Ginny and Georgia’s Brianne Howey on Georgia’s Arrest, Wedding, More

The following post contains spoilers from season 2 of Ginny & Georgia.

Can’t get enough of Ginny & Georgia after bingeing season 2? Us Weekly is breaking down the biggest twists and turns with Brianne Howey after the Thursday, January 5, drop.

The second installment of the Netflix series picked up where season 1 ended — with mother-daughter duo Georgia (Howey) and Ginny (Antonia Gentry) on the outs after the teenager discovered her mom had killed her stepfather Kenny before their move to Wellsbury. While it took several episodes for Ginny to warm up to her mother again after she ran away with brother Austin (Diesel La Torraca) to her dad Zion’s (Nathan Mitchell) place, Howey wasn’t too worried that the duo would make amends.

“With Georgia, this is a woman with a plan and where there’s a will, there’s a way. Once Georgia sets her mind to something, it might take a minute, but there was nothing Georgia was more determined to do than get back on track with Ginny,” Howey told Us.

Their reconciliation is emotional — and so is the majority of the season as Ginny engages in self-harm. Howey praised her on-screen daughter’s work in the heavy scenes.

“I think we already have this history between not only our characters but ourselves as friends and as actors,” she explained. “And luckily with Toni, I just feel like we have such a safe space with each other that we’re really able to kind of jump right into the deep end with some of these incredibly difficult scenes and have these really nuanced conversations surrounding really, really difficult subjects. I’m super grateful to her for that. She’s also just a wonderful scene partner who’s always present and there for me. So the second we both get there, we’re kind of locked and loaded and it’s a safe space to play and take risks and I know that we have each other’s backs, so that always helps.”

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As Ginny gets help, her therapist has Georgia join one session, a big moment for Howey and the character.

“It’s an eye-opening, huge, huge breakthrough moment for Georgia to begin to see A) Ginny as someone other than a mini-me version of Georgia. And B) to see Ginny as this adult who’s growing up and has her own thoughts and opinions that are incredibly valid and Georgia has to try really hard to stop and listen and understand,” she noted.

Outside of motherhood, Georgia spends season 2 gearing up to marry Paul (Scott Porter) while trying to keep her secrets (including Kenny’s murder and framing Austin’s father, Gil) hidden from her soon-to-be spouse. The season 2 finale features their wedding — complete with an over-the-top dress — that is ruined after the vows when Georgia is arrested for the murder of Tom Fuller. (Georgia kills frenemy Cynthia’s terminally ill husband after learning Cynthia blocked Gil’s application to move to Wellsbury.)

“Did you believe it? She’s coming from a good place. She’s trying to put this man out of his misery and she’s trying to help this woman move on and not feel guilty about it and try to keep this pristine image of Zach’s father for Zach. But yes, that’s exactly what ruins the house of cards,” Howey told Us of her reaction to Georgia finally getting caught for a crime.

The dress, meanwhile, required the actress to have “more fittings for that dress than I’ve had for anything in my entire life.”

“I remember the day Sarah Lampert, our creator, texted me saying, ‘I think I want Georgia to have a blue dress.’ And I thought it was the most perfect genius idea. I had just gotten married,” Howey continued. “So I had all these wedding dresses on my mind and not a single one I thought could work for Georgia because they were two simple, too understated. There was no dress I ever came across that I thought would do Georgia’s wedding justice. So once she said she knew she wanted a blue one, I knew we were on the right track. And then they found this epic, I don’t know, 10-15 foot train ball gown that was so big that Ginny didn’t even fit in the aisle.”

Ginny & Georgia is streaming on Netflix. Scroll through for more from Howey:

Credit: COURTESY OF NETFLIX © 2020

Ginny’s Relationship With Zion

“I love the dynamic between Zion and Ginny. It’s so fun watching their scenes throughout the season,” Howey told Us, adding that Zion thought keeping Ginny’s self-harm from Georgia was “the right thing in that moment.”

She added: “He has his own relationship with Ginny, aside from Georgia, as he should. He’s her father and he really didn’t wanna break that trust, and maybe if Zion and Georgia were still together, he would’ve shared that with Georgia. But I kind of respect that he didn’t tell her, especially because Georgia — as we know — tends to meddle. I think they both feared what Georgia would do if this was put in her own hands.”

Credit: COURTESY OF NETFLIX © 2020

Georgia in Therapy

The actress “loved” seeing her character in therapy with her daughter.

“I also love seeing and playing Georgia when she’s super out of her element and sitting in this environment where she’s talking about mental health, especially with a professional. These are luxuries Georgia’s never been afforded because she’s so stuck living in survival mode that she truly has to live minute to minute,” Howey noted. “And stakes are so high and everything is life or death for Georgia, and she’s tangled this web of deception that she has to maintain. So, she’s never had the opportunity to go to therapy to sit and self-reflect, to be introspective. And she, obviously, has so many social and cultural blinders that there’s nothing Georgia could use more than some healthy tools as opposed to a lot of these unhealthy tools that she falls back on. But these are the only tools that she has.”

Credit: COURTESY OF NETFLIX © 2020

Georgia and Joe’s Moment

After what felt like forever for some fans, Joe (Raymond Ablack) realized during season 2 that he met Georgia when they were kids.

“I think we needed it. There’s been all this tension building up for almost two seasons at this point because it happens near the end of the season, and I think it feels really earned and there’s such a nice payoff,” Howey said. “But it’s also heartbreaking because Georgia is a woman with a plan, and she’s stuck in this survivor mode and she just needs to take care of her family. The thought of entertaining anything with Joe would almost feel selfish in a way because right now, all she can think about is her children and she needs to protect them and move forward with this plan with Paul.”

Credit: COURTESY OF NETFLIX © 2020

Georgia’s Wedding to Paul

Howey admitted that she was “100 percent” surprised that Paul still wanted to marry Georgia after her various confessions about her past.

“I know Paul is so incredibly charming, and I love his relationship with the kids and he’s so earnest and thoughtful. He’s an incredible man for Georgia to have in her life,” she added. “I feel like she’s so lucky to have someone as stable and thoughtful and considerate as he is and patient.”

Credit: Amanda Matlovich/Netflix © 2022

Austin Shooting His Father

After a wild scene in which Austin shoots his father, Gil (Aaron Ashmore), to protect his mother, Georgia makes it clear to her son that he’s still allowed to love his dad.

“I think it’s really, really important to Georgia that Austin feels he can respect and love his dad. I think Georgia knows from, unfortunately, not having that relationship with either her mother or her father or any parental figure in her life how traumatizing it can be when you don’t have that love and support or when your idea of them is so tarnished or when you see them for who they really are,” Howey said. “And these are a lot of traumas Georgia’s had to deal with. And Georgia’s main motive in life is to make sure that her kids have a better upbringing in life than she ever had. So if part of that is pretending that their dad is maybe someone that he isn’t — although, of course, Gil does love Austin, but he has plenty of his own imperfections and faults that are very scary — it [is] just incredibly important to Georgia. And I’m grateful that she was able to put herself aside and realize that that’s what’s most important for Austin in that moment.”

Credit: Amanda Matlovich/Netflix © 2022

Georgia Killing Cynthia’s Husband

While Georgia is no stranger to murder, it was a shock for the character to kill Tom in order for Cynthia and her son, Zach, to get closure amid his terminal illness.

“Georgia has always desired protection in her life. It’s the one thing she’s never really been afforded ever since she was a child. I don’t think she’s ever felt like people were looking out for her, protecting her. She sort of fell through the cracks of society, of the system and she’s paid the price for all of that,” Howey explained of Georgia’s motive. “And knowing that Cynthia rescinded Gil’s application to live in Wellsbury, to her, was the most beautiful act of kindness and protection that Georgia’s probably ever felt. So in Georgia’s mind, she wanted to rescind this painstakingly long grief and trauma that Cynthia and her son are feeling, which sort of circles back to Georgia, worried about Austin’s idea of Gil and now Zach seeing his father in this really heartbreaking light that she wants to return the favor.”

Credit: COURTESY OF NETFLIX © 2020

Best Pop Culture Reference (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)

In a similar fashion to season 1, season 2 of Ginny & Georgia had plenty of pop culture references to unpack. Howey loved Georgia’s nods to Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Cher when Ginny started dressing edgier.

“I like when she pulls out the Buffy the Vampire Slayer reference,” she said. “And the Cher reference when she’s like, ‘You’re just gonna show up and be mysterious with an air of whatever.’ Those were great when Ginny’s going through her wardrobe transformation.”