In its first two seasons, NBC's Good Girls really made you feel the plight of Beth (Christina Hendricks), her sister Annie (Mae Whitman), and their friend Ruby (Retta) as three moms who turned to crime to feed their families. They were victims of circumstance and a system based on patriarchal values that kept women down in the business world, so they decided to fight back.
They became statements of feminism, albeit in the criminal underworld as mystery women who started by laundering and racketeering before running afoul of Rio (Manny Montana), a criminal who didn't like them encroaching on his turf. However, Season 3 takes a sharp turn into darker territory and we can clearly see the ladies are no longer the victims, it's actually their husbands.
Beth's case stands out most with Dean (Matthew Lillard), a former car salesman who became a mogul. However, thanks to bad financial decisions and constant cheating, he placed the family in a hole Beth had to dig them out of. Dean, though, redeemed himself and turned his life around in Season 2 as a stay-at-home dad, initially unaware of Beth's shenanigans working for Rio. But as he got clean, Beth descended more and more into the dark underworld, loving crime and letting power go to her head, until her swelling ego let him know who's the boss.
She cheated on him with Rio as well, and she kept coming up with dangerous schemes to make more money when they could have gotten out. Eventually, the FBI came knocking on her doorstep but she hasn't learned -- she's addicted to the game, which is unfortunate because she's endangered her entire family. Rio even shot Dean to instill fear into Beth during a mini-rebellion and since he survived, he's made the U-turn as he can't trust her to make the right choice for their kids. Now, Dean's up all night, on the lookout as Beth's new business of counterfeiting has shady criminals coming to her home and workplace.
He even bought a gun as he knows things are in bad shape. Sure, he deserved karma early on but now he's a better man. What makes it heartbreaking is this season, just when they reconciled, Beth played Dean, trying to get him to impregnate her, not out of love -- but so she could make Rio think it's his so he wouldn't kill her. While Dean's no saint, he doesn't deserve this. The fact he knows his children could be kidnapped anytime is driving him crazy, and as he sells hot-tubs, rebuffs the advances of women, he's wondering if Beth's worth it or if she'll embark on the right path. Clearly, Beth doesn't want to join him, though, and with Rio back after Beth thought she shot the goon to death, tensions are escalating.
Ruby's husband Stan (Reno Wilson) also has it tough because he was genuinely a good man from day one. As a cop, Ruby couldn't let him know what they were doing but when they were on the cusp of getting busted by the FBI, Stan was let in and he actually doctored evidence for the women. He eventually got booted off the force but after a recent investigation, they asked him back. Still, it kills Stan to know what the ladies are up to and he just can't take the job in good conscience. He'd feel like a hypocrite so he refuses the occupation he loves and dreamed of since being a kid.
Stan also catches his daughter stealing a valuable pen, and he and Ruby start bickering because he knows she's rubbing off on the girl. It's not as turbulent as Beth and Dean, but it's still hard watching Stan work at a strip joint to make money, all while covering for Ruby. More so, he knows their girl knows what Ruby is and he can't defend his wife anymore. Their greed is incurring major emotional debt and the husbands are the ones sacrificing to pay off this hefty price. Dean has to worry about kids finding his weapon while Stan has to consider the fact someday he'd have to let his kids know he's an accomplice. And the scary thing is even if Rio's taken off the table, both husbands don't trust the women to quit their get-rich-quick schemes.
Good Girls stars Christina Hendricks, Mae Whitman, Retta, Matthew Lillard, Reno Wilson and Manny Montana. Season 3 airs Sundays at 10 p.m. ET/PT on NBC.