When one looks at the premise of Ginny & Georgia it is very easy to see why many when the show first got announced why they thought it would simply be a “edgier” version of Gilmore Girls. But the thing is, if this show sounds exactly like a new version of Gilmore Girls it is probably the furthest from that. Sure, the show is about a mother and daughter who has her as a teenager and doesn’t want her to make the same mistake, but that is the only thing the show really have in common. Because describing Ginny & Georgia as a remake of Gilmore Girls wouldn’t do justice to this show.

Ginny & Georgia lives and die with it’s two leads. They make or break the show and both Brianna Howey (The Passage, The Exorcist) and Antonia Gentry (Raising Dion, Candy Jar) give their everything. Because their relationship is at the center of the show, their chemistry is the most important one of the show, and without it Ginny & Georgia doesn’t work. Those two together elevate the show, their relationship is what brought me back even when the show was frustrating to watch.

(Also side note but the Canadian in me did say every few minutes during the first episode “Oh you’re from Degrassi!” and it made me very happy.)

But sometimes, Ginny & Georgia takes it to far and doesn’t know when stories become too comical to make sense. Rolling my eyes became something normal as more and more of everyone’s backstory was revealed. It became a bit of, what else are they going to reveal now with every episode. Instead of expending on stories, the show just throws everything at the wall, hoping that something sticks and because of that, it just becomes too much and impossible to take seriously.

At its core, Ginny & Georgia is about the relationship between the mother and daughter. And when the show makes room for that, it is where it shines. When the show remembers that it doesn’t need to be over the top in order for you to be good, when the show concentrate on the relationship, it works so well. Sure, the high school drama with Ginny is fun to watch as it provides with good tension between mom and daughter, but the show somehow looses itself along the way. 

If the first few episodes are all so solid, towards the middle and end of the season, the show just tries to do so much that it becomes a parody of itself. Ginny & Georgia turns into a “Who is Georgia?” story and it just never works. Sure, some stuff about her life I understood but then the show would just pile and pile and at some point I started getting annoyed. It didn’t need to do so, the characters were already compelling enough and at some point, unfortunately, the show became a parody of itself.

Outside the main two, the rest of the cast might overshadowed at times but every character gets moments to shine. While most stories aren’t concluded by the end of the first season, the characters feel real and the world lived in. Because Ginny, Georgia and Austin, Ginny’s second child, arrive during the first episode, we learn with them and become attached to these characters at the same time as them. The show knows how to create relationships and it is where it’s the strongest. The friendships, the relationships, the loved ones, the heartbreaks, that where the show shines. It’s when it tries to do more and flesh out the world beyond the present that the show fumbles.

If Ginny & Georgia finds a way to balance itself more, I think a second season would benefit the show. Not only because it is interesting but also because they have very compelling characters. By leaning down and focusing more on the relationships the show would not feel like it is trying too hard. I enjoyed Ginny & Georgia even when it became too much at times because of the characters that inhabited the world. I wanted to spend time with them even when the show started to loose itself. And to me, that was the most important thing.