Spoiler Alert: This summary and review contains spoilers.
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In the final season of Trinkets you can see there was so much left to cover, but the writers salvaged what plans they could.
| Network | Netflix |
| Creator(s) | Amy Andelson, Emily Meyer, Kirsten Smith |
| Aired | 8/25/2020 |
| Genre(s) | Comedy, Drama, Romance, Young Adult, LGBT |
| Noted Cast | |
| Elodie | Brianna Hildebrand |
| Sabine | Katrina Cunningham |
| Jillian | Chloe Levine |
| Tabitha | Quintessa Swindell |
| Lori | Joy Bryant |
| Whit | Linden Ashby |
| Brady | Brandon Butler |
| Moe | Kiana Madeira |
| Ben | Andrew Jacobs |
| Danny | Andrew Keegan |
| Luca | Henry Zaga |
| Noah | Odiseas Georgiadis |
| Doug | Larry Sullivan |
| Jenna | Dana Green |
This content contains pertinent spoilers.
Season Summary
Season two takes place during the fall and begins within days of the end of season 1. Throughout, we watch as each character tries to heal old wounds, primarily around trust, and prep for their future. With Elodie, this means reconciling, once more, with her father and his new family, and letting go of her need to steal. All the while, after a tumultuous time with Sabine, try to find love with the far less complicated Jillian.
As for Tabitha? Well, dealing with her parents, Lori and Whit, are a minor part of her journey. Mainly she focuses on trying to establish herself as a person, outside of her parents or potential romances, while trying to get Brady permanently out of her life. A task which is hard since he believes her reuniting with Moe is a phase that will soon be over.
Leaving the great and powerful Moe. With her academic position threatened, if not lost, she seems ready to live up to her family’s reputation until her brother, Ben, comes home. Someone who also is struggling with direction in their life but seemingly will gear himself towards the culinary arts. But, while things are okay with Ben, between Noah and the arrival of Moe and Ben’s father Danny, Moe’s focus seems to be about forgiveness and learning how to not hold a grudge as she tries to move on.
Review
Highlights
Elodie and Jillian
Elodie’s whole thing is pretty much being shy, adorable, yet her dark side being shown through her need and enjoyment of stealing. However, while everyone else has long term potential outside of romance, for Elodie, that is the focus – her learning how to be close to people and love again. Enter Jillian, who is equally adorable, and you get a semi-perfect match.
Now, why semi-perfect? Well, because Jillian is in the closet and originally wanted to have a secret relationship. However, the show shifts this to just make it a low key one than Elodie, who has long been out, dealing with someone who can’t handle what other people think.
But, unfortunately, Jillian is a rather basic love interest, and her personal journey towards identifying as a lesbian or bi is all done off-screen. Yet, there is no denying that, her and Elodie, even if we didn’t get to see their full journey together, make for a cute couple.
Tabitha Learning To Stand On Her Own
With that said, we also enjoy the fact we get the rare opportunity to have a female character who decides to forego dating and focus on herself. Mind you, as usual, it is due to realizing that she gets far too consumed in relationships, rather than her just not wanting to be. But beggars can’t be choosy, and Tabitha learning to stand on her own goes beyond being single. It’s also about her embracing her Blackness and really solidifying her relationships with Moe and Elodie despite them not being the cool kids she once was considered.
Add in Tabitha, like Moe, ventures towards a goal, Tabitha being professional photography, Moe being MIT, and you get two young women who sidestep the end game narrative when it comes to many female characters.
There Wasn’t A Lot Of Effort To Complicate Brady
While the show does push that Brady is under immense pressure, it doesn’t try to push you to have sympathy for him or see him as complicated. Brady is a butt wipe, and he stays a butt wipe. Which you have to appreciate for while everyone is the hero of their own story and surely feel the ends justify the means, Brady just being a villain is refreshing. At least in a world that likes to excuse the behavior of white boys and bring up every mental illness or childhood trauma to justify their actions.
On The Fence
Sabine
Sabine’s music once again was a highlight of the show, even in its diminished capacity, but with her just being a spoiler for whatever Elodie had going on, her appearance wasn’t welcomed. I’d even say, after establishing Elodie couldn’t deal with Sabine’s lifestyle, the time Sabine took could have been used to give Jillian some type of shine. At least beyond saying her sister is a drunk and a liar and us getting to know why she specifically was scared to come out.
Moah
The issue with Moah is, like with most love interest, it didn’t allow Noah to grow. Yes, we learned he played piano in band, but his relationship with Moe remained the reason he was relevant and continued to be seen. That is as opposed to maybe how he deals with being Black, or bi-racial, the pressure he is under when it comes to getting into college, or the multitude of avenues that could have been taken.
And don’t get me wrong, I know this show is about Tabitha, Elodie, and Moe, but this is a series and having a series that has paper-thin supporting characters seems a bit wrong.
Certain Things Not Followed Up On
We’re not sure at what point of the writing or even filming everyone was told the second season would be Trinket’s last season, but there are some loose ends here. For one, Luca stole over $10,000 from Tabitha, and while Brady gets his, Luca just drives off with guilt and not much else. Alongside that, we aren’t shown if Danny ever does follow up and improves his relationship with Moe. Instead, we are left to assume, as he did in the past, he made promises he didn’t keep.
Then with Elodie, as much as we highlight and note her main thing was learning to love, trust, and be vulnerable with people, it did seem weird her final scenes were just holding hands with Jillian. Especially compared to Tabitha seeing her work in a gallery or Moe with an MIT sweatshirt studying – thus showing us where they were heading while Elodie’s story is stuck in junior high with no sense of direction left for viewers.
Elodie Growing Closer To Doug and Jenna
When it comes to Trinkets, you may often feel like a lot of things happen behind the scenes. One example being Elodie growing closer to Doug and Jenna, to the point Elodie volunteers to hug Jenna in an episode. This is a little bit frustrating since part of Elodie’s storyline deals with Doug leaving her and her mom for Jenna.
Yet, it’s only in season 1 we see any moves from either to get along. In season 2, Jenna talks Doug down from harsher punishments, but that’s it. There are no conversations with Elodie or any sign they are becoming closer. We just see a random hug that could be a sign that, through Tabitha and Moe, Elodie is letting go of feelings of hate and guilt, but there is always this push and pull for us when it comes to us filling in the blanks vs. the show making something clear.
Overall
Rating: Mixed (Stick Around)
Trinkets was never a perfect show or trying to be one. As with many Netflix originals, it seemed like a show that wouldn’t survive on a network and wouldn’t be worth financing and putting in a lucrative timeslot on a cable network. Yet, there is no denying there should be a joy that it existed. For even if most of the characters lacked development, it introduced you to three young women, all with the charisma and star power to treat this as a launchpad. One they look fondly on while others use it as an example of how writing sometimes matters far more than the actor’s performance.
Hence the mixed label. As a season, season 2 of Trinkets doesn’t feel like a well-built finale, but something put together due to long term plans having to be set aside. But for those who loved the first season, the second one will be a bittersweet goodbye that will make you hope the leads reunite in the future.
Where To Watch
TV Shows We’re Covering This Season
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