‘Good Girls’ Season 1, Episode 2 ‘Mo Money Mo Problems’ Recap: Desperate Times Call For Desperate Measures [SPOILERS]

It seems like there’s another set of problem for these three not-so-smooth-criminals slash moms with guns weekly. On tonight’s “Good Girls” episode, titled “Mo Money, Mo Problems,” desperate times call for drastic measures.
Annie (Mae Whitman), her sister Beth (Christina Hendricks), and their friend Ruby (Retta) attempt to gather $60,000 to pay Rio (Manny Montana), who runs a drug cartel business and owns the money they got from their not-so-successful grocery heist. Like the pilot episode, NBC’s “Good Girls” brought in a mixture of comedy, more tear-jerking scenes accompanied by pitch-black drama, and hints of action (and an angry wife being extremely savage).

Beth as a single mom, Annie hits up Greg

“Mo Money, Mo Problems” opens with Beth, now two days single, traversing her kids’ question about their philandering dad who drained their savings account, buying his mistress lingerie. However, the kids only wanted to know how the remote control works. Not so far from them is Kenny, who’s having a hard time and in desperate need of help for his math homework. Kenny thinks Beth couldn’t help him because she can’t do math (ouch). Luckily, Kenny doesn’t seem to need ‘me’ time and chill in his tree house. Little does he know; his mom is hiding someone in there.

It turns out that the man who tried to rape Beth’s sister, Annie, isn’t dead but held captive and gagged for 48 hours in the tree house. Beth and Annie told Ruby about Boomer. They explained to her what happened and it somehow calms her down—well, not really after her hysterical reaction after seeing the man tied to her friend’s house vicinity (but really, who wouldn’t freak out?).
They went back to the real problem, which is coming up with $60,000 to repay Rio. Having no other source of money rather than tips and minimum wage, Annie was convinced by Beth and Ruby to hit up Greg, Annie’s ex and apparently, the wealthiest person they know.
As she drives through the neighborhood of McMansions, Annie’s forebodings about her task are apparent. She’s with her gender-confused daughter Sadie. Outside the house, Nancy (Sally Pressman), Greg’s new girlfriend, meets them. She told the two to take off their shoes when they enter. Not wasting any time, Annie went to talk to Greg who is at that time cooking fresh pico de gallo. She asks Greg for $60,000 right away, to which Greg replied, “What is the matter with you?” He thinks Annie is using it to hire an attorney for their custody lawsuit. The conversation ended with Annie having not getting a single penny.

At the diner, the three discuss their problem. Annie, Ruby, and Beth are still at a loss about what to do next. Turns out, the gang they owe money to are in a corner booth, observing them. Rio held his gun closer to him, intentionally making Ruby see it. Ruby then told the gang that they don’t have the money yet. Fortunately, Rio gave them a deadline of one o’clock the next morning at Beth’s house.
As the deadline nears, the more desperate they get. Beth sells her ex-husband’s things, including her wedding portrait—which according to her is in a sterling silver frame. Still, the amount she could get is far from how much she needs. After a while, Beth noticed the woman eyeing up her ring. “It was his great-grandmother’s,” Beth told her. “How much do you hate him?” the woman answered.
While Ruby’s husband, who is still clueless about where Ruby got the money they used to buy their daughter, Sarah (Lidya Jewett) an expensive medicine, convinced her that everything will be okay and will work out. It was all that Ruby needed to fuel her hopes up and think of a way out of this mess.

Robbing (again) to pay the money they stole

Ruby went to Beth’s house and told Beth and Annie about her plan. They are going to take Boomer as a hostage (officially) and ask ransom money from the highest bidder, who turns out to be his grandmother, Marion (June Squibb). They found out that the old lady had an impressive amount of fortune in her home, “just like Scrooge McDuck.” Like real criminals, they use a voice-distortion app to call Boomer’s grandma and asked her to drop 60K in the nearby park in exchange for her grandchild. However, Marion never answered her phone.
Apparently, they thought that Marion might not be home, leaving her apartment and all her money, that’s why she’s not answering. They then went to Marion’s with their shades and hoodies. Annie tries to unlock the door as Beth watches a YouTube video tutorial on how to pick locks. To their surprise, the door opens with Marion standing in front of them. Beth’s quick thinking brought them their way in the apartment. She told Marion they are Medicare volunteers to help her with everything she needs.
Beth started dusting the place as Annie and Ruby try to figure out where money is hidden. Beth had the chance to find her way upstairs and finally found the money. She then receives a call from her babysitter, asking her how to turn on the TV. In the background, Beth has a sound of what seems to be a lawnmower. It was her ex-husband Dean, putting some effort to express his apologies to Beth. It then occurred to her that there is a man tied up in his kids’ tree house.

Beth came down as fast as she could. Downstairs, we see Ruby vacuuming while Annie sits pretty on Marion’s couch, eating and looking at pictures. Ruby asked Marion if she’s “going to make the white girl clean as well,” but they were interrupted by Beth. She then tells them about her ex-husband’s possibility of discovering their hostage. “You couldn’t rob the sweet, old, racist lady?” Ruby asked. “We’re robbing lonely old people. This is who we are now?” Beth answered, still in a hurry. An angry Beth then confronts Dean when she got home.
Knowing that they’ve come up short from their deadline, Ruby couldn’t sleep, so she makes lasagnas. This is one heartbreaking montage to watch and it became more emotional when it was followed by Beth, calming her daughter who’s afraid not to see Beth when she wakes up, telling her that “sometimes mommies go away, but they always come back, no matter what.” Annie went to Greg’s, saying to him that she won’t fight him for custody and gave him a rundown of everything that Sadie doesn’t like and like to do.

Hans to the rescue?

Towards the end of the episode, a possible solution was introduced. It comes in the form of Hans—a Hummel figurine which Annie stole from Marion’s apartment and is a super rare treasure they could sell on eBay. Rio knew about this and he wasn’t convinced that the figurines could pay him. He ordered his men to kill the three women, starting from Beth. But Beth, the quick-thinker that she is, told Rio he’s ‘an idiot.’ She said to him that their death would be a big talk of the town as they are women with families tied to the community.
The attention their murder would get will only make his business more difficult. Eventually, they were spared by Rio—at least for now. Beth, Ruby, and Annie then went home to their family. Ruby returned to a tray of mostly eaten lasagna with a note—“We ate all of them. Now you can’t leave us. Love, Your Family.” Annie curls up in bed with Sadie and Googled “badass custody lawyer.” Beth figures out how to work the remote while having some Bourbon.
The episode ends with Beth, happily show her children that she can work the remote. But she couldn’t find Kenny. She then sees Kenny with Rio, who is helping him with his math homework. Beth told Rio that she could work on giving him back the rest of the money, but Rio denied her request. However, saying that Beth is a “basic bitch” gave Rio an idea. “You ladies got passports?” he asks.
“Good Girls” continues Monday, March 12th with “Borderline” at 10/9c on NBC.