Ginny & Georgia is back with more high-stakes drama, more emotional moments, and, perhaps most excitingly, more queer characters.
Maybe it’s because it’s been more than two years and I really missed this show, or maybe it’s just that good, but I think the third season of Netflix’s Ginny & Georgia is its best one yet. It has all the things we’ve come to know and love about the show, and then some. It made me laugh, it made me cry, and it made me giggle and kick my feet at all the extra queer content.
The overarching drama this season for the titular characters isn’t a surprise, because it picks up right where the season two finale left off: Georgia has been arrested and accused of murder. The trial takes over the town, making the Millers a media sensation in Wellsbury (and across the nation.) This is such an interesting turn for this show, because for once Georgia can’t be wheeling and dealing all over town to get her way; in fact, she spends most of the season on house arrest awaiting her trial. This loosens the leash she has on Ginny a little, and makes for some character development both between them, and separately. Antonia Gentry and Brianne Howey are absolutely brilliant throughout this whole season. Next level acting going on here.
Photo courtesy of Netflix.
But! Unlike every other media platform, we’re not here to talk about Ginny nor Georgia—or at least, not exclusively. We’re here to talk about the gays. First let’s check in on our resident lesbian, Maxine “Max” Baker.
Poor Max really goes through it this season. Everything starts out so cute and happy with her crush on Silver (Katelyn Wells). The pining stage was hilarious, because normally outgoing Max was temporarily stuck, saying, “That’s what us lesbians do, we just stare at each other and nothing ever happens and then we think about it forever.” And we have a few episodes of them being cute together!
But then when they do get together, Silver starts to act a little detached, like she likes the idea of having a girlfriend and Max is cute, but doesn’t actually want to spend time together. She also doesn’t take Max seriously when Max is worried about her brother, Marcus (Felix Mallard); but then again, no one does. No one sees what she sees, no one hears her when she tries to tell them her twin needs help. Sara Waisglass really proved her range this season, going from the classic perky bubbly chaotic Max we usually see, to something deeper and darker as she realizes she’s losing her grip on most of the relationships in her life.
Further complicating things is the return of Sophie (played by the remarkable Humberly González), who is cast in the musical as Max’s husband. So on top of her growing stressors in her friendships and family and her current relationship, she also has to deal with the residual feelings for the girl who broke her heart…and kiss her on stage. (Which is VERY messy of the drama teacher, who ABSOLUTELY had to know that Max and Sophie are exes.)
The drama teacher really said “DRAMA”
The musical itself was a delight. While it was no “MARRIAGE IS A DUNGEON” like last season (though the song that was basically just “I’m a manly man man” was hilarious), it did highlight the singing talents of Sara Waisglass, Humberly González, and Tameka Griffiths (who plays Bracia, a friend of Max and Ginny’s), had some really cute 70s looks and gender bending fun, and also put a spotlight on Max and her struggles. It highlighted how Max feels invisible, living in the shadow of her brother, accused of being too dramatic. She is loud and talkative and extroverted, so people think they see her, but no one is really seeing her.
I see you, Max. (Photo courtesy of Netflix)
This season did a great job of showing that mental illness doesn’t always look the same in everyone. Sometimes depression looks like Marcus: sullen, quiet, heavy…like slowly sinking to the bottom of a pool. But sometimes depression looks like Max: hidden behind big smiles and distractions, overly cheerful…like flailing in the deep end but everyone just thinks you’re splashing around for fun. Sometimes it’s the people offering the most help that need the most help themselves; sometimes the people who always show up need someone to show up for them, too. And even though Max and Marcus are twins, Max has been defaulted into the big sister role, and even flashbacks show that the parentification of Max started when they were young, long before Marcus knew he was depressed.
As for the new additions to the queer roster this season, you may remember in earlier episodes, part of the MANG crew, Abby (Katie Douglas) liked to make out with girls like Norah (Chelsea Clark) to make boys jealous at parties. Well this season, we see that she is following a familiar trajectory from there. This season, after a brief miscommunication with her nemesis Samantha (who apparently has always had a crush on Abby), Abby meets Tris, her cute new tutor, played by Noah Lamanna, a non-binary actor you may recognize as playing Kat in the most recent season of The Last of Us.
I don’t think anyone used a pronoun at all for Tris in this show, but if someone caught one, let me know.
Unfortunately, this fact that should have bonded Abby and Max pushes them further apart. Abby doesn’t want to make a big deal of this, and wants to just enjoy her time with Tris and celebrate not dating an asshole for once in her life, but Max doesn’t understand why she doesn’t want the queer solidarity Max obviously needs. On one hand, I get where she’s coming from; Abby hasn’t felt happiness like this in a long time and doesn’t want to spook it. On the other, it’s giving “gay not queer” at times, like when she told Max she didn’t want to hold a press conference like Max practically did when she came out in third grade. Either way it was a really interesting new dynamic to throw into the mix. I always welcome the addition of MORE queer characters. Even (especially??) messy ones.
Being a teenager is so hard. While I was relieved that this season someone finally gave Abby a fucking hug and realized she was struggling with an eating disorder, Max got sidelined and HER struggles went unseen. While Ginny and Georgia had some really sweet and moving bonding moments this season, there were also moments where Georgia failed Ginny, manipulating her and putting too much on her shoulders, or forging Ginny to be the adult in the situation and parent Georgia when it should always be the other way around. Overall I think this show does a really brilliant job of portraying the various ways mental illness can manifest, especially in teenagers. This season tugged at my heartstrings and pushed all my emotional buttons. Mommy issue buttons, queer drama buttons, depression/self-harm/ED buttons, friendship breakup buttons. It’s an emotional roller coaster, and I loved every second.
I just wanted MANG to be happy and friends forever. :sob: (Photo courtesy of Netflix)
And it wasn’t all doom and gloom! This show is also hilarious! For example, Max’s line about the murder Georgia was accused of: “He was like dying anyway. This wouldn’t even be a podcast.” Or when Georgia called Ginny her “ride or die” and Ginny responded, “Where are we riding and why do we have to die!” It’s a perfect balance of laughter and pain.
Thankfully, the show has already been renewed for a fourth season. Hopefully this time it won’t take two and a half years to come out.
