Editor's Note: The following contains spoilers for Season 2 of Ginny & Georgia.
The second season of Netflix’s Ginny & Georgia has been a wild ride for the titular Ginny (Antonia Gentry) and Georgia (Brianne Howey), plus just about everyone else in their lives, as their relationships have been thrust in new directions amidst discord and secrets lurking out from the shadows. While this mother and daughter have worked hard to get to a somewhat decent place with each other, particularly after Ginny learned the truth about what happened to her step-father Kenny (Darryl Scheelar) in Season 1 of Ginny & Georgia, neither could prepare for the fallout from their respective actions with the others in their lives. Everything is a mess, and it just keeps getting worse.
Building to the season finale, Austin (Diesel La Torraca) witnesses Georgia suffocating Cynthia’s (Sabrina Grdevich) dying husband before shooting his father Gil (Aaron Ashmore) — in the middle of a violent altercation with Georgia — in the arm with one of his mother’s secret guns, leaving the family to clean up the mess before Paul (Scott Porter) returns home and the police become involved. Joe (Raymond Ablack) and Georgia finally confess to knowing about their meeting those many years ago, while Joe sort of opens up about his feelings for Georgia, who unfortunately doesn’t reciprocate in the way he hopes. But, Georgia does then call the venue for her upcoming wedding and cancels the event before crawling back into bed with Paul. Meanwhile, Marcus (Felix Mallard) is struggling with his depression, leaving his family concerned and creating a rift between him and Ginny in their romantic relationship that results in an untimely breakup. Ultimately, there are many open threads to bring together in the Ginny & Georgia Season 2 finale, which does not disappoint in bringing the same level of drama that the show delivered with the first season’s ending. Let’s break it down.
Ginny, Marcus, and Max
After their rough breakup, Ginny is super upset over Marcus. She confides in her friends at school, but it’s just yet another area of tension piled on top of Ginny’s messy life. Now she’s depressed over Marcus, scared about Gil, and trying to find her role in her life after spending quite a few weeks in therapy examining her relationship with her mother. Ginny doesn’t quite understand what’s going on with Marcus and simply tries to hate him for what has happened, but it’s not that simple. While laying in bed and crying over Marcus, Georgia and Max (Sara Waisglass) interrupt her to give her a little perspective on her situation with Marcus.
Max confides to both about how Marcus occasionally has episodes like this where his parents have to make sure he’s back on and taking his medication until it passes, which is precisely what’s happening now. He doesn’t leave bed for anything except school, as we have seen over several episodes in the second season, and his parents Ellen (Jennifer Robertson) and Clint (Chris Kenopic) are incredibly concerned. Given the circumstances, Georgia suggests that what Marcus needs right now more than a girlfriend is just a friend, something Max confirms he has very few (to none) of. Later, after Marcus returns home drunk to Ellen and Georgia talking, Georgia bumps into him in the garage smoking weed while she is on her way out. Georgia joins him, and he’s quick to check up on Ginny, asking how she’s doing. Georgia tries to reassure Marcus that he did the right thing by not holding Ginny back, but also confesses how he was good to her and taught her what it’s like to be loved. As she wishes him good luck and implores him to be better to his parents, Marcus drunkenly confesses that he'll keep the secret Ginny told him about how Georgia killed her late husband.
With some new insight on the situation, Ginny goes to Marcus and tries to explain what she has learned. That not every situation is about her, and when she overheard Marcus and Max talking about relationships (in a prior episode) and how he didn’t think relationships were for him, she got hurt, but didn’t take the time to consider his perspective. Now, she has, and she’s ready to apologize and be there for Marcus like he was there for her when she needed him. Except, this time, she’ll be there for him as a friend for as long as he needs.
Meanwhile, Max is ecstatic that Sophie (Humberly González) is finally interested in her again after spending, quite literally, the entire season pining for her and whining over their brief relationship ending. However, Max now has a new flirtationship with Silver, and they’re just about ready to begin something real. So, how does Max choose? Fortunately and unfortunately, Sophie makes that choice easy for Max when they meet at Blue Farm for lunch. Max questions why Sophie was so harsh to her over the last few weeks, which results in a conversation over what they want from this relationship. Max is just starting to get over her, so she’s thrown for a loop, and Sophie makes it worse by saying the reason she called things off was solid, but she wants to be friends. Max doesn’t want to be her friend, though, and abruptly leaves. Later, she finds Silver and makes things official, but will her hesitation come back to haunt this new romance?
Georgia and Gil’s History On 'Ginny & Georgia'
In flashbacks, Georgia (Nikki Roumel) and Gil (Ben Caldwell) have far crossed the point of no return in their relationship. Gil is incredibly abusive, leaving Georgia covered in bruises while holding Ginny and Austin over her head as the reason she has to stay. When he comes home one night, Georgia pulls a gun on him, but he talks her out of pulling the trigger by taunting her with Austin and the consequences in her relationship with him if she were to kill his father. He leaves her with seemingly no way out, unable to find an escape with two young children to protect as well. However, Georgia later finds her way out. In another flashback, she sees Gil’s briefcase unattended and writes herself a check from his company checkbook, as she has seen Gil do before when she learned of his embezzling habit. Only, Georgia writes herself a check for one hundred grand, much more than the amount that Gil’s bosses continuously overlook. With this, she gets some of the money she needs to survive, gets Gil thrown in jail, and escapes a life of domestic violence.
Going to the Chapel…
After Georgia's run-ins with Joe and Gil and her secretly calling off the wedding with Paul, Georgia is plotting her escape from Wellsbury as she has every other time in her life when things have gotten a little too complicated. When she walks in to check on Ginny, before Max shows up, Georgia makes a comment to Ginny about the beautiful Lake Powell where people live on houseboats. When Max and Ginny leave, Georgia pulls out a suitcase and begins to pack her daughter’s belongings, clearly anticipating making this move in the very near future. Ginny initially shrugs off the Lake Powell comment, but later pieces it together while with her friends as she discusses how much she enjoys living in Wellsbury and rushes home. Before confronting her mother, Ginny calls the wedding venue and learns that Georgia called and canceled, confirming her fears.
As soon as Georgia gets home from speaking with Marcus, Ginny confronts her about canceling the wedding and asks if she really loves Paul. Georgia says yes, which is why she called off the wedding and why they have to leave (something of a surprise considering it seemed to be Joe’s confession that prompted Georgia to call things off). Ginny encourages her mother to tell Paul the truth about her past — well, most of the truth — so she can move past her fear, get married, and live the life she deserves and so desperately wants in Wellsbury after experiencing so much pain. So, that’s what Georgia does. She tells Paul her secrets, sans the murders, and gives him the opportunity to be with her or run screaming. As he’s done every time before, and after taking some time to think, Paul sticks it out and talks about the hold that Georgia has over him and his heart. Paul takes this opportunity to confront Gil with a lawyer and a cop to make sure he knows that he will not be blackmailing Georgia or getting a cent from Paul’s family. He threatens to call Gil’s parole officer and get him thrown back in jail, and also confirms with his lawyer that they are prepared to battle for custody if Gil steps out of line again. But, with the wedding back on and no venue, Ginny and Georgia have to do some creative thinking to make sure things go off without a hitch since everything else is still planned for the big day.
The Big Cliffhanger at the End of 'Ginny & Georgia' Season 2
As the wedding is in motion, private investigator Gabriel Cordova (Alex Mallari Jr.) — who has been hot on Georgia’s trail since Ginny & Georgia started and has a new potential means of taking her down — finally confesses the truth of his identity to his boyfriend Nick (Dan Beirne). At first, Nick is appalled that he would lie about being a third grade teacher named Jesse, but Gabriel pleads for Nick to listen to him as his proximity with Georgia and Paul could wind up getting him in trouble in the future. Meanwhile, Paul and Georgia’s wedding goes forward, the two officially tying the knot as the series beautifully showcases how Ginny’s attitude toward her mother has changed over the season and how the entire town has accepted Georgia as one of their own and pitched in to help with this masterful event. But, the joy is cut short in the final moments as the police (and Gabriel) crash the wedding and place Georgia under arrest. The charge? Murdering Cynthia’s husband Tom, which Austin watched her do a few episodes prior while playing hide and seek with Zach (Connor Laidman).
How will Georgia get herself out of this mess? How will Ginny react to knowing her mother killed someone else, confirmed to her when Austin heartbreakingly says he didn’t tell anyone about what he saw as the police drag Georgia away? Plus, the murders were pretty much the one aspect of her past that she didn’t confess to Paul, so can he look past this and remain with her… assuming she gets out of jail? One thing is for certain: Ginny & Georgia is going to look much different if (and hopefully when!) the series returns for another season.
Seasons 1 and 2 of Ginny & Georgia are now streaming on Netflix.