Good Girls Revolt Series Premiere Plot Summary:
Patti Robinson (Genevieve Angelson), a researcher for News of the Week, helps break a story about a riot at a music festival across the country. Newcomer Nora Ephron (Grace Gummer) quits after only two days because at News of the Week “girls do not do rewrites” and she’s determined to find somewhere she can write.
I didn’t think I was going to like Good Girls Revolt. I wanted to like it. But I kept my expectations low because, from the preview, I was afraid it was going to be just a knock off Mad Men. But it wasn’t. Though it does have the same vibe of a period piece drama following the discrepancies in the working lives of men and women, Good Girls Revolt is more heavily focused on the women trying to affect the change rather than the men who are dealing with the change around them.
I thought the pilot episode introduced us to our key players well. It was jammed packed with storylines but it never felt cluttered and characters never felt lost. Good Girls Revolt is a very self explanatory title. It gives a quick and easy insight into what this show will be about and first episode did an excellent job of dropping seeds of discontent without jamming it down our throats. Change happens slowly and then all at once.
The women who already work at News of the Week, Patti and Jane (Anna Camp) specifically, are locked on to their roles. They want to be the best. But only the best researchers, they don’t seem to fully strive for reporter. Cindy (Erin Darke) has come to terms that she has one year to write stories and work, until her husband finishes law school and they start a serious family. Nora Ephron is different. She calls out the tension between Jane and Patti saying, “It’s like you guys are fighting over the lower bunk bed in jail, who gets to make the guys who are writing the story look better.” Nora is my favorite character. She knows what she wants and she’s not going to let anything stand in her way, as well as the fact that in just two days she’s made an impact on the other women working at News of the Week. Nora has put the wheels in motion.
There were some cringey moments. They were, of course, relevant because this is what women had to contend with. Wick McFadden (Jim Belushi) yelling “Alright, I need a honey to run down to photo and give Ned a heads up” makes me shudder. Cindy realizing her husband poked a hole in her diaphragm, removing her right to her own body, was rough. Becoming pregnant, especially in that time, was basically a death sentence to your career. That choice was slyly and forcibly taken from her by a person who is supposed to love and respect her. Thankfully she got her period at the end of the episode, but this now leaves Cindy with the knowledge her partner would sabotage her and her body.
Good Girls Revolt has started off well. The pilot introduced likeable, rounded characters and a cause to rally behind. It also doesn’t hurt that the soundtrack was really awesome. Thank God for batch dump seasons because I’m going to go watch the next episode or five.
