TV Show review
February 26, 2018 · 42 min · TV-14 · Canceled
Woke Score
Lower is better
Breakdown
These are the editorial factors and ratings behind our score for Good Girls.
Woke representation / casting
Prominent Black actress in one of three lead roles and a recurring transgender male character (Ben) portrayed by a trans actor from season 2; modern suburban setting features natural diversity without heavy quota-style signaling or story-mismatched “brilliant” identity tropes.
Woke political dialogue
Some lines about women needing to “take their power back” from cheating husbands or unfair domestic burdens, plus female friendship emphasis; remains mostly personal and character-driven rather than explicit activist speeches or systemic lectures.
Identity-driven story themes
Strong focus on suburban mothers gaining agency through crime against patriarchal family pressures and traditional roles; explicit transgender coming-out and acceptance arc for a main character’s child adds clear LGBTQ+ weight; core narrative frames female antiheroines challenging domestic norms.
Western institutional / cultural critique
Mild pushback against traditional marriage expectations, male financial unreliability, and medical/financial system pressures on families; women outsmart authorities who underestimate them; no deep anti-capitalist, anti-police, or identity-based systemic framing.
Review
Good Girls follows three suburban Michigan mothers—Beth, Ruby, and Annie—who face money troubles, cheating husbands, medical bills, and family pressures and decide to rob a grocery store, pulling them into a world of counterfeit cash, gang ties, and escalating crime across four seasons. The women balance motherhood and double lives while Beth grows more comfortable wielding criminal power. A feminist-leaning story of female agency and friendship runs through the premise, with a recurring transgender character arc for Annie’s child beginning in season 2.
Woke character or canon changes
Not relevant. Original series with no established source material, historical figures, or prior canon to alter.
Anti-woke backlash and complaints
Almost no public complaints treating the show as ideological propaganda or DEI-driven; reception centered on story quality and cancellation business reasons, with any ideological pushback fringe or nonexistent in coverage.
Creator track record context
Jenna Bans has openly tied her creative choices to concerns about sexism and a desire for empowering women’s stories; supporting writers include two with documented feminist comedy backgrounds; remaining key crew show standard television credits without notable activist or identity-politics patterns.
Production
