Girls5eva season 3 review: Netflix brings back an insanely fun show
The streamer saves this pitch-perfect musical comedy from cancelation
A TV world without Girls5eva sounds dull as hell. And if it were up to Peacock, that’s the reality everyone would be living in. Thankfully, after the show was unceremoniously canceled two seasons in, Netflix renewed Meredith Scardino’s ingenious musical comedy. Its third season, which premieres March 14, instantly proves why it was worth saving, serving up a mix of laugh-out-loud jokes, delirious original songs, extraordinarily funny performances, and crafty cameos.
The beauty of Girls5eva lies in how it embraces absurdity. Here’s a TV show that confidently knows its voice and therefore doesn’t struggle to sustain it. In fact, the dialogue, characterizations, soundtrack, and sets only get better and more eccentric here. There’s a constant barrage of one-liners that don’t overpower the storytelling like they often did in season one, when Girls5eva relied a bit too much on its jokes. And if season two nailed a sweet spot between being snappy, stupid, and somewhat sentimental, the six new episodes continue to perfect that rhythm.
Script-wise, Scardino wisely stays in the same quirky vein as Netflix’s Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, the hit she wrote for that was co-created by Girl5eva producers Tina Fey and Robert Carlock. There are tonal similarities to Fey’s work, including 30 Rock and the criminally underrated Great News. So for fans of this peculiar style of humor, Girls5eva is pretty easy to love. And if you’ve made it to season three, you know the biggest bonus is the beautifully unhinged original songs, courtesy of musician Jeff Richmond and lyricist Scardino. The title track, “Famous 5eva,” is un-skippable, as are other earworms like “4 Stars,” “Big Pussy Energy,” and “Bend Not Break.”
Season three delivers more bangers: Busy Philipps croons about watching but not understanding The Witcher, Sara Bareilles has another power ballad, a new cast member sings “Inside My Sweater,” and, best of all, there’s an ode to Fort Worth, Texas. (“Cowtown is a Wowtown with a walkable downtown / Tap into your Fort Worth.”) Yeah, it’s ridiculous, but that’s not to suggest the show doesn’t have something worthwhile to say. Girls5eva, after all, is about four members of a ’90s one-hit-wonder girl band who reunite for another shot at fame. To do so, they have to constantly update their musical sensibilities while shedding past misogynistic experiences. Somehow, Girls5eva navigates those sensitive issues with breezy commentary.