The Girlfriend: Season 1 – Review and Summary

The Girlfriend is the type of thriller that will make you stay up past midnight, damn, going to work tomorrow, to finish.

ByAmari Allah Hours Posted on
Title Card - The Girlfriend Season 1 (Prime Video)

Spoiler Alert: This summary and review contains spoilers.

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The Girlfriend: Season 1 Details

Season 1 Summary

Cherry (Olivia Cooke), a working-class young woman, has ambition. She works hard in the realty industry to move up in the world and wants to date men who have money and a network to further her career. Enter Daniel (Laurie Davidson), whose father works in real estate, mother in the art world, and to note, Daniel pursues her. However, Cherry, insecure about her background, spends money she doesn’t have to try to fit in and tells lies to seem worthy of the life Daniel is introducing her to.

Laura (Robin Wright), Daniel’s mom, is the only one not necessarily charmed by Cherry, and with an unhealthy relationship with Daniel, in terms of how close they are and how she wants them to stay, Cherry was always on thin ice. Which makes Cherry’s lies and omissions being discovered all Laura needs. But, as she soon finds out, Cherry isn’t some regular social climber or gold digger, and Laura will have to work hard to remove her from Daniel’s life.

Review

Highlight(s)

How The Show Splits Cherry and Laura’s Perspective For Most Of The Season [86/100]

For the majority of the show, though it slacks off a bit towards the latter half of the season, things are split between how Cherry perceived a situation and how Laura perceived a situation. This creates an unreliable narrator means of storytelling, for you never know who is telling the truth, or the reality of what happened, since The Girlfriend is strictly from the point of view of these two ladies.

This makes it so something can be seen as an accident, or done on purpose, cheeky or malicious, and the way things are often set up, you may find yourself laughing or in shock about how someone believes something went. Then, add in the setup between going from one perspective to the next, it leads to there usually being two cliffhangers per episode.

And of course, using this narrative also allows you to get to know the ladies individually, which makes it so that, as noted in the next topic, you can’t unquestionably say either was in the wrong, especially when they were reacting to a threat, or perceived threat.

To A Point, Neither Cherry Nor Laura Being An Outright Villain [84/100]

Both Laura and Cherry do some heinous things. Sometimes off-screen, even before the events of the show, and other times, you are just looking at them, wondering if the hate is truly at that level? As of the posting of this review, the show hasn’t come out yet, so I can’t give the specifics I want, but let’s just say Laura goes further verbally, and Cherry escalates things in her actions, but they match energy in such a way that neither one comes off looking like a saint.

Yet, at the same time, you get it. For Laura, Daniel is her only child, her relationship with her husband isn’t in the best place, and while she has a best friend, whose daughter is like her child, Daniel is her only living, biological offspring. So when it comes to another woman potentially taking his time and attention, it can’t just be anybody.

Like most parents, Laura has poured into her son, and with Daniel being a doctor? Oh, she knows that man is a catch. Add in that he comes from wealth, isn’t building wealth, and has some dating experience, amongst other things, she knows her son is better than most men out here, for she has enjoyed what he can offer, as a mother.

Then with Cherry, let’s be real here: Can she come off as a gold digger or social climber? Yes. However, she is shown to be ambitious. She is one of the top real estate agents at her job, and honestly, damning her for wanting better should mean damning Daniel for wanting someone beautiful who enjoys sex as much as he does. Is it really superficial or just wanting someone who is unquestionably attractive?

On top of that, I’d submit that Daniel is the type who likes being fussed over to a point, and his mother set the standard for him. So, in some ways, you can see him, by not really putting his foot down early on, relishing in this a bit, until it is clear things are getting serious with Cherry, or the beef between his mom and girlfriend is getting to the point he can’t remain neutral.

On The Fence

The Supporting Characters Feel Underdeveloped and Underwhelming [77/100]

From Laurel’s husband, Howard (Waleed Zuaiter), best friend Isabella (whose name I don’t think is uttered once – I had to check IMDB to make sure), and even Isabella’s daughter Brigette (Shalom Brune-Franklin), you may feel they are done a disservice by only existing to provide commentary on Cherry and Laurel’s beef. Isabella (Tanya Moodie) is touted to be someone flirty, uninhibited, with multiple ex-husbands – a fascinating character. But she doesn’t evolve beyond being the best friend. You don’t even learn how she and Laura became friends or how Isabella affords her lifestyle.

Then, with Howard, there is the same issue of feeling he doesn’t get to truly evolve and be seen as an individual, except when he disagrees with Laura. Now, unlike with Isabella, we do learn how he made his money, but at the same time, it is partly to build up Laura as a character.

Yet, there are some aspects of Howard’s life you’d likely love to hear more about, that could lead to you giving him the side eye, but they are utterly omitted from the show. If not, better said, hinted about enough to know it exists, but because the show is about Cherry and Laura’s perspective, you never get the details you may crave as you get adjusted to Cherry and Laura’s drama.

The Ending [73/100]

Let me be clear, the build-up to the ending is wonderful, and will make you sacrifice being well-rested to know how this season ends. However, the last few scenes will leave you in a place where you are likely to be frustrated, as the show sidesteps answering questions it creates through omitting details.

Again, the show isn’t out yet, so I can’t get into specifics, but I will admit how things end isn’t bad enough to ruin the journey you went on, but it can feel like they ruined how perfect this could have been by not giving the final episode five or ten more minutes to explain things.

Overall

Our Rating (80/100): Positive (Watch This)

Truly, that ending knocked this show down a bit, as well as not giving us just a bit more from the supporting characters who genuinely came off as too interesting just to provide commentary to the main storyline. But, in defense of The Girlfriend, it is rightly done at a tight six episodes and ends right as things are getting to the point of ridiculous between Cherry and Laura.

Hence, the positive label: The Girlfriend is the perfect binge-watch show, especially if you have someone in your life who makes commentary. I’m talking, this is the type of show to watch with some snacks, a few drinks, and being ready to be shocked, entertained, and hoping there is a season 2, since there are things unresolved that you refuse to believe won’t be touched, since this is touted as a mini-series.

Video Summary/ Review Text

  1. Intro Slide
  2. Summary: Cherry and Laura have a vested interest in Daniel, as both see them as the love of their life, but with Cherry being a potential girlfriend while Laura is Daniel’s mom.
  3. Summary: From the start, the two have a rough relationship as they vie for Daniel’s attention, and as time goes on, working-class Cherry goes into debt and tells multiple lies to try to fit in.
  4. Summary: But, rather than see Cherry’s lies as a working-class girl insecure about being amongst the wealthy, Laura takes this as a reason to ruin Cherry in the eyes of Daniel to keep him all to herself.
  • Review: The Girlfriend is one of those shows you need a free day to watch, since having to split this up into multiple days, even if just two, will frustrate the hell out of you.
  • Review: The battle for Daniel that Cherry and Laura have is just too good, and with the show splitting things between both of their perspectives, it gives you two cliffhangers per episode to keep you engaged.
  • Review: Then, add in all the things Cherry and Laura do to get the other to back off, or to try to eliminate them as a problem, and it is all just so juicy.
  • Review: Though, unfortunately, the supporting characters don’t get their due and often have very little development beyond who they are and their purpose in either Cherry’s or Laura’s life.
  • Review: Also, despite an unquestionably wonderful build, the final scenes could leave you frustrated, as there is a major omission.
  • Overall (80/100): The Girlfriend is probably going to be one of the best thrillers/dramas of the year, and with a tight six episodes, it delivers most of what you need, sans its handling of supporting characters and an iffy ending.

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Amari is the founder and head writer of Wherever-I-Look.com and has been writing reviews since 2010, with a focus on dramas and comedies.