Good Girls Review: Carolyn With a Y (Season 4 Episode 7)

It’s time for secrets to come to light, rifts to form, and for new plans to be put into action on Good Girls Season 4 Episode 7, “Carolyn With a Y.”

In an attempt to take down Rio, the girls offer up Phoebe as a plant and set about training her so that she can pass as a mom from the kid’s school. This scene is the type of comedy we have come to see from Good Girls. Throughout the years this series has been good at the comedic montage. The way that they coach Phoebe to be a mom with all the little details she’ll have to remember is very relatable. 

Likewise, Phoebe is enthusiastic about the chance to go undercover. She embraces the role of the mom and really attempts to embody the identity. She even enjoys showing off the condiments bugs in the dinner. 

The episode ups the ante when Rio shows up and insists they go to Phoebe’s house. The moments where it starts to feel like all their planning has been for naught are some of the most intense moments of the episode. We haven’t really had a moment that builds the anticipation and intensity in a while. These scenes don’t just captivate us, but there is a sense of real danger there. 

Before, if any of our favorite trio went missing, it would be sad, but now there’s also a federal agent involved making the stakes much higher. 

While ultimately, Rio does suss out Phoebe and the Secret Service doesn’t get their man, it’s the first episode where it seemed like they could have gotten him and that is enough to make us wonder where they’re going to go next. 

“Carolyn With a Y” also ends with a moment that makes us question Beth’s allegiance. This seems to be the theme of the episode as a whole but it really helps draw us in. 

This final moment bookends nicely with the start of the episode where everyone is questioning Beth about what they heard on the wire in Good Girls Season 4 Episode 6, “Grandma Loves Grisham.”  

The rift between Annie, Beth, and Ruby starts there, but it doesn’t stop. The tables turn when Ruby continues to help Stan with the fake handbag scheme that his boss roped him into.  It’s understandable that Stan wouldn’t want Beth near the handbag business, because while Ruby’s illegal activities have brought him some good things (mainly Sara’s kidney) it also cost him a job that he loved.

The fact that Ruby is also realizing that maybe she and Beth are on different paths and they may not be as close as they think to each other is an interesting development. These two have been joined together since they were in high school, to see things start to crack over Beth keeping secrets speaks to trust eroding. in their relationship. 

It also feels like we may be sliding into an end for the series soon. The foundation of this show is the friendship these women have, and the way that they’re starting to distrust each other, even subtly, means that that relationship may be fractured. Given that Dean is home and continues to mention Nevada to Beth, it does feel more and more like they’re set to part ways soon. 

It is hard to imagine what this show would look like with Beth, Ruby, and Annie spread out in different corners of the country. While they may make it work, it wouldn’t feel the same. Personally, I wouldn’t be keen on just following Beth and leaving Annie and Ruby’s stories out to pasture, as Weeds did in Season 3. 

“Carolyn with a Y” also gives a little more about where Stan and Ruby stand. They continue to be a solid couple, but it’s looking like Ruby isn’t going to be able to work from both sides of the aisle. This is an intriguing dilemma that we didn’t see coming given how Ruby was insistent that either she or Stan had to be good. Now she has to protect him. 

The shifting dynamics are what make Good Girls a compelling narrative. “Carolyn With a Y” understands this and gives viewers enough to hang onto. However, the trajectory these characters are on could lead to an ultimate heartbreak that I am not sure anyone is prepared for. Time will tell, and we are still early in the season. 

Stray Thoughts:

• Okay, but did Carolyn really blow it if her cover was technically blown by the wire behind a Grisham novel?
• Seeing Annie actually be the one with good finances is a nice reward after four seasons of her feeling terrible in the shadow of Gregg and Nancy.
• Dean buying a hot tub is a sweet gesture. It’s a nice moment and it’s cute to see them together. I am warming up to Dean now, and I never thought I would say that. 

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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