After gaining a following on Peacock, the girl band comedy Girls5eva got the boot. It seemed like the two seasons on the emerging platform did not strike a chord with the right audience. However, Girls5eva never dropped in quality – in fact, it’s only gotten better. After moving to Netflix, Girls5eva Season 3 lands in a home where Tina Fey and Robert Carlock have found success. The Meredith Scardino-created show steps back into its groove with an excellent six-episode arc. It’s a fantastic reminder for why we love the joyous comedy.
It’s time for Girls5eva to hit the road, kicking off with multiple shows in Fort Worth, Texas. However, the women have different goals in mind. Wickie (Renée Elise Goldsberry) believes they must capitalize on their momentum and take big swings. Dawn (Sara Bareilles) seeks comfort, especially with her pregnancy. Gloria (Paula Pell) wants to explore her sexual proclivities. Finally, Summer (Busy Philipps) wants to break out of the shadow of her relationship both in style and as a businesswoman. As they face challenges, they navigate potential issues around their bonds and allegiance to the group.
Taking on the same joke cadence of 30 Rock and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Girls5eva Season 3 hits home runs often. Then again, when you take as many shots as the joke-a-minute style allows, there will be some duds. Luckily, Girls5eva hits with jokes on the visual and written front. The turns of phrase used by Goldsberry and Bareilles sometimes take a minute to set in, but they’re also some of the funniest one-liners you’ll hear all year. Allowing each woman to develop their own humor and joke types allows for great character combinations. It chooses to split the group and send them off on side stories to create excitement.
Additionally, the supporting performers – especially Percy (John Lutz) and Gray Holland (Thomas Doherty) – develop their own cadence. Lutz brings some of the energy from his hapless 30 Rock self-named character. However, he delivers far more self-deprecating humor than you would expect. He makes for a fantastic juxtaposition to Doherty playing “the most famous man on Earth.” Doherty also commits to one of the most upsetting visual changes in recent sitcom memory, but his commitment helps him pull off his strange journey.
There’s also a self-knowing streak throughout the show about how business and streaming are all overly connected. Creatives must change and shift to an ever-changing array of business people, undeniably affecting their work. There’s a scene with Goldsberry pitching her self-made documentary to a streaming service that is among the funniest bits of the year.
Meanwhile, Bareilles struggles to embrace the person she was when she achieved fame with her current wants. How does one navigate shame and negative feelings toward your own art? What happens when you grow up but your works represent an era of immaturity? These are complex ideas, and for Girls5eva, it shows mature writers wrestling with their legacies. That’s a huge benefit for the show moving forward. Barreillis nails this emotional arc and once again proves herself as a superb on-screen talent.
Despite a two-year delay, Girls5eva Season 3 plays like gangbusters. The characters at its heart are as funny as ever. Performances from all four women continue to deliver laughs. The writing is tight and hilarious. It’s hard to pinpoint many comedies as funny or consistently relevant about the celebrity experience. Yet because of Scardino, Girls5eva keeps its characters grounded and humbled. We cannot wait to see what’s next for the show or how the group dynamics are set to evolve.
