“Ginny and Georgia,” a coming-of-age drama on Netflix, returned for a second season on Jan. 5. While the first season was widely acclaimed for its creative and mysterious storylines, many were skeptical on if the second season could follow such a success. 

“Ginny and Georgia” follows a mother and daughter through their tumultuous relationship and personal lives. Ginny, the daughter of Georgia, grew up moving from place to place and never had a sedentary home. Georgia was a teen mom who had to escape from numerous dangerous situations before finally moving her family to the town of Wellsbury, Massachusetts. 

Season two picks up right where season one dropped off, as Ginny and her brother attempt to run away from the drama that engulfed her in season one. While the storyline is consistent with the first season, many other aspects seem to have been altered. One character in the show, Maxine, is the perfect representation of these changes made between season one and season two. In season one, the Maxine character is Ginny’s best friend, and for the most part, a supportive and understanding friend. In the second season, however, Maxine rejects Ginny and proclaims her as her “arch enemy.” Her dramatic whiny tone and cringe phrases annoyed me to no end. The character Maxine almost persuaded me not to finish the season, as you can’t get through 10 minutes without her voice. 

When I finally began to ignore Maxine’s commentary, the show was slightly more bearable. However, season two of Ginny and Georgia takes on darker story material, and requires more focus to watch. Both Ginny and Georgia are deep into personal problems, and both are fighting with those closest to them. The show revolves around mental health problems and murder. So if you liked the first season for its charming and relatable plot, you probably shouldn’t watch the second. As Ginny begins to take on a different personality, both mentally and physically, she must adapt to new information that changes the way she perceives her mom, her town and her family. 

While Ginny is internally struggling with many problems, the show reinforces the idea that her high school drama is the end all be all. Her fights with Maxine take up a lot of minutes in the first few episodes, and although the viewer knows that eventually the drama will subside, it becomes a whirlwind of yelling and fighting. That amount of petty drama was not necessary since the rest of the show has enough drama and suspense to make up for it. 

While the show contains more trauma and depressing scenes, it seems as if it was put in to balance out the incredibly cringey content delivered by some of the high school characters. Netflix script writers delivered sub-par dialogue that nobody under the age of 20 has ever spoken unironically. Despite the bold plotlines, the new season falls short, and I can only hope season three redeems itself. 

Rating: 5/10