The Story

A teenage girl gets pregnant and runs off to a small town to start a new life with her baby, the father is “not in the picture”, and the mother and daughter are the best of friends. This mother and daughter trope is nothing new. The 2000s show, ‘Gilmore Girls’, is based on this exact plot. But the new Netflix series, ‘Ginny & Georgia’, couldn’t be more different.

Each hour-long episode is packed with information, whether it be Georgia, the con-artist mother with an interesting past, or Ginny, struggling with teen drama such as boys and friendships, while also figuring out her life as a half-black female who doesn’t know where she belongs.

This show deals with much deeper-rooted issues than ‘Gilmore Girls’, which although a good show, is the most basic you can get with this mother-daughter trope. On the other hand, ‘Ginny & Georgia’ is packed with so many different plot-lines that it is hard to decipher what genre the show fits into.

Although Ginny’s character development is insignificant—she seems to be the same person with the same beliefs from the first episode through the tenth episode, just one who has gone through a great deal more—the more we learn about her the more empathetic the viewer becomes, no matter how miserably she deals with various situations. At some points, it was agonizing as the viewer to sit idly by and watch her make dreadful decisions, but that is the beauty of television.

Georgia, while mischievous and troublesome, is a very enjoyable character to watch, and the way she carries herself through her very different and almost unimaginable life creates for brilliant drama.

Some More Positives

These two main actresses did an impressive job in conveying the emotional turmoil that they as the characters endure and this talent is what causes the viewer to empathize and become attached to the characters.

With an all-female creative team, this show does an admirable job of being female-forward. It shows powerful and independent women. 

Representation in shows is a topic that usually brings about reprimands and complaints. But the number of communities depicted in main roles deserves applause. From an African-American main character, to her Asian-American love-interest, to her LGBTQ+ best friend, to her best friend’s deaf father. Many Netflix shows have received major backlash after the lack of diversity, and I think this show may be a turning point.

A Missed Mark

However, the “Oppression Olympics” between Hunter, the Asian-American love interest, and Ginny, the African-American leading actress, is a part of the show that had me taken aback. Not only did I have unequivocal second-hand embarrassment, and although it is essential that the obstacles that both races endure are brought to attention, I think this method missed the mark. 

Verdict

Director Sarah Lampert has taken the existing teen mother-daughter relationship and completely spun it to appeal to just about every audience, which causes the show to pull you in right from the start for this short, but entertaining binge.