Sweet Magnolias 2×02 “So Much to Say” brings us back to the good moments for the women at the center of this story, while reminding us that the good moments aren’t always chance, sometimes they take hard work. It also establishes that, while the adults might be finding their way, the teenagers have a long, long way to go.
That’s to be expected, though. We cannot expect Kyle, Annie, Ty or even Jackson to have things figured out yet — though we will say Ty is doing a much better job than anyone else, at least on the personal improvement part. Sweet Magnolias can’t, shouldn’t be treating the journeys of the younger generation just as it treats the journeys of adults. We just hope this show sticks around long enough to tell all the stories the way we want them to be told.
So, let’s go into the candy bracelets, Annie and Ty and Kyle’s attitude as we discuss Sweet Magnolias 2×02 “So Much to Say”:
CANDY BRACELETS
We ended the last episode on a little bit of a sour note for the Sweet Magnolias. That, however, is quickly solved in the way flights between people who love each other should be – with an apology. Dana Sue understands she overreacted, and Maddie apologizes too, for not seeing how Dana Sue was feeling. It’s all very wholesome, and made even more so by Helen sharing the news and the three of them celebrating, together.
That the show didn’t try to milk this disagreement is what sets Sweet Magnolias apart. But Dana Sue’s outburst isn’t really a bad thing, and the show doesn’t make it so. Sure, she could have found better ways to express her feelings. But friendship isn’t about only sharing the good – like Helen’s pregnancy, which the three of them do a perfect job of celebrating. Friendship is about talking through the bad, too. Is about being there for each other, even when it’s hard. Especially when it’s hard.
With the season just getting started, we have no doubt these women will need each other to face whatever life, and TV, throws their way. But we also have no doubt they will be right there to hold each other. And that’s why we’ll be watching.
A LONG, LONG WAY TO GO
If Sweet Magnolias 2×02 “So Much to Say” makes one thing clear about Ty and Annie is that we have a long, long way to go. That should surprise no one, they are kids, and we’d all rather the show didn’t follow the books when it comes to them, so that means they have to find a new way to get them together, a new way for them to learn the lessons they have to learn before they finally get to the place where they can be good for each other.
But they’re both trying, in their own way. Not together, and there’s nothing going on that indicates the show plans to bring them back together anytime soon, but their separate developments are still a great thing to see. Annie continues to be the same kind person she always has been, the kind willing to give people the benefit of the doubt, even when they don’t deserve it. That’s a great trait, but it’s also a bad one. At some point you have to set boundaries for yourself, because those boundaries protect you. If that’s what Annie is trying to do with Ty, so be it – that’s a good lesson for her. That seems to be what she’s going to do with Kyle. And in that regard, we can’t really blame her.
Then there’s Ty, the one who could be the most selfish, but has always been the kindest, most centered kid. He’s always thinking about his mom, to the point where he – like she points out near the end of Sweet Magnolias 2×02 “So Much to Say” – ends up making decisions to accommodate her. And that kind of level of empathy is, again, a good and a bad thing. Maddie needs a kid like Ty, and she deserves a kid like Ty, too. But Maddie and Ty would both benefit from him learning that, sometimes, he’s gotta make decisions for himself. When you want something, you can’t always sit down and wait for it to come to you. Sometimes you gotta go looking for it.
It doesn’t seem like Ty and Annie’s stories are related, not right now. But the lessons they’re both learning are the lessons they need to come together in the future. That’s a good thing. No, a great thing.
YOU GOTTA TALK TO SOMEONE
Kyle is a teenager, Kyle is a teenager, Kyle is a teenager. Repeat to yourself fifty times lest you feel like Kyle is the worst character in the world. He’s in pain and he’s confused. And yes, he’s lashing out and being unfair, but that’s on par for the course for a boy who feels abandoned and alone. The problem, of course, is that it doesn’t seem like he’s going to get better anytime soon. At least not without help.
Which is why it’s really important that Helen brings up therapy. Just as it’s important that Maddie agrees that’s what Kyle needs. There’s some resistance from her, of course. We’re taught we have to fix everything ourselves. And Kyle isn’t happy about it, and has already been talking to someone, presumably Noreen, which is good. Talking to someone is better than not talking to anyone. But he’s still treating everyone around him, including his mom, like crap, and that’s not what family does.
Hurt people hurt people, they say, and that’s what Kyle is doing. And no matter how justified he feels in his pain, the only way he can ever push out of it in a constructive way that doesn’t destroy every one of his relationships, is by talking about it. By getting to the root of his problems. And yes, by communicating with the people he cares about. Seems easy, but often, it’s the hardest thing to do. And when you can’t find your way out of the darkness, well, therapy isn’t just a much better option than doing nothing, it’s the right option.
Agree? Disagree? What did you think about Sweet Magnolias 2×02 “So Much to Say”? Share with us in the comments below!
Sweet Magnolias season 2 is available to stream on Netflix.