Sweet Magnolias

 With the new online TV options, Netflix is one of my favorites.  I like it because they have something for every mood and usually a great watch.  I am from the South, so of course I love a good ole southern theme but I am really critical because sometimes we are portrayed in a bad light.  We get a bad wrap, like we are some hillbilly from deliverance and the actor's twang is twrong.  

I chose to check out Sweet Magnolias because with a title like that, it is most definitely southern.  There is not anything more southern than a magnolia, well maybe a biscuit, with gravy. So I didn't even watch the trailer, I hit play.

The show's premise is about three women who were childhood friends and their lives in adulthood.  I love that the three women are all strong, independent women.  They each hold their own in the show and have a part that fits them.  

The lead is JoAnna Garcia, she plays Maddie.  She is a bit naive but grows as a character with each episode.  Yes, I binged watched every episode of the first season after the first.  She like a lot of women, was married to an ass.  Her Ex doesn't have a huge roll in the series and I am okay with it.  He has an affair with a young girl and gets her pregnant.  The first time I saw the young girl, I kept asking myself, who is this?  It is Jamie Lynn Spears and I have to say, she does a great job as the country bumpkin pregnant by another woman's husband, character.  

Helen is one of my favorite characters played by Heather Headley.  She is very dimensional.  We see so many layers to her.  It is fun watching them fall away and she comes to life a little bit more each episode. She is tough, smart and in charge but there is more to her than that and I enjoy watching that develop.

And I can't say enough about Brooke Elliott, Dana Sue.  Okay with a name like Dana Sue, you are from the South but Dana Sue reminds me of someone who didn't live in the south and is a transplant or portraying the NEW SOUTHERN woman, simply because she doesn't take a back seat to anyone and early south women were supposed to be seen and not heard.  Dana Sue, is anything but that.  I love her powerful personality and how she really commits to her character.

With all that said, season two has already came out and yes, I have seen them all and waiting patiently for season 3.  I didn't talk much about the men in Sweet Magnolias.  They are all good looking, so the ladies will love and love to hate them but the substance that makes it magic is the balance of southern charm and grit by the ladies. 

5 Red Hots 

By: Lori Walker Sartain