Sweet Magnolias season 3 revolves around Kathy’s return as well as Maddie, Helen, and Dana Sue’s romantic relationships. The three women must face various challenges without letting them affect their friendship. The season is now streaming on Netflix.
Story
Maddie discovered the secrets from Cal’s past in the second season. While she is not happy about him hiding things from her, she still wants to support him as he tries to sort everything out.
Helen cares about Erik a lot, but she has always loved Ryan. Now that Ryan wants to marry her and have children with her, Helen thinks about giving her relationship with Ryan a second chance, but that would mean losing Erik.
Miss Frances left Dana Sue a lot of money, and now she must find a way to use it for the betterment of the community. Furthermore, the return of her evil sister-in-law, Kathy, threatens the happiness that she has found with Ronnie and Annie.
Like everyone in Serenity, life seems to be moving forward for the three friends. However, to get to their happy ending, there are issues that they must deal with, and in the process, they must try not to lose everything that they hold dear, including their friendship.
Performances
The three lead actors deliver adequate performances. JoAnna Garcia Swisher makes Maddie a likable character, even when she is unnecessarily trying to help everyone. The actor plays Maddie as a woman who is willing to learn and grow.
Brooke Elliott, who plays Dana Sue, convincingly depicts her character’s emotions. Elliott embraces Dana Sue’s character to the point where it seems like the character was written with her in mind.
Heather Headley as Helen portrays her character’s intense emotions without the need for too many words. Helen’s unhappiness and uneasiness are very evident when she is with Ryan, and the moment her relationship ends, it all turns to anger within seconds.
As this is the show’s third season, the three lead actors have adapted to the roles quite well. The same cannot be said about their chemistry. It is not bad, but it is not great either; it is simply average.
The antagonist in this season is Kathy, played by Wynn Everett. Sometimes, Everett does seem like a conniving woman, but she never seems to be a threat. She is too subdued to be fierce.
Positives
In a drama that focuses on all kinds of relationships, Dana Sue and Ronnie’s romance grows on the audience. The small efforts that they put in to make their relationship work eventually turn into grand gestures that are heartwarming.
The show presents a world that, unlike the real world, promises a happy ending for everyone. The show never pretends to be anything other than a light-hearted drama and delivers exactly what it promises.
Negatives
In this season, nothing much happens in the first five episodes, as the plot develops at a snail’s pace. The show depends too much on familiar characters and sweet relationships, which end up looking inauthentic, to entertain the audience, but it does not work.
As stated above, the show strongly believes in happy endings. At times, the happy ending comes at the cost of character development. Characters changing drastically, and unconvincingly, overnight makes it seem like not much effort was put into storytelling.
Despite everything, if the audience tries to get invested in the plot, the dialogues do not let them. Every conversation sounds like it has been taken from a self-help book. The dialogues of every character are too polite, too measured, and too unrealistic.
Verdict
The third season of Sweet Magnolias gets too sweet at times, and it does not have much to offer. It is a light-hearted drama that might appeal to the fans of the show, but not everyone will like it.
Also Read: Sweet Magnolias season 3 summary and ending explained
