Good Girls Review: Find Your Beach (Season 3 Episode 1)

The girls are ramping up the next chapter of their criminal enterprise on Good Girls Season 3 Episode 1, “Find Your Beach,” and it’s a promising start to the third season. 

I’ve said several times that Good Girls is at its best when Beth, Ruby, and Annie hold onto what’s important to them. That’s what’s happening on this episode mixed with a heaping dose of guilt. 

If you want to keep with the beach metaphor, “Find Your Beach” is a tidal wave that brings up new debris and takes others back out with the tide. 

Good Girls shines when characters take responsibility for their actions. Throughout “Find Your Beach” there’s a sense that the consequences of past actions are weighing heavily on them and with each batch of counterfeit money that fails they begin to wonder more and more if it’s a mistake. 

We meet Beth, Annie, and Ruby struggling. That’s not a state that’s entirely new for these women, in fact, it’s been the theme since episode one, but this time it’s different. They’re their own bosses and they need to find a way to make this idea work. 

This episode is not afraid to ruminate on the implications of getting into counterfeiting, because while Beth may have passed off decent fakes in her kitchen getting it through a scanner is a whole other ballgame. 

It’s a smart move not to jump too far ahead for this season. Seeing the girls struggle to figure out how to produce an ideal and passable batch of money is relatable. When you consider what anyone starting out must have gone through, it fits the narrative,  but there’s secrecy here that requires patience and precision. 

But while launching this enterprise is weighing heavily on their minds, “Find Your Beach” doesn’t let go of the personal side of the narrative. In fact, there is a mirror effect showing similar, but subtle differences to how these characters were when we first met them in the pilot. 

To start, Ruby and Stan are struggling to afford medication for Sara that their insurance won’t pay for. Seeing Ruby rail on the phone trying to appeal to the insurance company is a visceral scene and having it end with the entire department getting shut down feels like a gut-punch.

While Sara is doing okay, there’s an urgency to keep her healthy and that medication is important. Sara’s health is what drives all or Ruby’s decision and the fact that she’s responsible for Stan losing his job with the police department and working security at a strip club just adds to that urgency. 

Ruby’s storyline has always felt extremely relatable, and this adds another perspective to that. 

Annie’s legal trouble is behind her, but she’s dealing with some internal baggage. What went down with Noah at the end of Good Girls Season 2 was truly heartbreaking. I was pulling for Annie to have met someone nice after being strung along by her Gregg for so long, but that was not to be. 

Her conversation with Ben, when he relates to his mother an anecdote about the llamas at the petting zoo, feels like it finally broke through a wall and she’s realizing her true value. 

Then we have the Bolands. Beth and Dean’s marriage seems to have survived but they’re still in hot water with back mortgage payments. Unlike previous seasons, Beth cannot be righteously angry at Dean because Beth’s actions are the reason they’ve ended up here, both underemployed and without the income stream that “supported” their lifestyle.

Watching Beth and Dean on this episode, I remember how often I’ve talked before about how sometimes Good Girls reminds me of the early days of Weeds, and how these characters have avoided being Nancy Botwin oftentimes by keeping their moral center intact.

The more I think about it, that analysis is wrong because there was never a solid foundation for any of these character’s lives. They don’t get into crime to preserve a way of life, but to get themselves out of undesirable situations. 

All of these personal narratives result in the characters being down on themselves. For once, the clock is on them to provide via their illegal activities. 

While seeing our favorite characters down on themselves is hard it is times like this that bring growth. Now that Annie, Beth, and Ruby have a working system of counterfeiting they can’t put that genie back in the bottle.

Turner’s appearance may have disrupted operations and caused them to burn the money in a fit of panic, but it won’t keep them out of the game long.

Especially, not if Rio has anything to say about it.

It would have been a mistake to kill off Manny Montana. His chemistry with Christina Hendricks and the storyline between Beth and Rio provides a strong tension. The fact that Rio has likely eliminated Turner–not saying he’s dead after what happened to Boomer–likely means that he’ll be stirring up trouble in Beth’s life again. 

After all, I cannot imagine he’s happy with her after, shooting him. 

Plus, now that they’ve figured out how to make the fake money, they might be even more indispensable to him depending on how is operation looks. 

In the end, “Find Your Beach” is a promising start to a third outing for this season. 

Stray Thoughts:

• Isaiah Stannard’s performance as Ben has been a joy to watch. While the center of the story might be Ruby, Beth, and Annie, seeing a trans actor get to represent a trans character is so important. 
• That scene with the talking toothbrush was…funny? disturbing? A mix of both? 
• Ruby’s reaction to the stripper who comes to give Stan a gift basket is so well directed. This show has always served Ruby well, and this sequence is just another example of how well Retta can play silent fury, even when enmeshed against comedy.
• Okay, if Turner is dead I’ll probably be happy. While he was a formidable adversary the cat and mouse game was getting a little old. It’s time for a new big bad. With the Girls in charge of the operation, they need to be prey to bigger fish. 
• Jackie Cruz is amazing as Rhea. After seeing her in seven seasons of Orange is the New Black it’s great to see her on-screen again. In just one episode, I am actually starting to wonder how much she knows about Rio’s work. 
• That said I am also seeing parallels between Rhea and Marion. Beth feels guilty about Rio’s death. Annie felt guilty about Boomer’s death. 
• Is Lucy’s work done? Charlyne Yi’s character was a great new addition and her quirks as a graphic designer were intriguing to watch, but I am sincerely hoping she’s not just a one-off now that they have the design they need. I can’t see her taking on a role similar to Mary Pat, but I can’t help but think there’s definitely more she can roped into. Especially if Rio’s back in the picture. Art forgery, maybe?

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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