Good Girls Season Finale Review: King (Season 2 Episode 13)
Take a deep breath and pick your jaw up off the floor. Good Girls Season 2 Episode 13, “King,” sends the season out with a bang and has left us more than excited for the third season.
For the first couple of acts of “King,” it felt like we were back at square one. The girls were locked in negotiations with Boomer that felt so much like Good Girls Season 2 Episode 2, “Slow Down, Children at Play.” If it was going to drag on like that, it would have been redundant; essentially trading one taskmaster for another.
Having Beth decide to fall on her sword is the turning point. Seeing Beth harden over the course of the season had me starting to doubt that she could see the bigger picture. The way she closed herself off after Ruby’s betrayal in Good Girls Season 2 Episode 8, “Thelma and Louise,” sticks out in particular.
But it’s good to see that she can still see the light. She knows that this was really all her idea and they are on the path because of her. Turner only wants her, and if she can save them she will.
The scene where she bakes and gets ready to give her confession is so quintessentially Beth. It’s a performance and it reads like one. Christina Hendrick’s expressions and facial features play out beautifully. Nothing about the setup feels over-the-top, it’s very true to the characters, and no time is wasted recounting facts we already know. It eats plot to the point where we finally make it to the last act.
“King” does a good job of setting us up to think that Beth is going to take the fall for Boomer’s murder, but quickly gives us a solution from the most unlikely of sources.
Boomer’s Nana is a sweet woman, and even through Good Girls Season 2 Episode 12, “Jeff,” had me doubting it for a while she came through in the end. The scene where she explains to Leslie that she can’t stop covering for him and that he has to own up to his mistakes is a shining moment in the episode.
But with everything that unfolds it feels like the episode was really trying to get us to that final act.
There’s a certain symbolism in how Rio has turner tied up just like he had Dean tied up at the end of Good Girls Season 1 Episode 10, “Remix.” It just has a different outcome, and the one Beth wished she’d been brave enough to take.
It’s shocking when she shoots Rio, but after he’s behaved like a complete jackass to her over the last couple episodes it was defeinitely starting to feel like their relationship was souring and Beth was realizing something.
The thing about the scene between Turner, Beth, and Rio is that the track has been laid and we knew it was going to come to this eventually.
I said when I reviewed Good Girls Season 2 Episode 4, “Pick Your Poison,” that Rio wasn’t stupid and that he was playing a long game. Beth clearly saw it too knowing that the fact that everything was her name meant that it would come back on her, not him.
She’s assuming all of the risks here, and right now, she’s certainly not getting enough reward.
While I don’t know what this means for Beth and Rio, I do hope that he actually made it to the hospital and that he’ll be making an appearance in Good Girls Season 3. Manny Montana’s performance has been stunning and it would be a shame if Rio was snuffed out as easily as this.
The finale really leaves me excited for Beth’s future. Seeing Beth involved in the dealership this season has given me a sense of her business acumen. I’ve had the suspicion that she’d step out on her own and try to continue this life of crime in some way, and it looks like she’s poised to do that.
Not to mention, she talks about bringing in another mom? A graphic designer? I am all here for watching that get off the ground.
The fact that Beth seems to be in a false sense of security about Rio also leaves more interesting doors open, and plenty of fun surprises when the girls return. I get the feeling we haven’t seen the last of Turner either though.
Stray Thoughts:
- Does anyone else think that we should call Beth and Dean “Team Perogie” after that cute conversation about their first apartment? This is the first moment where I actually forgot that Dean fakes cancer, and saw them behaving like nothing in the past mattered. I kind of enjoyed it.
- Annie and Noah attempting to work out their issues is adorable, but it feels like too little too late. While Noah could be a great guy, the fact that he was undercover, and she doesn’t look like she’s going to give up her life of crime don’t mix well.
- Stan and Ruby continue to be a stable couple on the show. Seeing him get deeper into her criminal dealings was heartbreaking. It makes me wonder how Ruby will handle Beth’s latest plan.
- I really wanted to see Mary Pat get arrested for Jeff’s murder. I am not sure I will be satisfied until that happens. It may become like Mary Pat’s version of faking cancer.
What did you think of this episode of Good Girls? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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Stream all of Good Girls Season 2 on Hulu.
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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.
12 comments
Well, I have to admit I was not only shocked but saddened by Rio’s behavior that led Beth to shoot him. When he called her “bitch” is when I was like “ok, that does it”. And apparently that was it for Beth also because that was precisely when she shot him. I know the show is not all about Rio and Beth but their relationship has just been so hot that I don’t see how even if he survives (which I hope he DOES!) I just don’t see how they could ever get back to where they were. But then again one thing I love so very much about this show is the constant SURPRISES! Things happen all the time that we just don’T see coming!! And it’s just such a pleasure being on this ride with these 3 women!! I absolutely LOVE this show and can’t wait til Season 3!!
Good Girls is really good at both playing with and defying convention, and it does so with some amazing characters that are so relatable. It broke my heart to see Beth come into her own this season and then have that confidence undermined by Rio’s behavior towards her. I desperately wanted them to work out, but when I think about it on paper, I don’t know that they can ride off into the sunset for a happy ending. That’s okay, relationships come in a variety of forms, and maybe seasons from now they can be together. But I also think that Beth deserves respect, and being called a bitch doesn’t qualify. I also hope that Rio is alive because Mandy Montana’s performance is amazing and I love what he does with Rio. I think the writers are smart enough to give us a story that will satisfy but also surprise in the end.
There’s been a big hole in the writing. Why didn’t the girls grab a selfie with Boomer and take it to Turner? Then, dig up the flowerbed and transplant it in Mary Pats yard?? My wife says this has ruined the show for her!
You have a point there Mark. The only reason I could think they may not have taken a selfie is that maybe they were trying not to be tracked by the feds. I kind of want to think they learned a thing or two from when they accidentally buried “Boomer” with his phone. Which now begs another question, which is…HOW DID BOOMER’S PHONE END UP ON JEFF’S BODY?
Quick question , the girls disposed off Jeff’s body! However they find Leslie phone in the pocket of the body with pants , but Leslie was not in the bag and was alive and safe , so how was his phone there ..????????
Anything spooky or weird here ! Something’s just don’t seem to add up !
Very good question!!! I should have thought of that but didn’t
Jeff had a heart attack on the front lawn. Mary Pat covered up the death, but she didn’t murder him.
Hope Mary Pat gets her jist desserts- what a twisted bitch.
Swooning over Mandy Montana (Rio) what a hottie and just a cool dude. Would be awesome if there was one episode that flashbacks to how Rio became who he is- his childhood, his wife/son etc.
Beth drives me nuts with he oversized breasts – somenkne olease tell her that breasts do not sit as high as your armpit!!
Love Ruby- acting so brilliant- love her eye movements
Annie needs her eyebrows waxed BIG time!
Boomer is so annoying I hope he ends up in jail
Beth’s husband is one of my fave actors- he deserves a bigger role, or funnier lines.
I agree that Rio ( MANNY Montana) is sexy as hell. I would love to see more flash backs too, of all of them. As for Christina and her breast, she has some serious support. As she should because she’s definitely top heavy. I will not lie, she’s fine af too and I’m not a lesbian but geesh 👀 Lol! Mae’s eyesbrows does take some getting use to lol. And I just love me some Retta and Mathew Lillard but his character Dean gets on my nerves but I love to see him. Boomer is a fucking idiot and a rapist!
I know I’m late, but I can say this season was great overall. For some reason, I feel the FBI(Turner) and Rio, were working together at the end. Or, was I just seeing and hearing things? Because, I got completely lost, when they sent him to jail and he randomly got out and the FBI want solely looking into him but they were looking at the ladies. Makes you
There is supposedly a means to write in a 500 word or less comment on season 2 finale to let the writers know what we think. Dose anyone know the app or site for this?
Uh…Mary Pat DIDN’T kill Jeff, who died of natural causes. She hid his death. She DID cut him up, but he was already dead. She also did not kill Boomer; she just thought she did.
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