One minute you’re laughing, the next you’re on the edge of your seat—and the entire time you’re confused about what’s going on. That’s the experience of watching Ginny and Georgia.

The new Netflix original series centres on flirty and fun southern belle, Georgia Miller, and her strained relationship with her teenage daughter, Ginny. Set in the sunny suburban town of Wellsbury, Massachusetts, the mother and daughter duo strive to adjust to their new home while each struggling to fit in socially.

The audience is constantly tasked with navigating the show’s constantly switching perspectives; half the show follows Ginny’s youth as a mixed-race teen in a white town, the other half showcases Georgia’s relentless determination to be a picture-perfect middle-class mom.

The plotlines jump rapidly from Ginny’s teenage drama to Georgia’s husband-killing habit. Spoiler alert: mama Miller is also a serial killer—because why not.

The show could have leveraged its format to delve deep into its titular characters. Instead, it opts to foster a narrative that’s rather disconcerting.

Amidst all these jarring leaps between storylines, Ginny and Georgia attempts to dedicate portions of its mere 10-hour runtime to delicate topics like self-harm, eating disorders, abuse, and navigating Queer relationships.

None of the delicate social issues the show tackles are fully discussed or explored, begging the question of why the topics, so underserved in the narrative, were even touched upon in the first place.

If viewers can get past the incoherencies of the plot, they’re challenged with stomaching the cringy and forced interactions between the young characters onscreen. Breaching satire, it’s clear there was a major lack of thought for authentic teenage representation in the screenwriting.

Ginny and Georgia had the potential to be an educational and entertaining watch. Unfortunately, it’s hard to ignore its flaws. For instance, the show made an unnecessary, slut-shaming comment about Taylor Swift’s dating history, leading to a slew of bad press after the singer called out the comment on Twitter.

Additionally, it’s hard to ignore the series’ many squandered opportunities to foster important conversation. In the final episode, Ginny is ostracized from her white peers during a class reading of a book that includes a racist slur. The scene touches on how race is viewed by the community but omits any substance in Ginny’s internal reactions or feelings. The scene spends a brief moment addressing tokenism—without defining or discussing the topic in depth—then quickly moves on to suburban town drama. 

Somehow, Ginny and Georgia fits years of content and controversy into 10 short hours—and the result is disorienting and disappointing.

What might have been an attempt at being a well-rounded show that had something to offer for everyone ended up being a moderately entertaining watch that was as confusing as it was hokey. As the series has already been renewed, let’s hope the second season will find a direction to go in instead of driving viewers into a frenzy of too many plotlines and mixed emotions.