Wickie is “the fierce one,” because the monoculture welcomed lame euphemisms for Blackness.
Yes, the 21st century takes a quick dark turn for Girls5eva (and for everyone else).
One bitter break-up and two decades later, Dawn’s a desperate Queens mom managing her brother’s restaurant.
Busy Philipps as Summer, Sara Bareilles as Dawn, Renée Elise Goldsberry as Wickie, and Paula Pell as Gloria in ‘Girls5Eva’.Heidi Gutman/Peacock
Summer’s a lonely Jersey housewife who dreams of being aReal Housewife.
Gloria (now played byPaula Pell) has a solid dental practice but pines for her ex-wife.
They only see Wickie on Instagram, where she advertises her high-flying entrepreneur’s life.
Peacock
“Her shoe line is no.
1 in China,” Summer says, “Andtheyhave the most feet!”
Their shady manager Larry (Jonathan Hadary) doesn’t even bother sending them the resulting low-three-figure royalty checks.
ButThe Tonight Showbooks them for a bit of viral nostalgia.
Is this the start of a comeback?
There never was a famous girl group quite like Girls5eva.
Picture an American Spice Girls, maybe, or an all-female Jive boy band.
It helps that the leads are such different performers.
Scardino won a couple Emmys in herColbert Reportdays, and also worked onThe Unbreakable Kimmy SchmidtandMr.
The catchy theme song by Scardino and Jeff Richmond features the line “So What Are You WaitingFIVE?”
and I laughed every time I heard it, and I just laughed now writing it.
(There are one or two original tunes per episode.)
And the show celebrates the characters' self-nostalgia but also undercuts it.
Can they rewrite their own story by writing their own hit song?
At least,sometimesit challenges it.
It’s a moving subplot, but the episode also soft-pedals history.
That character description is pretty much the entire joke, which feels years late.
This is Wickie’s corner of the universe, as we discover embarrassing secrets of her glamorous Femperor lifestyle.
The depiction of grasping stardom can be sharp.
“Why am I never the one profiting off me?”
Wickie asks, when the world finds another way to make money off her.
ButGirls5evacan also be a way less conceptual hang-out sitcom about forty-something friends with Manhattan-screenwriter problems.
You know: spiffy pants, fedora, the best friend who’s a doorman.
(Also: sitcoms are henceforth allowed just one Peloton joke per season.)
But the first season is only eight episodes long; god, the streaming era sucks.
Beyond the quotable zingers, there’s an interesting paradox built intoGirls5eva’s comedy.
Can these women move forward together?
Or will their reunion leave them even more stuck in their wonderful, terrible past?B+
Related content:
