Good Girls Review: This Land Is Your Land (Season 2 Episode 10)
It’s hard to go back to the status quo. That’s exactly what Beth’s facing on Good Girls Season 2 Episode 10, “This Land Is Your Land,” as she preps for the fall festival; but things can’t be the same.
The choice to bookend this episode with a 12-Step Meeting is interesting especially the decision to show her absence at the end of the episode.
Doing so frames Beth’s behavior as an addiction, and it can very well be seen that way. Some of the camera work in this episode slows down letting Beth be in the moment as she steals something tiny, and proves that for Beth, it wasn’t just about the money but the rush.
Beth has changed. The mundane task of planning a fall festival for the school isn’t cutting it for Beth anymore. The fact that she and the other moms are talking about balloon colors and paper plate motifs feels so trivial compared to the work she was doing at the dealership.
It comes to a head when we see her baking for the festival and her deserts aren’t even put out because they were nervous about a kid who doesn’t like nuts and gluten concerns? Allergies and food sensitivities are serious, but during the planning, the other moms had every chance to push back against her menu and plan.
They didn’t.
“This Land is Your Land” shows us a Beth that is no longer happy with the way things are. It isn’t about being challenged or her ideas not being heard, instead, this time it’s about what will give her an adrenaline rush and what excites her.
Actual book club doesn’t do that.
As someone who bakes and has spent an evening doing things like pressing the tines of fork into the edges of individual Scottish shortbread cookies, I feel Beth’s frustration in these scenes.
She was a very involved mom before she got wrapped up in Rio’s business, but finding that her own peers can’t respect her enough to come to her with their concerns is just another instance of agency being taken away.
Watching Beth throw all the baked goods into the trash and down the garbage disposal is a visceral moment that, I believe, is going to serve to drive her back to Rio in more ways than one.
I will continue to maintain that Rio respects Beth. Even if it’s mystifying sometimes he always believes in her and pushes her in new directions. That’s something that she doesn’t get with Dean, and their return to the way things were just showcased that. She’s back to being a housewife, and he is going back to running the business.
The fact that Rio’s the one who tells her that the FBI is coming for the dealership indicates that he cares for her.
I know Rio has a stake in this too, but we also saw that he seems to have a pretty connected lawyer earlier in the season, and he has other business interests. Surely, it’s a lot worse for Beth if the dealership goes down than it is for him, but this means he’s not willing to cut his loses. He wants Beth to stick around.
Speaking of the dealership. Noah makes a move with Turner to attempt to seize the books, and Annie is catching on that her boyfriend isn’t who he appears.
We don’t actually see what happens at the end of Good Girls Season 2 Episode 9, “One Last Time,” when Noah makes up a story about embezzling, but it’s safe to say that Annie told him at least something about their “extracurriculars.” It’s the only way it makes sense for the FBI to have known about the operation.
As fun as it was to see Dean and Beth dodge the FBI like that, it also makes me angry every time I see Noah.
The worst part is, it’s not even that he’s an undercover agent. It’s the fact that Annie cannot seem to win in the game of love at all. The way Noah breezes into work the next morning after attempting to bust the dealership is so unsettling, and I cannot wait to see how Annie deals with this.
Ruby is also dealing with some fallout on “This Land is Your Land.” Sarah has started to question morals after finding out her dad broke the law, and it’s not going well for Ruby.
I’ve talked a little bit before about how Ruby’s situation differed from both Beth and Annie’s on Good Girls Season 1 because it didn’t have to do with a romantic partner. Ruby’s cause of financial distress, was Sarah’s medical treatment and she’s fought hard to keep her family together.
Her interaction with the woman in the nursing home who asks her what her secret is provides validation that Ruby is a good mom, but also makes Ruby take a good look at her morality. Deciding to leave the pills behind feels on brand with keeping in touch with their moral compass.
Ruby’s cold feet just shows that she wants to be a good person, and set a good example for her children.
While it’s hard to watch Sarah and Ruby’s relationship start to splinter, we have to remember that right now, Sarah only knows about the pen cap. This is just the tip of the iceberg, and I still think that if, or when, Sarah finds out about her mother’s activities the fallout is going to be huge.
And Sarah seems like a pretty smart kid, so I have to bet that she’ll put some of the pieces together.
It’s interesting how Ruby and Sarah’s relationship contrasts with Sadie and Annie. While Sarah is realizing that her parents aren’t perfect, Sadie realized it a long time ago and even says to Annie that he knows what she’s dealing with when it comes to his mom.
“This Land is Your Land” is a transitory episode that is going to propel us into the next act. It’s needed and establishes some character motivations, but there are still several pieces to fall into place before this season ends.
Stray Thoughts:
- Seeing Annie be so supportive of Sadie’s transition is a great story that I really hope is explored more in the coming episodes. It’s actually kind of interesting that now Annie is sort of in Ruby’s shoes, where she’s looking for ways to provide Sadie with the medicine she needs.
- I give Ruby props for pushing Stan to get up off the couch. I am curious about who his lawyer will be though.
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.
4 comments
The old lady in the nursing home that talks to Ruby is she the mom in the Cosby Show? Phylicia Rashad ?
Did ruby keep the money from the trip to Canada instead of throwing it away like she said? Isn’t that money she used for Stan’s high dollar lawyer?
No, the money she used to pay the lawyer was the counterfeit that Rio gave them, I think.
Because Beth handed out Rio’s latest counterfeit drop to them after that operation failed.
What is the name of the book for book club in This Land is Made for you and Me? Something about an accident? So many real references that I am sure it is a real book.
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