Good Girls Review: Take Off Your Pants (Season 2 Episode 6)
Rio is at it again on Good Girls Season 2 Episode 6, “Take Off Your Pants,” and Beth is not content with merely being the go-between.
“Take Off Your Pants” is an episode that settles the audience into the new normal. Over the last several episodes there have been a lot of changes, and Good Girls needed this episode to explore what that was like, while continuing to up the stakes.
That’s not to say that this purely an exploratory episode. There’s a good balance of the changing character dynamics and the ongoing plot of where the girls, and the dealership, fit into Rio’s enterprise.
When Rio took back his money and came to the dealership at the end of Good Girls Season 2 Episode 4, “Pick Your Poison,” it was clear that things wouldn’t be smooth sailing from there-on out. “Take Off Your Pants” takes it to another level and escalates the conflict.
While Beth may have been novice when she fell into this life of crime last season, she’s learning and not just about crime. The first half of Good Girls Season 2 has positioned Beth to make business decisions and to continue to grow her business to also include what could leave her liable. She’s not about to leave herself exposed when her name is on the door.
That’s smart thinking, and it really shows when she begins to question Rio. She knows something else is going on and wants her cut. From the interaction with Darren it’s clear that she thought that they were smuggling something more damming than statins and blood pressure meds, but she also knows that she’s taking on risk anyway and needs a cut to make it worthwhile.
In the middle of all these negotions, you have the context of Beth and Rios sexual relationship. Beth and Rio’s tryst in “Pick Your Poison” was the pay off that fans had been waiting for, but things aren’t so simple for this couple, and it likely won’t be as they struggle for ground against each other.
Rio and Beth counterpoints to Beth and Dean who are struggling in their new roles within the home. Beth is now working, but Dean is struggling to balance the kids and housework. Their relationship has always been rocky, and this shift doesn’t help.
There’s seething jealousy, and frustration in each and every line between these two to the point where I have to wonder when Beth would be wiling to say “enough” and walk away.
One thing is clear, this triangle isn’t going to go away. Dean asks a Krav Maga instructor about how to kill someone.
But it isn’t just Beth and Dean’s changing dynamics that are causing drama. At the end of Good Girls Season 2 Episode 5, “Everything Must Go,” Annie told Sadie that she slept with Gregg. It’s still unclear why Annie felt the need to tell her daughter this information, even though Annie says it’s because she wants to start with a clean slate.
The scenes between the car and the sidewalk between Mae Whitman and Izzy Stannard are a very strong sequence that ultimately ends with Annie exherting her parental power over her child, which doesn’t seem to be on brand. It’s yet another reason I wonder why she chose to confess this secret.
It’s noble to want to tell the truth, but the scene where Annie shows her all the stuff in the trunk and asks Sadie to pick a present just severed to underscore all the other secrets that Annie is keeping from ther daughter.
Also struggling for ground are Stan and Ruby who are in Agent Turner’s crosshairs after Mary Pat’s confession. Seeing Turner close in and actually have a presence in Stan and Ruby’s house is nervewracking.
Given that Stan tried to get Ruby to go in and confess on Good Girls Season 2 Episode 1, “I’d Rather Be Crafting,” the reality that all of this could be brought down around them is terrifying. Especially since now, Stan is entangled in everything too.
This leads to the final scene in Agent Turner’s office where Ruby declares the she’ll tell him everything.
It’s easy to understand why Ruby would want to save her family, but she’s selling out her partners. Mary Pat just did the same thing. It hurts more from Ruby because we don’t expect it, but Ruby also has a lot of intel. She could bring everything down. Or, should I say, bring Beth down.
The fact that Agent Turner is now targeting Beth alone isn’t surprising. Like I said, Beth is forming a business sense and she’s looking to make her fair sharefor the work she’s putting in. It’s completley understandable, but it’s also making her a bigger target as she starts becoming the one pulling the strings.
What did you think of this episode of Good Girls? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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Good Girls airs Sundays at 10/9c on NBC.
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Lauren Busser
Lauren Busser is an Associate Editor at Tell-Tale TV. She is a writer of fiction and nonfiction whose work has appeared in Bitch Media, Popshot Quarterly, Brain Mill Press Voices, and The Hartford Courant.