(Credits: Netflix)

Ginny and Georgia has finally released its third season on Netflix, after a groundbreaking cliffhanger climax in its second season back in 2023. Mostly viral for cringeworthy dialogues and overdone teenage angst, the recent season really left the audience unexpectedly impressed. The third season took a whole new turn with an even deeper dive into themes that it is known to address, such as teenage mental health and addiction, sexuality, generational trauma, and racism, among others. Alongside, a major plotline took on a new theme, which brought a fresh perspective on it, too. Sensationalisation and trial by media gave many viewers a reality check on the brutality of public scrutiny and opinions. 

The second season ended with Georgia being arrested at her wedding on charges of murder. The third one begins with the situation being a local Wellsbury controversy. Being driven mainly through gossip and speculation, there’s not much fuel to it. There’s tension, whispering and staring as her family goes about their business, but not much beyond that. But everything spirals out of control when she is accused of being a serial killer on the first day of her trial: one statement turns the entire case around. 

A local town’s mayor, accused of murdering a resident’s ailing husband, is not that big a deal. It does not even make the local newspaper. Until the seemingly perfect young wife of the mayor is accused of killing three of her previous husbands and possibly her current one. That is when the phones begin ringing as hungry reporters pry for any new piece of information. And it does not stop.

Privacy is not even a consideration for her family, as her teenage daughter is cornered by a local reporter at her school, and personal and insensitive questions are thrown at her. Under the false pretence of voicing their side of the story, the reporter attempts to salvage the situation. In no time, the controversy turns into a scandal as national news channels pick it up, and a label is attached to the new trending piece of news, ‘Mayoress Murderess’. The courtroom is now filled with flashes and cameras. 

The trial is sensationalised by the media with its labels and twisted takes. Her house is surrounded by reporters who prod her family with cameras and mics, for any minuscule reaction that they can exploit for the next headline. ‘The Black Widow’ does rounds as a nickname for Georgia; her gender is sensationalised, with a special focus on the rarity of female serial killers. Her image as the perfect young mother of two, which had been her strongest armour, is used against her. 

The show touches upon the brutality of these themes from the perspective of those who face these flashes. The invasions of privacy and the insensitive approach to the news and their lives are ingrained into the media coverage. Any past piece of information about their personal lives is exploited to further sensationalise. Social media furthers this cause when an old video of Ginny performing a personal poem at an open mic goes viral. Even a teenage girl is not left out of the brutality of the trial by the media. It pushes her to the edge as she nearly relapses into self-harm.

Georgia’s character is broken apart piece by piece, as a psychologist is called on stage to diagnose her with various mental disorders to fit into the tag of a serial killer. She hits rock bottom on hearing traumatic incidents of her past resurface as trivialised excuses to bolster accusations.

In a subtle but moving scene, when Georgia is separated from her children and forced to keep no contact, she and Ginny connect, not directly or personally, but rather through the internet, when they consume the same content online that discusses the trial. They want to protect each other from the same, but cannot help but consume that very content. They are both at the peak of their vulnerability. The media does not stop at anything to exploit this trending news. The entertainment media announces a TV show that covers her life in a crude and whitewashed manner. 

Media trials are disguised witchhunts which brutally break down the humanity of an individual. Public scrutiny is powered by the prejudices that exist in society, and the media just exploits the same through sensationalisation. Ginny and Georgia approach this subject in a nuanced and sensitive way that reflects on the effects on the mental health of those who face it. And even attempts to dissect the roots of such occurrences with nuance that was hitherto unexpected from the show, garnering a new light in which to view it.