*contains spoilers*
Beginning on March 7, with only five episodes in, season four is off to a crazy start. “Good Girls” follows the lives of three best friends, Beth Boland (Christina Hendricks), your typical stay at home mom of four, her little sister, Annie (Mae Whitman), a single mother, and Ruby (Retta), Beth’s mom of two and Beth’s childhood friend. In the beginning, the three were normal moms; Beth was a stay-at-home mom, while her husband, Dean (Matthew Lillard), owned a car dealership. The other two worked your typical 9-5 jobs, Ruby worked as a waitress to pay for her daughter’s medical expenses, and Annie worked at the local grocery store. At the beginning of season one, when the girls fell on hard times, they robbed a bank out of desperation. Unfortunately, Beth was then greeted by gang members at her house, as they housed their money at the grocery store and pressed for it back. This resulted in the girls getting the money back to Rio (Manny Montana) in any way possible, a.k.a, laundering it.
The end of season three halted with a massive cliffhanger as the detective caught on to the trio. She went as far as to snatch Ruby’s phone because she was positive that a woman was behind these crimes. Towards the end of the season, the girls found a new way to launder the money, hot tubs, as Beth and Dean bought the local hot tub business.
Season four opens with Beth and Dean in a frenzy to open up the shop, even going as far as bribing the inspection woman with cash to open early. All of this is to give Rio his cut of the business. On Ruby’s side of the neighborhood, she and Stan (Reno Wilson) are dealing with getting their son as he’s having trouble in school, while Annie is beside herself on what to do for her son’s birthday. All of that seems peachy until the detectives make a comeback, even going as far as posing as investors to get their books (where Beth has the info hidden.) Thankfully, Beth is on to him, telling Dean to ignore it. She is then off, trying to “get rid of Rio.”
In my opinion, this was a bad idea from the start. It just screamed “backfire” all over it. The thought of putting out a “hit” on someone is always a recipe for disaster. Fast forward, sometimes, and Dean is out with the detective in disguise and ended up giving him the books. He was overjoyed, thinking he closed a big deal; however, the exact opposite happened. Dean got arrested, taking Beth’s fall, yet she tries to get him out. Rio could care less, claiming we all need a “fall guy,” but Beth is furious as she is determined to get him out. This season, off the bat, has been so action-packed it’s hard to follow up. Dean wants nothing to do with Beth, and she wants to make things right. However, right in this world is never ideal. When the hitman refused to break the deal, Beth took matters into her hands, giving his picture to Rio.
As Beth finally comes clean to the detective that has been on to her, they reach a deal, and she tells Dean. To no surprise, he’s still furious with her. But who could blame him? His wife just threw him in jail for her crimes! As for the other characters, they are working through their issues. I think as the season progresses, we’ll see a variety of events unfold.
During a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly regarding the drama between Beth and Rio, “Good Girls” showrunner Bill Krebs said, “We want you to feel like Beth does, which is like, ‘Oh my God, I was sleeping with this guy, and now he’s a murderer, what do I do?’”
There is part of me that wants him to go with Beth, but the other part knows how mysterious this character tends to be. Fans seem to believe that the idea of the trio going into witness protection seems a bit too good to be true. Honestly, I’d have to agree; it is not that it couldn’t happen, but as a fan of the show, I know that there is bound to be drama. Clearly, it has been a wild season of “Good Girls” so far, and it has only just begun. There is bound to be more chaos as it progresses. There is just no pausing when it comes to these characters.
“Good Girls” is on NBC, Sunday nights at 11 p.m/ 10 p.m central.