Good Girls Review: Hunting Season (Season 2 Episode 11)

Things are getting really tense on Good Girls Season 2 Episode 11, “Hunting Season.” Rio has started playing some dirty games, including sending Leslie’s body back piece by piece. 

This is so frightening, and I am very surprised the show went there. We probably should have seen it coming, because as much as Good Girls Season 2 Episode 4, “Pick Your Poison,” wanted to show the body going off on its journey to decomposition, did we really think that Rio wouldn’t have ways of finding a body?

We already saw him playing tennis with a prosecutor. His reach must go pretty deep.

As much as the game of mailing each individual piece of Boomer back to Beth is twisted on Rio’s part, it’s equally unsettling in Beth, Ruby, and Annie’s perspectives. While this body could come back on all of them, it is especially scary for Beth.

Christina Hendricks’s performance in these scenes is spectacular. Her performance as she tries to dispose of each piece of bone and tissue down the garbage disposal is visceral and plays really well against the sound mix of bone grinding against the blades.

While this may have been a way to get Beth’s attention and get Beth, Annie, and Ruby back on the payroll for the debt occurred during Good Girls Season 2 Episode 10, “This Land is Your Land,” it’s definitely a pretty intense way to do it, and it’s making me think differently about Beth and Rio’s relationship.

There was never a question about who held the power in their relationship. It’s always been Rio, even when he tried to give Beth the keys to the kingdom on “Pick Your Poison.”

Since I’ve been trying to figure out his game. He’s definitely got a good sense of business acumen and he makes his decisions accordingly, but this feels like the first time he’s resorted to an outright mind game. 

The irony of this is that Dean comes out and asks what Beth sees in him on this episode. I’ve always said that Rio holds some respect for Beth, and I still think he does to a degree. At least, he sees something in her that Dean was neglecting.

Dean’s playing a game of chicken too by serving the divorce papers, and so for the first time in this series, I almost don’t want Beth to be with anyone. 

In contrast to Beth’s love triangle, Ruby and Stan are getting ready to fight the indictment for the pen cap. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Ruby and Stan’s relationship is so solid. Seeing them on screen together is a delight, and watching Ruby make a self-assured decision to use some of the counterfeit bills to pay the lawyer feels pretty empowering.

While Ruby might be taking some risks, it’s also good to see Sarah work through her feelings about her father getting arrested. I do maintain that when Sarah finds out about her mother’s activities that will be even more of a betrayal, especially now that Ruby is using the fake cash to pay for Stan’s lawyer. Sarah’s a smart girl and she’ll eventually put it together. 

Yet, as this is all happening my mind keeps going back to Fine & Frugal and now not only is that store a front for the mob but now apparently someone was paying to store a body in the meat freezer. The worst part of that is that it isn’t even the body they were looking for. 

The final scene with the dog digging up the flower bed and unearthing some dark hair is yet another chilling moment in this episode. There’s so much implied with the realization that they don’t have Boomer’s body but someone else’s.

It raises a lot of questions, but it also means that now the girls could potentially be accessories.

There are two episodes left in Good Girls Season 2, and it still has a lot to answer for. However, it seems to be rocketing towards a conclusion that’s pretty satisfying. 

Stray Thoughts:

• Rio’s name is Christopher! There’s a detail we didn’t have before. 
• Regarding Stan’s lawyer: there really are some people who can be bought aren’t there? Somehow I feel like that’s going to backfire in a big way. 
• The realization that Noah is FBI and that Annie could hand feed him information could work in the girls’ favor, but after this, I really need Annie to meet a decent guy in Season 3. She is trying and she deserves some happiness. 
• Agent Turner should write a book about how to handle a break-up. Shameful ice cream and watching Fault in Our Stars sounds like a great way to deal with your emotions. 
• Speaking of Agent Turner he’s really looking to put Beth away for murder. The reference to “Martha Stewart” time is a good illusion to what he’s talking about and his vengeance seems to fuel him. 

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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