Summary
The ending of Season 1 brings a whole universe of drama that will please fans — “The Biggest Betrayal Since Jordyn and Kylie” gives the series one last convincing lurch to catapult a second season, and we wouldn’t be surprised if it were commissioned sooner rather than later.
This recap of Netflix’s Ginny & Georgia season 1, episode 10, “The Biggest Betrayal Since Jordyn and Kylie” — the ending explained — contains spoilers.
Fireworks, people, fireworks. How the finale managed to fit all that drama into one hour is nothing short of a miracle, but it somehow worked. We want more.
The finale starts with Georgia narrating, stating that we live in a man’s world, meaning women will always be moving forward from a backward step. She wonders how one climbs the ladders of a rigged system, and she has one solution — adapt. It then flits to a photoshoot of Paul and Georgia’s family; they are preparing for the election campaign’s final days — they are promoting their engagement. Meanwhile, the private investigator shows up, which makes Georgia zone out. The polls are open, but Georgia is already planning the celebrations. It’s all calm at the start of “The Biggest Betrayal Since Jordyn and Kylie”.
Cynthia accuses Georgia of embezzlement
We really thought Cynthia had Georgia figured out for episode 10…
Cynthia turns up and wants to talk to Nick and Paul. She tries accusing Georgia of embezzlement, but Nick says that the books are balanced. Georgia acts innocently and states she only goes to the bank like everyone else. Cynthia looks crazy in front of everyone else. Paul apologizes to her for what happened. Nick approaches Georgia privately and tells her that the exact amount to balance the books was only deposited that morning — he knows something is wrong.
No-one will talk to Ginny
After the last episode’s events, Ginny is in a lot of trouble — her world collapses in the finale, and it’s sad to see.
At school the next day, Maxine and the others ignore Ginny. They know about her and Marcus. She tries to talk to Max in class, but she continues to ignore her. The teacher talks about the “N” word and says it can be an upsetting word and ends it with “right, Ginny?”. Overwhelmed by Max ignoring her and the teacher’s insensitive and quite racist discussion on the “N” word, Ginny heads into the bathroom, where she jumps into Bracia. They relate over the English teacher and believe he is the guy from Get Out. Bracia talks about how she can’t modify the same way Ginny can due to her darker skin color. I think race and identity in this story are important, but it doesn’t land or feel effective between Ginny and Bracia.
Two boys love her in 24 hours
At work, Ginny asks Samantha if she’s heard any rumors. Hunter then walks in and tells her he doesn’t want them to both end their relationship and says, “I love you”. Ginny is in complete shock, and Joe has to remind her that she’s working. She’s not okay, so Joe pulls her aside — Ginny explains that in 24 hours, two different boys have told me they love her, but she only wants to be with Marcus.
Those sunglasses
We then get an interesting side plot involveing Joe — remember, this man is the equivalent of Luke Danes from Gilmore Girls.
Before Ginny heads out, Joe notices her handling a pair of super rare Ray-Bans. Ginny explains how her mother was given these glasses when she was younger, and it changes her life — it’s revealed in the flashback that the boy that gave them to her mother was Joe. In the present, Joe remembers it was him, and he’s surprised she kept them and believes it means something. Ginny doesn’t catch on what he means.
At Joe’s cafe, Georgia walks in, and Joe is very nervous around her after what he has just learned. He wants to tell her something, but Ellen walks in and asks Georgia to show her engagement ring. Joe congratulates her on the ring and walks off, upset.
This is most certainly going to be a storyline that fleshes out in Season 2, but will they drag it out like Luke and Lorelai?
Ginny approaches Maxine at the school play
At a school play event, Ginny approaches Maxine backstage, and she reveals that she knows that she had sex with her brother before walking on to the stage. Between going backstage and acting on stage, Maxine keeps venting at Ginny. Ginny tells her she is her best friend, and she didn’t know what to do because she loves her.
And it all falls down…
And then the ending of this story takes a horrible turn for our lead teenager — Ginny & Georgia season 1, episode 10 sees Ginny’s life fall apart second by second.
After one of the acts in the play, Maxine wants to talk in the hallway. Ginny apologizes and tells her she didn’t want to screw up. Abby and Norah come into the hallway and try and calm the situation down. Ginny then mistakenly accuses Abby of telling Maxine about her and Marcus, which makes it worse. Maxine explains how she’s sick of everyone hurting her. And then it gets worse; Hunter arrives in the hallway, and Abby tells him that Ginny cheated on him with Marcus. At this moment, Ginny’s life is falling apart.
Marcus shows up, and he says it was a mistake. Hunter walks off and says he was great to her. He punches Hunter before he leaves. Maxine goes back for the second act and tells Ginny and Abby to stay away from her. Ginny has lost everything — from having a secure group of friends that she considers to be family to nothing — it’s a bitter pill to swallow.
Was it a mistake?
With a teary Ginny left in the corridor, she asks Marcus what he meant by “a mistake”. Marcus says he thought it was the right thing to say. Ginny tells Marcus that Padma was right — that he’s only going to hurt her.
Maxine confronts her brother afterward. Marcus tells Max that she doesn’t understand what Ginny is dealing with and that’s she’s a better friend than she realizes — he calls Max an entitled brat, and she has no boundaries. Ellen walks into the room and asks what’s happened. Max explains that it’s “the biggest betrayal since Jordyn and Kylie” and that Marcus and Ginny had sex.
Ellen tells Georgia
Ellen heads over to Georgia’s house and tells her she quits being a mother. They drink wine together. Ellen tells Georgia that her son has been sleeping with her daughter. Georgia states he knew as Marcus climbed through her window a few days ago. Ellen is annoyed that she wasn’t told and leaves, calling her a “bad mom”.
What was great about this scene is that Ginny and Georgia are so similar — they both keep things inside. Georgia is lucky that Ellen is a grown-up — that’s the only difference here.
The latest mother and daughter argument
Georgia speaks to Ginny about having sex with Marcus. Ginny makes a sly comment saying her mother goes through men faster than Taylor Swift, but then she admits it’s all her fault — this is a funny comedic moment. Georgia doesn’t understand the sneaking around. Ginny lists that she’s “awful. A b*tch. I sneak around. I’m a liar”, but she asks who she learned it from, brings up Zion, and then lands another bombshell… that she sent the letters from Austin to his father.
Georgia asks if she put a return address on and explains the reason she doesn’t tell her anything is because she doesn’t know who her daughter is anymore. Ginny tells her she’s her mother.
It’s incredible how they are essentially the same person, and they struggle to use that to be a stronger unit.
Ginny takes control
The next day, Ginny goes into school — she’s walking with purpose, and she sees the English teacher. She asks what his problem is because she has the highest grade in the class, and he always targets her — she accuses him of being racist. The English teacher states he is not a racist and voted for Obama twice, reaffirming the Get Out reference. Ginny threatens to go to the school board unless he gives her a glowing college recommendation letter — she claims she’s taking control.
Ginny meets the PI
At school lunchtime, Ginny has no-one to sit with. She joins Bracia’s table. She listens to Bracia’s friends talk, but she feels out of place. At work, Ginny bumps into the private investigator who wants to talk to her about Georgia, but he refers to her as Mary Atkins. He tells her that he thinks her mother is dangerous and murdered Kenny. The PI brings up how in New Orleans, Georgia temporarily lost custody of Ginny while running an underground poker ring. He then shows her the wolfsbane plant and how it’s extremely poisonous and causes heart attacks.
Ginny remembers seeing her mother making a smoothie and putting petals inside it for her deceased husband, but she also remembers Kenny inappropriately touching her up. She also remembers seeing Kenny’s ashes in her house. The PI tells Ginny that she is not the same as her mother and wonders if there’s anything she wants to tell him. Ginny readjusts, smiles, and tells the PI that he’s mistaken and that her mother loved Kenny.
Despite how the episode ends, it’s telling that Ginny covered for her mother.
Ginny checks out the stash
Ginny returns home, and Georgia is excited that they are a family that they are about to win an election. Ginny runs through memories in her head; the poisonous flower, the guns, her mother slapping her. When she goes upstairs, Ginny puts on her mother’s motorbike leather jacket and packs her bags — she notices the ashes have gone. When she heads outside, she sees Marcus, which is her last challenge before she leaves town.
Marcus tells her it wasn’t a mistake. Ginny tells him he’s forgiven and that they can talk about it later. Marcus can tell something is off but lets her go anyway. She grabs the poisonous plant and torches it with Austin. Ginny tells Austin that they need to leave the town.
The ending
At the Mayoral election, Paul is re-elected. The private investigator stands next to Georgia. She tells him that Kenny is looking down on her right now. The PI asks where the body is, but then the fireworks go off. Georgia hints that Kenny is ashes before walking off. The audacity of Georgia telling the PI shows the courage of the character, whether you agree with her past life or not.
Georgia narrates that she feels like Ginny is turning into her, and it’s scary. But she says there’s a big difference — she started life way behind her daughter. The PI gets a call and learns Georgia was married before Kenny to a man named Anthony Greene and that he’s a missing person — has Georgia killed someone else? Meanwhile, Ginny is on the road with Austin. Georgia narrates that her daughter will never have to live in fear as she did. However, Ginny believes that she has to keep running. Like mother, like daughter.
The ending of Ginny & Georgia season 1 brings a whole universe of drama that will please fans — “The Biggest Betrayal Since Jordyn and Kylie” gives the series one last convincing lurch to catapult a second season, and we wouldn’t be surprised if it was commissioned sooner rather than later.
Roll on Season 2.
Additional points
- When Georgia drops Austin off at school, she apologizes to him about the letters. She tells him that his father is not really a wizard. Georgia then learns that Austin has been skipping school. A teacher asks to schedule time with Georgia about Austin’s behavior.
