extremely detailed TV recommendation for u
Okay so based on the response I got from last week’s ‘letters, I’m gonna fully renege on the idea of using Deez Links to highlight strictly hard news-y stuff because it appears that none of us are exactly lacking for coronavirus coverage (tl;dr, the NYT, The Atlantic, and BuzzFeed News* are running the show and prob the only ones you need to keep up with on a daily basis) — so I think I’ll keep Deez Links as a mix of both must-reads + the usuals + general recommendations + TikToks / fun shit to keep us all going on what appears to be a long road ahead.
Today, I’m writing a (news)letter of recommendation for my latest TV obsession: Good Girls. God. I cannot harp enough about this show. It’s all I’ve been watching over the past few weeks, once Hulu wore me down with all the show’s promos in between SVU (target demo for both shows: women with a specific window of tolerance for the macabre, apparently). I will be 1000% honest and say the big draw initially was hot neck tat guy (AKA the character Rio, as played by Manny Montana), and ladiessssssssss…...let me just say it/he does not disappoint.
So the premise: Christina Hendricks (AKA Joan from Mad Men), Retta (AKA Donna Meagle from Parks & Rec) and Mae Whitman play three working class moms who are doing their best to get by in suburban Detroit. Driven to desperation, they decide to rob a supermarket — and end up getting entangled in the dealings of a local crime boss (hot neck tat boi), so they keep having to come up with creative ways to stay on his good side and also deal with the the FBI (the FBI investigator is also hot but not on the same scale).
Basically, it’s Breaking Bad, but for the female gaze. And while there is much to be said about the chemistry between Hendricks’ character and Crime Boss (trust me I’m getting there), I also think that, as an NBC comedy, the show is surprisingly thoughtful as it parses out why people who have the system continuously stacked against them — whether it’s because they have shitty health insurance, or get written off as a housewife, or have to work a minimum wage job with a shitty, predatory boss — turn to means outside of the system to get by + how comically difficult it is to extricate yourself once you do.
In Breaking Bad, Walter White’s original motivation for going rogue, of course, to provide for his family, but it quickly ends up becoming a matter of ego and like, villainizing a concerned wife for *checks notes* asking the right questions? What I think is genius about Good Girls is that it flips the script on the whole masculine lone wolf baddie complex. The three women are lifelong friends and stick together for the collective good. The “naggy narc” role is fulfilled by one of the husbands, who waits up late and asks the annoying questions and just like, ugh, won’t let everyone have fun and do crimes already. You even have one money laundering scheme in the form of running a car dealership that markets to women and offers daycare and herbal tea on site.
This is all to say: Good Girls is everything I imagine what watching Breaking Bad must have been like for white dudes. It’s a fully loaded fantasy of saying fuck it to The Man, taking power and money that sure *feels* like it should be yours, wielding femininity and motherhood as rightful assets, and also hooking up with a smooth-talking crime lord who knows you like it when he calls you by your full name.
Which brings us to: MANNY MONTANA. My god. I just need you guys to watch the first episode and tell me that your laptop screen doesn’t visibly crackle when he waltzes onscreen. I have watched all the YouTube interviews and followed the fan accounts and even read some Good Girls fan fiction in a quest to figure out what, exactly, is the essence of his character’s illegally magnetic mystique. Thus far in my research, I *think* it’s a combination of his luminous eyes, the way he holds physically holds himself onscreen, this pregnancy-inducing voice (ugh sorry is this too much for 10 a.m.), and also the fact that he embodies a source of power, money, and respect that these women haven’t found elsewhere in their lives.
Rio’s character is what I would like to call a Freddy Fatale: the straight male version of a fantasy Bond girl. He’s all mystery and sex appeal; we never see him doing boring normal man things, like leaving his laundry around for us to pick up. Did I mention the tat is of an owl, spread-eagled over his adam’s apple? Tell me how you’re not clicking over to Netflix yet.
Anywayyyyy, this is all a thirst-loaded way to say that if you’re looking for a show that’s a little escapist, quite funny, and surprisingly intelligent about the economic anxieties of actual everyday people (with people of color, families of trans kids, and single mothers front and center), watch Good Girls. It’s on the NBC app but season 1-2 are on Netflix, and what they have of season 3 is on Hulu (though I think they paused production recently because, you know).
*But y’all knew I’d say that, right?
Deez Links is a dailyish newsletter written by @delia_cai. You can support the newsletter by sharing it or hitting up our merch store!