GOOD GIRLS: NBC’s heist series is satisfying, thought-provoking

Confession: I’ve been procrastinating on writing my review of Good Girls. Not because it’s a bad show; quite the opposite. I loved it so much, I felt like whatever I wrote should articulate how much I love it – and why – in profound, powerful prose. That my review should eloquently point out all the ways Good Girls demonstrates the complexity of being a woman in America, from motherhood to the pay gap to #MeToo to the power of girl friends and everything in between. How it weaves together stories about three very different women with different struggles who come together to support each other against the backdrop of a satisfying heist caper plot.

I wondered how I could do justice to the portrayals by Christina Hendricks and Mae Whitman and Retta, who are unexpectedly brilliant together. How do you convince someone who knows Retta as supremely confident, larger than life, Treat Yo’self Donna Meeks from Parks and Rec that she is perfectly cast as Ruby, the exhausted, over-worked, desperate mother of a chronically ill child who just wants someone to care about her daughter’s health as much as she and her husband do? She’s the polar opposite of Donna, but just as believable.

What can you say about Christina Hendricks as Beth, the suburban stay-at-home mom who seemingly has it all, only to watch it fall to pieces thanks to a philandering husband’s poor choices? It all sounds so sordid and Lifetime movie-esque, but with Hendricks’ combination of vulnerable and steely, she elevates her character into someone practically aspirational by episode three.

Then there’s Mae Whitman, whose character you know is going to be fierce but reckless. Whitman is a pro at depicting teenagers with messy lives who have to Deal With Consequences and Learn From Mistakes. Playing a 20-something single mother, Whitman’s Annie is an older version of this familiar character yet still a fresh portrayal. It is Annie who unknowingly gives away the trio’s identities when they rob the supermarket where she works. And it is Annie who can’t restrain herself from a spending spree. Even though she keeps messing up, I can’t help but empathize with her, and Whitman deserves credit for that.

From gender inequality to racism to the healthcare industry to sexual assault to predatory financial practices to stereotypes – it’s all here, plus we get that wish-fulfillment heist element. I expect we’ll be reading a lot of thinkpieces about Good Girls over the coming weeks. There’s so much to unpack, so many ways this show is Relevant To Our Interests. I’ll leave the deep thoughts and eloquent essays to others. For now, I’ll just say that I enjoyed the three episodes NBC provided for advance viewing, and I cannot wait to start talking about this show with you.

Good Girls premieres Monday, February 26 at 10/9c on NBC.