Here is the thing about lies – you can’t outrun them. At a certain point in life, lies catch up with you, slapping you in the face, and making you realize that everything that you thought that you could hide… well, you can’t. That’s basically what Ginny & Georgia 1×06 “I’m Triggered” is about.
And that’s a terrifying thing.
For Georgia, she’s lived her life in fight or flight mode, because that’s how she is able to make it through. It’s how she avoids the past. After all the past, it’s the past for a reason. So shouldn’t you leave it buried?
AUSTIN AND HIS AGGRESSION
As you may remember in episode 5, Austin lost his shit and stabbed that little shit Zak with a pencil. Now, am I advocating violence? Never. But Zak’s a little shit and his Mom is a bitch. But Georgia, well… she knows how to play this. She knows how to sit in the principles office and tell them everything that they want to hear.
It’s her fault.
Austin’s aggression isn’t okay.
Austin shouldn’t come back to school, he needs to deal with his aggression.
She told them everything that they wanted to hear but lied with every time that she opened up her mouth. But that’s Georgia. She’s all about survival.
Austin and Georgia leave the school and to be honest, I wasn’t sure how she was going to handle the situation. But when they get in the car and Ginny asks how it went, she doesn’t want to hear from Georgia she wants to hear from Austin. She wants the truth. And she doesn’t feel like she is going to get that from Georgia.
Austin overheard everything that Georgia said and he believed that she was was worried about him. He says he’s suspended, has to do therapy and that Georgia is worried. Georgia says she’s not worried, there is nothing wrong with Austin. In the not motherhood of the year moment, Georgia tells him that Zak had it coming.
While I get that Georgia is trying her best to be there for her kids, she really is so afraid of the life that she’s built and the lies that she tells, that she’s forgotten that there are boundaries needed.
But Ginny is there to remind her. Ginny doesn’t trust her Mom and to be honest, I don’t blame her. Secret family comes out of nowhere? Ya, that’s a big red flag coming from Mom. But Ginny is so busy taking digs at Georgia, she’s not seeing that it is affecting Austin. Georgia is right when she tells Ginny that she has an awful lot of opinions. But then again, Georgia’s not seeing that she gets that from her.
SHIT ON A SHINGLE
Georgia has told her kids that you can’t trust Maddie. That everything that Maddies says is a lie. Probably not the best thing to tell your kid when you’ve been caught repeatedly lying.
They go home and Maddie is there, cooking in the kitchen. She’s made herself at home and there is a part of me that wants to believe that she’s got the best of intentions. But I don’t believe she is. For some reason I believe Georgia about her sister.
Maddie is making “shit on a shingle” – whatever that is. I don’t know. But I don’t eat carbs so who knows. Maddie went to the store and got boxed wine, excited to share a moment with her sister. Georgia goes for the bottle in the fridge though, and asks Maddie why she’s there. Maddie says she missed her sister.
They make small talk and Georgia is trying to figure out what is going on. Maddie says she’s good and has her own place and is a customer service rep or something. They talk a lot about little things, but what they are doing is testing boundaries. Only testing boundaries to see how they can be around each other. But I guess that if you distract with the bright and pretty then you will see only light.
Ginny leaves and won’t tell Georgia where she’s going. Ginny is gonna be mad forever, as you know any teenage girl would be. Georgia doesn’t know where she gets it, but the truth is that Ginny and Georgia are exactly alike. They may not see it – but they are.
But Georgia being distracted by Ginny is working in Maddy’s favor, because she’s not fully digesting all of the clues that Maddie is leaving that she’s up to something.
But in the same breathe, Georgia knows that Maddie is always up to something.
Ginny is out with Hunter and telling him all the lies Georgia has told. I know that she’s a teenager, but Ginny cardinal rule is take some time before you let a man see all your baggage. Those fuckers have a tendency to run. Ginny is upset over all the lies, but I feel like this is a song that she’s repeating and doing nothing about.
Hunter is a dude and is trying to distract her with making out. And hey, that works. Making out works. But, there is no tongue or dick that good. And Ginny’s so focused on her Mom, she can’t be distracted.
Georgia texts and Ginny retreats to talking shit about Georgia . Ginny is like am I supposed to pretend this is normal? (Answer: No). Hunter says maybe Georgia had her reasons and that he would be stoked to have more family. But this moment for me is a moment where I know that I don’t like Hunter too much. Why? Because he isn’t thinking about the way that this must make Ginny feel. Ginny feels like she doesn’t know her Mom and that’s a harsh fucking thing to feel.
EMOTIONAL SALT IN THE WOUND
Having Maddie there has to be hard on Georgia. It would be hard on anyone to come to back from the past. So no shock to me that Georgia can’t sleep and has a million things going through her mind.
Georgia in bed, when Maddie comes in the door, asks for sleeping pills. Maddie doesn’t sleep, which is relatable as fuck. Who does anymore?
But Maddie is a lot smarter than I have given her credit for because she’s there to mind fuck with Georgia, which makes me hate her a little. She gives Georgia photos that she brought of Georgia as a kid, figuring she didn’t have any from when she left. But it doesn’t take long before Maddie says that her Mom isn’t doing well. She tells Maddie she was asleep – so….
The whole situation is fucking with Georgia’s head. When Maddie leaves, Georgia goes to her closet and takes up a floorboard where she looks through a box of pics. When it’s pictures of herself from the past, she’s smiling. But when it’s anyone else, you can see the pain setting in on her face.
The past is sometimes painful, but dealing with it is so important.
Maddie being there – it makes Georgia think about the past. Back when she was in New Orleans and a housekeeper. She came up with the idea to run a high stakes poker game and Maddie showing up. It makes her think about how she tried to take care of both Ginny and Maddie and couldn’t do it. So she sent Maddie back to be with their parents.
Even knowing how bad it could be.
Georgia lives with an immense amount of guilt and it’s kind of heartbreaking. Granted, she brings a lot of shit on herself, however, letting go of the shit that weighs you down isn’t an easy thing.
Especially when it’s about people you love.
INVOICES AND CHECKS
Georgia is so distracted with what is happening, that it is showing all over her face. She’s got money issues galore, a sister that showed up out of nowhere and the fact that she’s trying to keep her kids happy and not break the promises that she’s made.
Her co-worker is trying to teach her how to pay invoices, but she’s just meh about the whole thing. She’s listening to him talk about the guy he met at casino night and how great things were. But Georgia isn’t listening and she’s made it more obvious that shit is going on when Paul walks in the door and says hi.
But to quickly turn shit back to where it should be. Invoices. And these invoices and writing checks – probably not the best idea for Georgia. But the 3MM dollars there, that gets her attention.
You can tell that Georgia is torn. She wants this place to work out, but as the walls come tumbling down around her…
Life just gets more complicated.
FRIENDS AND EMBARRASSMENT
The good thing about having friends is that they are there for you. Ginny and Abby are practicing Spanish, but Ginny is distracted.
She’s not always had friends and the situation she’s in is quite a weird one. So do you tell your friends about your aunt that came out of nowhere? Ummm no. But you can tell them the things that they would know or see. She Ginny tells Abby about what Austin did.
And she asks if he’s in therapy. I love that this show is all about making therapy not taboo. We all could use it. And Abby is like, let me reach out to my Dad (both her parents are therapists) and see if I can get Austin an appointment.
I hate seeing the look on Ginny’s face like she’s shocked that people will be there for her. That just goes to show how she was raised and the loneliness she feels from it.
At work that night, Abby tells Ginny that she got Austin an appointment. But that also means that Georgia is going to have to give permission and Ginny knows she isn’t going to get that. She feels defeated and it only gets worse when Maddie shows up and sits down with her friends.
Ginny doesn’t want the world to know her drama and I respect that. I respect that fact that she doesn’t think that everyone needs to know everything.
She’s mortified and doesn’t hesitate to tell Georgia that when she gets home. But Georgia is barely listening to her, mostly because she’s having a panic attack. There is so much going through her mind and there’s the question of how she keeps her past away from her kids.
It’s a scary thing when your world starts to unravel.
But she’s quickly snapped back to reality when Ginny tells her that Max texted that the yard is on fire. Austin and Kaleb did it and it pushes Georgia over the edge.
SISTERHOOD DOESN’T TRUMP ALL
Georgia goes to find her sister and tell her off. But they end up having a night of drinking and talking about the past.
And you can tell that Maddie is up to shit. She’s asking too many questions that make Georgia feel like she is in an interview.
The only thing that I loved about the moment was that Joe and Georgia – you see their connection. I want Joe and Georgia together and I don’t feel like there is any other option. Joe can make her a better person and she can bring out the best in him.
I feel bad for Georgia, because you can tell she wants a connection with her sister, but you can also tell that she’s guarded because she’s always got to be. When she gets home, she takes care of her sister. But Georgia knows that she can’t trust anyone, and as Maddie is passed out, she takes her thumb and opens her phone.
And that’s when Georgia find out that Maddie is there because she’s working with a PI to try and get information about Georgia.
And so this means that Georgia is going to kick her out. And what is one of the most difficult scenes that I have watched so far, she tells her sister for the second time in their life, that she has to go.
And it breaks Georgia. She gives her sister 10K and tells her that it’s double what she asked the PI for. Maddie tries to tell her sister that she wasn’t going to rat her out, but Georgia doesn’t believe her. You can tell she wants to, but she doesn’t.
And she leaves. It leaves Ginny and Austin hurt and confused, because they don’t understand what Georgia is doing.
But Ginny is tired of the lies. However, here’s the thing that Ginny doesn’t get. Sure, lies are horrible, but sometimes the truth is a lot worse. She doesn’t know her Moms reasoning and I get that. But Georgia’s past seems to something that is really bad and her lies are there to protect her kids.
Sometimes the past is better staying buried. And Ginny will learn that. Even when it’s hard.
OTHER THOUGHTS
- Ginny finding the gun – that would have scared the shit out of me personally The way she looks at it and keeps looking at it – nope.
- Marcus – I love the fact that you can see how much he cares about Ginny. I hated him the first 5 episodes, so I am okay with the fact that I am liking him now. Because he’s seeing that he needs to be less of an asshole. And he is showing feelings.
- Max obsessing over the girl and like not knowing how to be human and carry on a relationship. It makes me sad. But I clapped and was proud of her when she opened her mouth and apologized.
- Georgia is growing as a person and you can see that. Which I am loving. I am like is this a great character because you can watch her grow.
- Austin – to me – seems neglected and that saddens me for him. Georgia is trying to be a good Mom, but she’s too wrapped up in herself.
- Paul needs to go. I don’t feel I need to expand upon that. If you need an explanation – you aren’t watching the same show I am.
- Georgia and Joe are the only ship that makes sense.
