Sweet Magnolias Season 5 Review: The Rabbit Hole of Change, Vulnerability, and Growth
Sweet Magnolias Season 5 quickly falls back into a similar formulaic groove as its previous seasons.
The show’s marketing suggests the Magnolias’ time in New York extends past Sweet Magnolias Season 5 Episode 1, “The Magnolias Take Manhattan,” and there are a few sweet moments between the women.
They shop for Helen’s upcoming wedding, help out Maddie with a book launch, and Dana Sue tries her hand at making New York-style pizza. There are city skyline shots, scenes of the ladies perusing Times Square and, of course, enjoying late-night margaritas on rooftops. It’s a nice reprieve from the easygoing nature of Serenity.
Sweet Magnolia’s charm lies in its small-town setting. However, it wouldn’t hurt to see more of Maddie’s big city life.
New York’s own magic molds itself around the Magnolias. In doing so, a piece of the city returns with them to Serenity.
When the Magnolias visit the Alice in Wonderland statue in Central Park, it serves as a visual depiction of Season 5’s thesis, which is the uncertainty of life. The season even references the precarious nature of falling down a rabbit hole. The repetitiveness is not entirely necessary, but it’s there.
In Season 5, vulnerability is an overarching thematic element. The Magnolias are dealing with the emotional toll of change in their respective ways. However, they still never fail to show up and support one another.
Maddie returns to Serenity after she’s fired from her publishing job in New York. Her arc then revolves around learning how to pivot from the unexpected. For once, her familial life and her relationship with Cal are stable.
We see Maddie venture out into what she wants to achieve career-wise. She’s a determined, loyal, and leads-with-her-heart kind of character. With a little reminder from Dana Sue and Helen, she takes the skills she learned in New York and applies them to Serenity.
Meanwhile, Helen’s arc involves trust, communication, and reassurance. It’s no secret that she’s anxious about her upcoming wedding. As she and Erik face several bumps in the road — mainly due to the pressure he feels to please his family — they thankfully make it out on the other side.
On Sweet Magnolias Season 5 Episode 4, “Swing for the Fences,” there’s an emotional moment where Helen looks into a mirror and begins to cry. Given her experience with heartbreak, her doubts are understandable. We feel for Helen, and Heather Headley delivers a stellar performance.
The mirror itself also reiterates the Alice in Wonderland narrative in a subtle yet effective manner.
Helen is witnessing her own form of a “looking glass” as things in her life seem distorted and disjointed. It isn’t until she has those tough conversations with Erik that her fears subside.
Dana Sue’s storyline is tied to Ronnie, and unfortunately, their relationship is a glaringly sore spot this season.
Ronnie doesn’t make sense as a character in Season 5, and it feels like he’s regressing. Even though it’s the sensible option to let go of his e-bike venture, he’s too stubborn.
He reiterates how he’s not good enough for his family and that he’s letting them down. Frustratingly, he never actually takes any action to show that he’s there for Dana Sue and Annie. His work-life balance is nonexistent.
Honestly, Dana Sue is too generous toward Ronnie. Understandably, she holds a lot of love for him, but she’s also pushing down her true feelings. They don’t come to light until the season finale.
It seems Dana Sue thinks Ronnie will be different this time around, and she wants him to recognize his mistakes without her intervention.
The series doesn’t shy away from portraying relationship issues, and that’s a strength. However, the marital qualms between Dana Sue and Ronnie are drawn out and overdone.
If renewed for Season 6, we’ll have to see (once again) whether their relationship makes it or not.
In a turn of events, on Sweet Magnolias Season 5 Episode 5, “Aim Big,” Dana Sue’s house catches on fire. It doesn’t collapse, but it becomes charred from the inside. The midpoint offers some much-needed momentum in a show where there aren’t huge stakes.
While this plot point is a detriment to Dana Sue and her family, it does elicit one of the best shots in Season 5. Dana Sue and Ronnie return to the wreckage a few times, but it’s on Sweet Magnolias Season 5 Episode 8, “Everyday, Every Day,” where it’s particularly eerie. We can sense the edges of their relationship beginning to crumble and turn to ash.
The lighting is probably the darkest it’s been, which adds to the couple’s unstable nature. After everything, Dana Sue wants to see hope for their relationship. She views the charred remnants of their kitchen as a symbol of potential growth, but also recognizes that it can easily be a graveyard for their love.
Sweet Magnolias loves its dialogue to be awfully poetic, and sometimes it’s a bit overdone. However, it works well here and highlights Dana Sue’s inner turmoil and anxieties.
We also need to talk about Annie. A majority of her screen time goes toward a love triangle-esque situation, and the show should’ve scrapped this storyline.
Both boys have no substance. Their respective conversations with Annie are surface-level at best, and in the end, neither of them contributes to Annie’s character growth.
Since it was announced that Carson Rowland wouldn’t be returning for Season 5, Annie’s arc should have focused on spending time with her own Mini Magnolia crew.
The slow burn between Annie and Ty is too good to replace. Annie is tied down to a romantic plotline in Season 5 just for the sake of it. We could’ve gotten more scenes with her working at Sullivan’s and Friends, exploring her artistic endeavors, and making new friends, as she does with Jessica (Erik’s niece).
What’s more, Ty is still a lingering presence, and Annie isn’t fully over him. The show is clearly leaving room for their rekindling if Rowland is to return for a potential Season 6.
Sweet Magnolias is undoubtedly a feel-good show, but it also isn’t afraid to dig into hardships, unexpected change, and relationship struggles.
The show is a reminder that as long as you surround yourself with loved ones and have a margarita (or two), it’s all going to work out, even if the road to get there is a little uneven.
What did you think of Season 5 of Sweet Magnolias? Share your thoughts in the comments below, and don’t forget to leave your own rating!
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Sweet Magnolias Season 5 is now streaming on Netflix.
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Revati Gelda
Revati Gelda is a writer and journalist whose work focuses on the arts and their importance in today’s society. Her reporting has appeared in Hudson Valley Magazine, her alma mater’s newspaper Pipe Dream, where she served as Arts & Culture Editor, and more. Currently, she is an Assistant Poetry Editor for Decolonial Passage, a literary magazine.