Warning: This article contains spoilers from Season Two of “Ginny & Georgia.”
Georgia Miller will do anything for her children. In Season Two of “Ginny & Georgia,” which was released on Netflix on Jan. 5, Georgia (Brianne Howey) spends most of the episodes mending her relationship with Georgia (Antonia Gentry) and Austin (Diesel La Torraca) and getting them to trust her again.
The devoted mother also adjusts to more responsibilities in the mayor’s office as she prepares to marry Paul (Scott Porter). After being raised in a dangerous household and escaping multiple abusive relationships, it seems like Georgia had finally made it and created the ideal life for herself and her children.
But if you were waiting for the other shoe to drop as the dramedy’s second season came to end, you were right.
As creator, executive producer and writer Sarah Lampert puts it, “Nothing is ever super simple on our show.”
Lampert joins showrunner Debra J. Fisher in an interview with TODAY.com to break down all of the surprise moments from Season Two, including the finale’s closing scene that puts Georgia in a precarious position ahead of a potential third season.
Georgia's Season 2 'unraveling' is brought on by the arrival of Gil
Before unpacking the explosive revelations in Episode 10, titled “I’m No Cinderella,” Lampert and Fisher talk about the journey Georgia goes on this season and how she slowly removes the mask she wears to keep Paul and her children from discovering her past's secrets.
“In Season One, the reason (Georgia) is always running. The reason she is always on the offensive is because deep down she doesn’t feel like she deserves any of this. She has a lot of unhealed childhood trauma that she has never dealt with and just runs from. That’s a survival technique and a coping mechanism for her,” Lampert explains.
The creator said that Georgia is forced to to relive this trauma when her ex, Austin’s dad Gil (Aaron Ashmore), arrives in Wellsbury in Episode Five.
Gil, who was recently released from prison, covertly visits Austin before finally telling Georgia he wants to have a relationship with his son. While many of the other characters in “Ginny & Georgia,” like Cynthia (Sabrina Grdevich), initially trust his intentions, Georgia appears frightened each time he appears.
“I think Gil shows up in conjunction with her planning this perfect wedding to the mayor — she won. She finally got that life and for her and for her kids. That, to her, signals, ‘I’m a good mother and I’m successful,’” Lampert says.
But self-doubt and Gil’s presence soon convince Georgia that her new life doesn’t suit her.
Lampert shares, “She has it in the palm of her hand and it’s empty. She doesn’t feel like she deserves it. We see her go to extreme lengths to get into the neighborhood club, even extreme for her. I think it’s because there’s this almost rabid fear underneath that surface telling her she’s not worthy of any of this and she has something to prove. So when Gil comes up and kind of presses all of her buttons and triggers her and puts her back in that emotional mind space of her most traumatized self, we do see that character break down a little bit.”
Fisher says that Georgia’s unraveling this season was teased earlier on in the scene in which she learns that Ginny and Austin know she murdered her second husband.
“We’re so used to seeing her all southern charm and her warmth and (being) totally put together. That’s the first moment where we see Georgia realize that Ginny knows that she’s a murderer. The crack in that veneer and the anger and the rage bringing her darkest secrets to the surface — (we) see her performance in that,” Fisher says.
The executive producer continues to gush about Howey’s acting in the scenes and adds, “I mean, I get chills, just just thinking about that performance. It’s just beautiful.”
Lampert says her favorite scene came in Episode Six (“A Very Merry Ginny & Georgia Christmas Special), when Georgia realizes that Ginny has been self-harming. She praises Howey in Season Two, saying she sets tone of the show by managing to believably portray Georgia as a mama bear, a smart government employee ... and a killer.
The creators explain why Georgia kills again in Season 2
Georgia's killing streak carries over into the sophomore season. Season One confirmed Georgia drugged her first husband and poisoned her second. In Season Two, Austin secretly witnesses his mom suffocate and kill Cynthia’s husband Tom Fuller, who is comatose.
Fisher and Lampert note that this is the first time Georgia kills because she thinks it will help someone who is not one of her kids. The two share that there were long discussions in the writers’ room about the unexpected storyline, but ultimately they thought it represented Georgia's impulse to support and defend.
“She will do anything to protect her kids and this is something that she wants to do for Cynthia,” Fisher explains. “Who would do something like that? Well, Georgia would. And that’s just so born out of that character.”
Is Austin taking after his mother?
In flashbacks throughout Season Two, viewers learn that Gil was physically abusive and that Georgia framed him for embezzling money from his company. He was arrested and Georgia fled their apartment with Ginny and Austin.
In Episode Nine, titled “Kill Gil,” Gil threatens to expose Georgia’s past to Paul and tries to extort money from her. He later goes to her home and attacks Georgia until Austin uses a gun that Georgia hid upstairs to shoot his dad.
Ginny also sees Austin shoot Gil. She works with her mom and brother to cover up the scene before Paul returns home. Georgia avoids calling the police and instead bandages Gil’s wound as she directs her children what to do so that Paul does not suspect anything is wrong.
While some viewers might see the scene as Georgia inducting her children into her world of crime and secrets, Lampert says the scene represents how Georgia is willing to put her trauma with Gil aside, temporarily, to protect Austin and ensure he was not taken away from her.
“I’m not saying she does it in the right way. But she does it in the way that she knows best, which is to maintain as much control over the situation as she possibly can,” Lampert shares.
She continues, “We see her go upstairs and let the mask down and let them in for the first time. She sees that a line has been crossed. She’s tried to shield her kids from all of that violence, all of that ugliness, their whole lives. What Season Two has been about is them creeping behind that wall and seeing more and more of it. By the end of Season Two, I think (Georgia) finally has to really give them the full story. And she is concerned about doing that.”
Speaking about the significance of the scene, Fisher says it marks the first time in the series “when all three of them are on the same page and united truly together.”
Season 2 ends with a complicated wedding
Ginny further proves how much she supports her mom by encouraging her to open up to Paul about her past and Gil blackmailing her. Ginny and Austin wait on the steps as Georgia confesses everything in Episode 10, hoping Paul accepts her. He leaves. The three Millers go upstairs until Paul calls and asks Georgia to meet him at the mayor’s office.
When she arrives, Paul is seated in his office with his lawyer and a police officer. Gil walks in and Paul intimidates Gil by mentioning his parole. Gil backs down and leaves. Paul then reassures Georgia that he still loves her and wants to get married despite her not being completely honest.
The final scenes of “I’m No Cinderella” show Georgia and Paul tying the knot in an elaborate ceremony at city hall that includes Ginny, Austin and all their Wellsbury friends.
But a future love triangle is not ruled out
During Season Two, Georgia still has obvious chemistry with Zion (Nathan Mitchell), Ginny’s father. She also has an undeniable connection with Joe (Raymond Ablack), who attended Georgia’s wedding despite admitting his feelings for her in “Kill Gil.”
With Georgia saying “I do” to Paul, does that mean potential relationships with Zion or Joe are officially over?
“I feel you can love multiple people and hold space for loving multiple people in different ways at the same time.” Lampert says. “I think she’s always going to have this love with Zion.”
She says that Season Two shows their connection evolving to focus more on co-parenting and less on romance. However, the door is not completely closed with Joe.
“With Joe, I think there’s a lot of unresolved feelings between the two of them that I think they’re both having very different experiences of deep emotions between them.”
Lampert adds, “Then with Paul, she does pick him. He’s the Prince Charming that she saw in her head who could save her and validate her. Then, there he is in a person. She can’t pass that up. And I think she really does deeply love him.”
Fisher mentions that “Ginny & Georgia” always was leading toward Georgia and Paul being together. She recalls a moment from Season One in which Georgia sees Paul’s picture in a window and compares him to John F. Kennedy.
Although Georgia and Paul are in love now, Fisher says that the writers are “open to another part of that triangle becoming a better option for her down the road.”
Inside the final moments of Season 2
Georgia and Paul don't even make it to their honeymoon before another "Ginny & Georgia" twist swoops in. As the newlyweds dance together in front of their friends and family at the reception, Cordova (Alex Mallari Jr.) crashes the party with a team of police officers who arrest Georgia for killing Cynthia’s husband.
All the guests watch Georgia get handcuffed and taken away. Austin, the only person who knows Georgia is guilty, runs after the police car while a stunned Ginny looks on.
“It’s interesting because nothing is ever super simple on our show,” says Lampert. “They are a cohesive unit. The Millers are working as one. They are finally united. No more secrets.”
At the same time, the final look on Ginny’s face shows she is more conflicted about her mom’s arrest compared to her brother because she feels complicit.
Lampert explains, “Ginny did have that conversation with Cordova before he left town when he said, ‘If your mom does this again, now it will be partly your fault. Because you are letting her get away with this and protecting her and she plays God and is dangerous.’ So when Georgia is pulled away in the cop car and (you see) the second to last image on Ginny’s face, I think there is a little bit of that crossing her mind, too. Ginny is always going to struggle with it a little bit more than Georgia is. That’s just going to always be a tension that exists in their dynamic together.”
As the credits roll, the last image of Georgia viewers see is her posing for mugshot photos. The mother of two is physically separate from her children, but Lampert confirms that the trio is still on the same page.
If Netflix renews the series for a third season, Lampert says that they want “all Millers united against the world.”
Fisher adds, “They’ll need to be.”
Lampert teases, “For all that’s coming for them, absolutely.”