Unwinding a Widow’s Web: A Take on GINNY & GEORGIA Season Three
- elichvar
- Oct 20
- 5 min read
Sarah Lampert, creator
Ginny & Georgia
Netflix / 2021-present / TV-14
Reviewed by Raechel Sigur / October 2025
Checks and Balances: Ginny & Georgia
In the world of streaming and binge-watching, Netflix’s Ginny & Georgia stands out as a poignant, layered drama. Created by Sarah Lampert, Ginny & Georgia is a single-camera drama that traces the complicated bond between a teenage girl and her morally complex mother as they navigate identity, trauma, and the shadows of a tumultuous past in a seemingly idyllic town. This show proficiently incorporates fragmented flashbacks to elevate the plot and drive home these ideas. With two episodes directed by Anya Adams (black-ish and The Good Place), Season One starts off with Georgia, played by Brianne Howey, an outwardly vibrant single mom (who knows how to put the “rizz” in charisma) and her two kids moving to the fictional town of Wellsbury, Massachusetts. Ginny, played by Antonia Gentry, is a scrupulous biracial teen—child of black father Zion and white mother Georgia—struggling to define herself after years of moving from home to home with her mother and brother. Ginny longs for the stability that picture-perfect suburbia promises. However, this façade of stability quickly crumbles as Ginny struggles with self-harm, faces racism in the predominantly white town of Wellsbury, and discovers the mysterious deaths of Georgia’s ex-husbands. At her core, Ginny’s greatest obstacle is her fear of becoming Georgia.
A constant theme throughout each season is Georgia’s embodiment of everything that Ginny hates about her old life before moving to Wellsbury. Georgia is cunning and morally ambiguous, skilled at surviving in a world where justice isn’t always fair. Like Ginny, Georgia comes to believe in the promise of suburban bliss. However, her past quickly catches up with her and leaves her no choice but to fall into old habits. The show hauntingly questions whether one can break the cycle of trauma or if they must repeat the past.
Fight the Prophecy
Season Three takes off on the heels of Season Two’s show-stopping cliffhanger with a premiere that sets a more introspective, character-driven tone. Georgia awaits her trial as the revelation of her past ripples through town. Ginny and Georgia must deal with the consequences of Georgia’s choices. Ginny is no longer just trying to fit in. She is unraveling. The knowledge of Georgia’s past, especially the murders she committed “for love,” pushes Ginny into a moral crisis that feels deeply personal. I found myself wondering if morality is as simple as right and wrong. Ginny’s therapy scenes become some of the most powerful moments this season. To me, these moments aren’t just plot devices. They are windows into what it means to be young, Black, and mentally unwell in a space that often refuses to recognize any of these things. Her self-harm storyline is painful to watch, but necessary. It forced me as a viewer to acknowledge that trauma doesn’t always manifest in big, cinematic outbursts. Sometimes, it simmers under the surface until it finds the quietest way to scream.
Breaking Cycles
There are many moments throughout the series where Ginny turns to her father, Zion, played by Nathan Mitchell, to reconnect with the other half of her identity, which her mother doesn't understand. In previous seasons, Zion has stood as a pillar for Ginny’s self-discovery. When Ginny’s English teacher singles her out as the only black student in AP English, Zion responds to these microaggressions in the Season Two episode titled “Latkes Are Lit” by telling Ginny, “When the system isn’t built for you, you’re faced with two options. You can fix it brick by brick or you can say not today and protect yourself for the bigger battles to come.” This advice helps Ginny navigate the subtle, damaging forms of modern racism and reminds her that there is no single right way to respond.
Ginny’s mother, Georgia, on the other hand, is like a magician with a secret. She spins life in Wellsbury as if it’s a fairy tale while the sewage of her past rots beneath it. She masks her manipulation with savvy quips and Southern charm. In arguably her strongest season yet, Brianne Howey captures the complexities of Georgia's character, skillfully reflecting the contradiction of a woman doing wrong for what she believes are the right reasons.
There are a few notable shifts in the supporting cast as well. Zion, once a dependable grounding force, feels disappointingly underwritten in Season Three. While he’s physically present, his emotional reliability wanes. As a fan of Zion as a character, I would have loved to see more moments that express his nuance and internal turmoil to prepare the audience for such a dramatic shift. Ginny’s on-and-off boyfriend, Marcus, played by Felix Mallard, also returns this season as Ginny’s emotional foil. His own arc around mental health subtly recedes this season in favor of his twin sister Maxine, played by Sara Waisglass, and Ginny’s boss, Joe, played by Raymond Ablack. Their roles expand this season with new obstacles and fresh emotional stakes.
Full Circle
Season Three is about reckoning. The season acts as a mirror, forcing each character to confront what they’ve been avoiding. Ginny actively questions the foundation of who she is and who she wants to be. Ginny draws clearer lines between herself and her mother, but even then, the fear of becoming Georgia lingers like a shadow. The farther she runs from Georgia, the closer her choices align with her mother’s. This season, Ginny reclaims her voice, both in handling her relationships and in tackling issues head-on with less angst and more clarity. There is a newfound fire in her.
I see this reflected in Georgia’s character as well. In stark contrast to how she comes across in the first two seasons, Georgia starts to define herself not just by what she is fighting against, but what she is fighting for: stability, self-respect, and truth. For both Ginny and Georgia, the friendships are messier, the love more complicated. But through it all, Ginny finally seems to grasp that her story could diverge from her mother’s. Georgia finally comes to accept her past. That realization is a freedom. Season Three hits a few bumps with character consistency. However, it reaffirms that breaking generational cycles isn’t a single act. It’s a lifetime of choices, stumbles, and second tries.
Growth is Messy
In the first three seasons, Ginny & Georgia goes beyond surface drama to explore identity, trauma, and the weight of generational cycles. Through Ginny’s search for self and Georgia’s survival tactics, the show reveals how deeply the past can shape the present. By Season Three, both characters finally begin to confront who they are and who they want to become. As a mixed girl, it’s refreshing and powerful for me to see a story onscreen that reflects the complexity of navigating two cultures, especially in a world that often tries to simplify identity. In the end, Ginny & Georgia reminds us that growth is messy, but it’s possible. Fortunately, the next season is greenlit and set to drop in Spring of 2026! I look forward to seeing how the show will embrace the chaos of ever-evolving, contradictory, raw characters that reflect the complicated reality of being human.
Raechel Sigur is an MFA student at the Naslund-Mann Graduate School of Writing at Spalding University with deep roots to her Creole heritage in New Orleans, Louisiana. She has a BA in Theatre and Performance Studies from Kennesaw State University and a background in screenwriting, young-adult fiction, directing, and scenic design. Her goal as a writer/artist is to connect with and reveal the depths of the human soul that are often muted or shelved away.