themselves constantly wondering what thread will unravel first.  This makes the ending of the first season even more intense as fans wonder just how far one of the characters will go.  The plot twists and the dialogue are beyond enjoyable as they constantly have us laughing in situations that we probably shouldn’t laugh at in the first place.

Woman Empowerment

Reasons to Binge Watch 'Good Girls' Reasons to Binge Watch 'Good Girls'

So many times in today’s work we find ourselves wanting to rip each other a part. There’s so much shaming going around that most of the time we do not take the time as women to lift those around us. There’s a meme I have seen a thousand times over that essentially reads fix a queen’s crown without letting her know you fixed it. Annie, Beth, and Ruby are the epitome of best friends. They also show us what it is like to truly be there for each other and not bring each other down.  They lift each other up even in circumstances they never felt warranted or needed in the first place.  Their friendship is the kind I want to know I have.  Literal sister or not, I want to be there for those I dub family.

The truth is Good Girls gives viewers many more reasons than these to love the show. The show puts viewers on a roller coaster of emotions and make them wonder if they would do the same if faced with certain scenarios. The character development of all the major and supporting characters is beyond spectacular. The dialogue is witty. The minor characters riddled throughout the show that only add to the storylines that these three fantastic women have managed to take on and slay. Audiences quickly become invested in this show because these characters make you care about them. They refuse to give you another choice, just like they refused to merely sit around waiting for the sky to fall on top of them.

The second season premiere of Good Girls airs Sunday, March 3rd on NBC.