There’s a lot of TV shows out there which use feminism and women’s empowerment as a gimmick rather than have it flow naturally through the story (I’m looking at you, Jessica Jones Series 2), then there’s TV shows where women’s empowerment and strength is a theme and worked organically into the script and story. Good Girls is that kind of show.

The show follows three women in different financial and family situations after they rob a grocery store. These women, Beth, Ruby, and Annie, are all mothers in different circumstances needing money for different reasons, like medical care, paying off debt, and trying to survive as a single parent. The robbery goes awry when they realise they’ve stolen a larger amount of money than intended and that the grocery store is a front for something darker, and they then need to return the money they’ve spent to dangerous people.

The show has a funny script and the talents of the main actresses bring this show to life. With the casting of Christina Hendricks, Retta, and Mae Whitman, the show already draws a lot of viewers in as these are pretty well-known actresses. Under the surface of the show is the representation of what it means to be strong. Good Girls doesn’t make being strong physically and being able to use your fists the only meaning of the word, it makes the meaning instead that these women can survive every day in difficult circumstances and still get through and be there for their children. All these women are emotionally vulnerable and care deeply for their families, so we can feel their need to protect them. Retta’s character is openly emotional, crying with happiness and screaming for the doctors attention when she’s ignored. She’s not the stereotypical Sassy Black Woman and instead is multidimensional, as are all the women. She can’t lie to her husband but she knows how desperate they are to keep her daughter healthy with a very expensive drug, so throughout the series, we see her constantly conflicted, preparing to die for her family.

Annie (Whitman) does her best to keep everyone happy. She acts indulgently and she’s scatterbrained but she does everything with humour. She faces a man who tried to rape her throughout the series and openly refers to him and what he is and what he almost did to her, both to his face and to anyone who needs to know. She doesn’t flinch and she doesn’t panic, she makes eye contact with him and calls him out. She also fiercely protects her daughter’s right to express her gender and tries her best to juggle what life is throwing at her, like the father of her daughter suing her for custody.

Hendricks’ character, Beth, breaks the most stereotypes of them all. Beth is a stay-at-home mum who hasn’t worked since high school, living in a middle-class home but from the first episode, we see she’s so much more than someone who raises children. In the first episode, we see her power show, sick of being pushed around by men. She protects her sister, Annie, she talks her way out of situations, and she manages to juggle keeping her home life balanced and dealing with gangsters to the point that they start listening to her. We see her develop from housewife to this driven, determined woman who keeps Ruby and Annie calm and always gives them some hope and a way out of difficult situations.

All these characters have flaws, being impulsive, indulgent, and emotional, but these are played to the characters’ strengths. Each of the women have ways of dealing with the situations they find themselves in, and they each take it in turns to deal with the gangsters hunting them. Ruby uses empathy and plays on their emotions, Annie uses her wit, and Beth uses her cunning to be able to negotiate. Even the female characters in the background come into their own. This show breaks so many tropes by never having a woman suffering to further a man’s development, never relying on men to be able to get something done, and always leaning on the other women for support.

There needs to be more shows like this. Not only are they incredibly entertaining and funny, but they’re also important, showing that there’s different ways to be strong and that women can be written well and lead the show without being bland or boring.

Creator: Jenna Bans
Stars: Christina Hendricks, Retta, Mae Whitman
Lauren Jones
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