Binging Sweet Magnolias seasons two and three is something I did during the winter months. After watching the first season quick and without stopping, I somehow let seeing these seasons slip by. But now I’m all caught up, and as usual, I have thoughts about this latest season.
Sweet Magnolias, Season Three (2023) Netflix TV Show Review
Unsure of what her future holds, Helen (Heather Headley) has a choice to make. This time, she holds the cards. Ryan (Michael Shenefelt) is back, and now wanting children with Helen, he comes with a ring. But then there’s Erik (Dion Johnstone), the guy with the painful past who was there for Helen when she was broken. She also has a full professional life, especially when it comes to helping Cal (Justin Bruening) and the impetuous choices that lead him to complicated legal challenges. Girlfriend Maddie (Joanna Garcia) isn’t sure what’s next for them. But what they both know is they want this relationship to work. Maddie still wants the gig as Cal’s girl, and Cal wants desperately to be better. Not just for his sake, but to be the right guy for Maddie and her three kids.
Finally, there is Dana Sue (Brooke Elliot), busy running her restaurant, she finally commits to repairing her marriage to Ronny (Brandon Quinn). This troubles their teenage daughter Annie (Anneliese Judge), who worries her parents may fight again with her in the middle. Meanwhile, Ty (Carson Rowland) is nearly healed from his injury, but is now contemplating a life without baseball…
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‘SWEET MAGNOLIAS,’ SEASON THREE: GROWTH AND CHANGE FORM SEASON THEMES. The third season review of #Netlifx's drama #SweetMagnolias with #JoannaGarciaSwisher and Heather Headley. #Adaptation #TVShow #Romance #GoodShow Click To Tweet
Like any other season I see of this show, I quite like the third season. It frustrates and charms me in equal measure. There’s good and bad, and there is the usual ups and downs in the relationships. This is one of my biggest pet peeves. When you have so many relationships, which a show like this does, give one of them a stable, steady relationship. In no way does this mean it has to be perfect, just have stability and even if there’s quarrels, I just don’t like having this “feeling” that we’re always on the precipice of the relationship ending. Good writers know how to do this and can do it well. sweet magnolias season three
Like always, I adore the cast and the friendships. I don’t love every character and in particular, never have warmed to Dana Sue. I appreciate that she makes strides towards change in this third year, but the bad part of her personality keeps catching up to her. Maddie is the cute, protective mom we want to get a happy ending, while Helen is the one person I really want to see happy. That said, I lost respect for Helen and gained appreciation for Erik this season. Up until season three, when she stumbles some, she is the one with the level head and the woman who listens to everyone else while she bottles up emotions. I’m not sure what the social consensus is, but I am rooting for Maddie and Cal to work out, too. They, along with almost every other main character this year, grow in ways that is interesting and positive, and I love the themes of this year.
In the end, like any of its prior years, Sweet Magnolias is a sweet show. It has good stories even though it can, like its best characters, stumble here and there.
You can stream Sweet Magnolias season three (plus its prior two years) exclusively on Netflix.
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Content: there is some “winking” references to wanting to have sex, and attraction between adults. A couple leaves for a day away, and we see them lying in bed together (in robes). Another couple starts to have an intimate relationship. There is some profanity but it’s pretty minor. Sweet Magnolias season three is TV-14, and some episodes would even be TV-PG.
I was so frustrated with the way they treated the ladies’ friendship this season. It felt like it came out of nowhere and then was blown out of proportion. And also, poor Erik.
YES! Poor Erik. I love his character so much and am glad he said what he said to Helen and FURTHERMORE that Helen acknowledges that if the roles were reversed she’d be mad. Modern writer’s too often allow women to be upset, vengeful or mad for the same things that they would villainize in men. And I agree. The argument between the ladies was silly. Especially when any one of them doing the same thing to another (in the past) was worked through and accepted.