All The Lingering Questions We Desperately Need A Fifth Season Of ‘Good Girls’ To Answer
Netflix, are you really going to let my girl Annie go out like that?!
The fourth and final season of NBC’s Good Girls has finally landed on Netflix, a whole two months after the finale premiered in the US.
Continuing the story of three suburban mums who land themselves in a life of crime after they try to rob a supermarket, Beth Boland (Christina Hendricks), Annie Marks (Mae Whitman), and Ruby Hill (Retta) struggle with balancing making the Secret Service, Rio (Manny Montana) and their families happy throughout season 4.
— Warning: Spoilers ahead. —
During Season 4, the mums hatch a number of schemes to try and escape the clutches of Rio and his counterfeit money business, including hiring a hitman and working with Secret Service to secure witness protection deals. But at the end of the season, Beth comes to realise that she doesn’t want to leave the business she’s discovered she’s so good at or sell out Rio in the process.
However, this realisation comes at a steep cost. While Season 4 ended with Beth on top as Rio’s new “boss”, Annie takes the fall for a murder she never committed, Dean (Matthew Lillard) decides to leaves Beth, and Ruby is forced to move away with her family after the risk of losing them becomes too much.
Sadly, even though fans are invested in the series and desperate to know what the future holds for our favourite three Michigan mums, Good Girls still hasn’t been renewed for a fifth season.
The math #isnt #adding #up #goodgirls https://t.co/Xf6LLruKX4
— mae whitman (@maebirdwing) September 3, 2021
Despite the leading actors agreeing to take pay cuts to close out their unfinished storylines in a final shortened season, NBC still canceled the program. And even though Good Girls topped the Nielsen weekly streaming chart while airing on NBC and the show sits pretty on Top 10 lists across the world, Netflix still hasn’t renewed the beloved comedy.
Now, as a result of the program not being renewed for one final season and half of the finale being filled with a questionable dream sequence, the series now feels unfinished with many questions left unanswered leaving fans lost, unsatisfied and confused.
So let’s breakdown all the burning questions we need answered by one more season of Good Girls:
#1. Is Beth Really Going To Let Annie Take The Fall?
The biggest shock of the series finale was watching Annie get taken away in cuffs after being framed for murdering Lucy and shooting Beth.
As payback for exposing his money laundering scam, Nick hit Beth “where it hurts” by having Mick shoot her in the shoulder and leave the weapon at the scene. What Beth didn’t realise, however, is that this was the gun used to shoot Lucy, which originally had her prints on it.
But all the way back in Episode 1 of Season 4, while feeling pretty down about her future prospects, Annie told Mick “it really shouldn’t be her prints on that gun” because Beth is “a really good mum”. While it was never shown, we now know that Beth’s prints were replaced as per Annie’s request.
In a final season, I’m sure the girls and Rio would’ve found a way to get Annie out of the charges, which is why it’s so painful to end the series on such a low note for a character who was trying to better herself — especially when Beth, an undoubtedly bad person, really got the only happy ending of the series.
#2. And Is Kevin Just Expected To Take Care Of Ben Now?
Before she was arrested, Annie won Kevin back by buying an RV so that they could run away to Nevada with Ben.
But if Annie spent all her money on the camper, one can assume that there would be no way to pay for rent anymore. And, with Kevin being homeless and jobless, it’s not like he can afford to cover the rent either. So, does this mean he is just expected to take Ben to Nevada in the RV and be his legal guardian now?
Or are Kevin and Ben meant to stay in Michigan together, and somehow find a way to make rent so that Ben can stay at Saint Anne’s as the financial aid is in Kevin’s name? After all, it’s not exactly like Greg and Nancy are in a financial position to help out with tuition anymore.
Whatever the outcome, the whole giving your son to a homeless man — who you sleep with but refuse to call your boyfriend — while you head off to jail, is a little strange.
#3. Will Rio Actually Let Beth Be His Boss?
With Rio taking down Nick and Beth securing her position in the city council, Beth is now technically Rio’s boss because she is responsible for laundering the money through council projects.
But are the cops not going to be on high alert for corruption after Nick was literally just caught doing the exact same thing in a massive sting? Especially when the Secret Service is well aware that Beth and Rio are criminals themselves?
Also, Rio doesn’t have a counterfeiting business without the fake money that Beth, Annie, and Ruby make together. But with Annie in prison and Ruby presumably fleeing to be with her family in Nevada, how is Beth expected to continue printing money alone while also doing ~councilwoman~ business?
#4. And What Will The Blowback Be From Rio’s Family?
When Beth visited Rio’s family, they seemed to be a tight-knit group. So are we really meant to assume that Beth and Rio wouldn’t get in trouble for sending the family’s golden child to prison?
While Nick went to prison to protect his grandmother, whose name was written all over the dodgy companies the councilman used, the ‘Grandma Loves Grisham’ episode did give the vibe that the family knew more about Nick and Rio’s “line of work” than they were letting on.
After all, when Beth asked why she had been invited to the family BBQ, Rio said that the family had to find out if she was “good enough… for business” and when Beth asked about the family photos in the house, Rio said family and business were the “same thing”.
#5. What’s Going To Happen With Vance?
First things first, Vance fucking sucks.
Yes, he works a sucky job and his wife and kid are terrible, but Vance blackmailing everyone on this damn show with this men’s skincare MLM business is horrifying.
Vance preyed on Dean when he was most vulnerable and leveraged his darkest secrets to get ahead. He has now forced Stan and Dean to take on a year of skincare and the new grooming line, and even threatened to expose Beth if she didn’t push his products for conventions and hotels. But even when Stan and Dean threatened Vance and told him to stop, it only made him stronger.
He simply knows way too much to stay alive in a new season. Vance even said so himself during the series finale: The only way to shut him up is by killing him. So surely Rio and Mick could just take Vance out if he’s threatening to expose their counterfeiting business, right? But I guess we’ll never have the satisfaction of watching him die now if the series ends now.
#6. Will Dean Actually Leave Beth For Good?
During the series finale, Dean finally told Beth he was done — and she even helped him pack his things.
But where the hell is Dean going to go? He famously is bound by his ankle bracelet that doesn’t even let him bike ride around the block with his MLM buddies. Dean is also still a stay-at-home dad on house arrest with no job, so even if he were going to check into a hotel how would he afford it?
I don’t exactly blame him for leaving Beth, though. While Beth initially did rob the grocery store to bail out Dean’s debt, she has ruined his life with crime after crime, and literally just got fingered by Rio in his grandma’s bedroom. But logistically, Dean being the one to pack up and leave the house instead of Beth just makes zero sense.
#7. What Happens With All The Other Charges?
The FBI agents, Pheobe and Dave, are just so bad at their jobs. I mean, Beth was literally able to steal back her counterfeit money by just pretending to be Pheobe’s friend and having a drink with her.
In the end, the only way they were able to charge anyone with anything was by having Beth illegally secure a bunch of information. But while Nick was put away for money laundering and Annie was arrested for Lucy’s murder, there are a number of outstanding crimes that were never resolved.
They know Beth prints fake money but refuse to arrest her for that. Dean’s whole arrest and money laundering charges were never resolved. They never got Rio on any of the many crimes he committed. They just suck at their jobs.
#8. How Will Ruby Afford To Live In Nevada?
Obviously in an ideal world, Ruby follows Stan and the kids to start a new life free of crime, stress, and Beth — and that’s what Ruby appeared to do by packing her bags at the end of the finale. But that’s just not realistic.
Stan, as much as he hates Beth and blames her for everything, fails to realise is that everything he currently has is because of Beth. Without all the crime, his daughter wouldn’t have her new kidney and would probably be dead, and their son wouldn’t be able to attend the very expensive school he attends.
So how would Ruby and Stan start a new life in Nevada without Beth and the illegal activities that have served them so well? Like the dream sequence showed, what happens when Sara’s body starts rejecting her kidney or she needs more medication? They’ll probably have to dip back into crime again, that’s what.
#9. Why Did Annie Even Let The Guy Take Her Picture?
If Annie didn’t take a photo with her “date”, who literally worked at Nick’s office, no one would’ve known they stole information from the locked cabinets.
Annie would’ve never been arrested. Beth would have never been shot. And Ruby wouldn’t feel so torn about leaving Michigan. Honestly, these women are so bad at crime, maybe it’s good that their journey is over now.
#10. And, Most Importantly, What The Hell Are We Meant To Do Without Brio Now?
How are we meant to function without seeing the ungodly sexual tension between Rio and Beth now that Dean is out of the way?!
Netflix, please renew this masterpiece. I’m begging you.
I'm sorry but..what? are we suppose to just accept this and move on #GoodGirls pic.twitter.com/abyJxU4sDz
— Rose (@WaterDelightful) July 23, 2021
You can stream all four season of Good Girls on Netflix now.
Michelle Rennex is a senior writer at Junkee.