Summary
No show can ever replace Gilmore Girls, but Ginny & Georgia may be the closest it gets to bring a new but similar story.
This review of Netflix series Ginny & Georgia season 1 does not contain any spoilers. The drama will be released on February 24, 2021.
Okay, brace yourselves — one of the opening gambits in Ginny & Georgia is “we are like the Gilmore Girls, but with bigger boobs”. It’s a massive claim, stipulating that this story will be a revamped version of the mentioned series. In fact, it’s audacious. Are they really going to recreate a similar scenario? The same chemistry? The moments of wonderful mother/daughter conversations? It’s a difficult feat.
But what the series does not try to do is replicate its predecessor beat for beat. That would be absurd. This is an alternative, fresh take on Gilmore Girls. It’s a welcome, wild and dark remake — a modern reimagining.
If you are an avid fan of Lorelai and Rory and the nice, warm (but nosey) community they live in, then Netflix’s Ginny & Georgia will be a nostalgic trip down memory lane with its subtle similarities and moments like “Ah, that’s the new Luke Dane”. You will feel like a giddy kid who gets strangely excited when you learn that the town has a mayor.
But Ginny and Georgia are uniquely different characters. They are like a wild west version of their predecessors. Georgia is an out-of-town girl who constantly finds herself running away from her mounting problems — she’s rogue, engaging, sexy, and has a whiff of criminal record about her. Meanwhile, Ginny struggles with her race & identity, is desperate for friends, and has an urge to nest with a social group. You can tell Ginny and Georgia love each other wholeheartedly, but they have red flag differences, despite being extremely similar. Lorelai and Rory basked in privilege but struggled to apprehend it, while Ginny and Georgia have no idea what a settled, pre-determined life is, and they find themselves attempting to adapt in a privileged area of Massachusetts.
There are plenty of conversations, plenty of plot points to attach to, and some highly engaging characters. Ginny & Georgia season 1 naturally escalates with each chapter passing until it reaches an epic, drama-filled finale. But what’s welcoming about the story is that you idly watch it pass you by as you drink in the fast-paced conversations and the everyday real-life problems. This may be a darker version of another concept, but it still works in its dialogue-filled approach.
Brianne Howey and Antonia Gentry must be applauded for selling the mother/daughter relationship to a tee. They’ve evidently researched their characters and attempted to bring a likeness with each other. There are moments where Georgia and Ginny sit in a car together and sigh at the same time or say the same sentences simultaneously — my only criticism is that there needs to be more of this if Netflix commissions a second season.
The growing darkness to the story brings an enticing twist; Georgia has a reckless, broken-home past that makes the “nice town” story feel secondary. It makes the audience feel that this could be over for the characters, as a dark cloud hangs over them.
No show can ever replace Gilmore Girls, but Ginny & Georgia may be the closest it gets to bring a new but similar story.
