Good Girls Review: Special Sauce (Season 1 Episode 7)
When Good Girls Season 1 Episode 7, “Special Sauce” begins, Ruby, Annie, and Beth are enjoying their newfound wealth.
Their happy times are cut short though because a crisis comes bursting through Beth’s front door.
While past obstacles have been tied to their lack of criminal experience, the problem on this episode is something a bit new — and very interesting because it taps into the reason Rio agrees to work with three suburban mothers.
The trio meets with new employee Mary Pat, who isn’t actually cleaning the money, to fix the problem before Rio gets involved and inadvertently reveal their new business is very shady.
Quick sidebar: It’s amazing to have Alison Tolman as Mary Pat. She was incredible on Fargo and is just a fantastic actress. Definitely an exciting choice for someone to throw a wrench in the plans of the main trio of Good Girls.
The brilliance of Mary is that she taps into the same skills Beth uses to convince Rio to let them clean the counterfeit currency. It’s all about the knowledge of a resident of the suburbs being applied to crime.
Whereas Beth made a case for how unassuming they’d be buying and returning items, Mary threatens to call the Better Business Bureau before the police. Good Girls is very good about reminding us all who these characters are. That is right before they rob a bank or, in this case, extort your bosses.
Now, Beth and the others have to pay Mary off in addition to the rest of the fires their criminal lives have set.
The Mary situation also brings back that point that their expansion was a terrible idea. Vetting, vetting, vetting. How were these people chosen? And if there was a process the trio put in place, was it one that would have flagged Mary as problematic.
After all, that is the big problem. These three cannot put out fires ahead of time because they don’t know what questions to ask.
Yes, they can pick a great shopper, but how do you decide who would make an unsuspecting accomplice? Or even an actual criminal partner?
The introduction of Mary also bring something I’ve been waiting for: a discussion about Beth’s behavior. Annie has always been down for entering a life of crime, but since Beth agreed she’s been doubling, and tripling, down on it. She enjoys it.
Finally, Ruby brings it up to here and lashes out about how Beth got them into this. Ruby wanted out and Beth asked for more money. And, now the FBI has entered the fray and Mary has them in a bind. It’s a mess.
What I don’t like is that Good Girls glossed over the rest of Beth’s actions. The conversation was the perfect time to discuss how much Beth seems to be enjoying this new life.
And, that before they asked for more money she went rogued and asked Rio for more work.
That ended with a bloody stranger in her daughter’s bed and for whatever reason that never finds its way into the conversation.
Good Girls should do more exploration of the central trio’s motivations. The initial need for money made sense at first, but the decisions they are making need to be mined too. As the danger increases and problems stack up, what keeps them in this new life?
While we are unaware of any changes for Ruby and Annie, we do see how much Beth is loving this new life. The way she smiles while bragging to her husband and even throws money at him.
Or when she gets smart with Rio, a dangerous criminal. Her enjoyment of this new life is coming through loud and clear.
She better get ready for more problems though because some big ones headed her way. Ruby’s husband is on a task force with the FBI agent after Rio.
An FBI agent who happens to have that man Beth brought into her home as an informant. Seems things can only get worse from here.
What did you think of this episode of Good Girls? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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Good Girls airs Mondays at 10/9c on NBC.
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Alamin Yohannes
Alamin is an aspiring writer, social media editor, and television enthusiast. While he has been a TV fan since the days of Martin, Living Single, and Buffy The Vampire Slayer, the introduction of Netflix and a rewatch of Grey's Anatomy kick things into high gear. One of his life goals is to find a Cul-de-Sac crew of his own and he'll never stop hoping for "Happy Endings" to return. Alamin may not love every television show, but he'll definitely catch any new show out. You can also usually find him talking about whatever he's currently watching on Twitter.