Entertainment

Vivian Zink/NBC

The 'Good Girls' Premiere Came With A Possibly Game-Changing Twist

by Megan Walsh

At the end of the pilot episode of NBC's Good Girls, Annie's sleazy boss Boomer attempts to rape her, but the assault was stopped by the intervention of her sister Beth. Though Beth managed to save Annie, she also might have gotten the pair into even more trouble when she cracked Boomer over the head with a bottle of booze, causing him to careen into a coffee table and collapse. So is Boomer dead on Good Girls? What happens to him could change the course of the show going forward.

During the show's first episode, the three protagonists (Beth, Annie, and Ruby) had briefly triumphed over their financial difficulties by robbing a grocery store, but their victory didn't last long. They soon found themselves in debt to a scary group of men with no idea how to repay the money they'd taken. Meanwhile, Annie was being blackmailed by Boomer, who had identified her during the robbery and threatened to tell unless she slept with him.

No one would be sad if Boomer wasn't long for this world, but it's unclear whether he survived being bludgeoned or not. The episode leaves the cliffhanger hanging, so there's a chance Boomer was just knocked unconscious and isn't actually dead. As satisfying as his death would be, Annie and Beth really don't need another problem on their plate.

Even though Episode 1 left the audience squirming, series creator Jenna Bans provided an answer to Variety so you don't have to be too stressed out. She was discussing the notes that the creative team received from NBC during production and explained that in the original pilot, Boomer did die at the end. It was game over for him. But there were two reasons why they decided to leave it open-ended instead. One was that they wanted to give David Hornsby a chance to continue with the show, and the other had to do with making sure the main characters didn't go too far. Bans said:

I think it was a note from [NBC executive] Jen Salke who really felt like that was a step too far to make them just out-and-out murderers, and I think she was right. So now you don't know whether he's dead or alive, but we pulled back on having him killed. I think that Beth used to smash his head with the ceramic top of the toilet — which was maybe a little far. Maybe I was a little too angry when I wrote that. I had to be pulled back a little bit.

A little theft is one thing, especially when you're trying to save your family, but killing a guy is quite another — even if one could argue that the guy in question totally deserves it. Boomer's death would immediately plunge the characters into a world that might be inescapably dark and, according to Bans, they didn't want the women to go full Walter White. She felt they were still good people coming from a good place, which is something they'll struggle with throughout the season.

Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images

Boomer's death would have solved one dilemma: with him gone, Annie's identity would be protected and no one would find out she was involved in the robbery. If he survives being hit with the bottle and crashing through a table, then he will remain a threat that has to be handled. Beth and Annie will have to find a way to keep him quiet about everything he knows, unless some narrative trick takes care of it for them. Boomer could end up in a convenient TV coma or die from hitting the table, not the bottle (a vague distinction that might make Beth feel less responsible).

Regardless of how it all turns out, the cliffhanger accomplished its goal: viewers are definitely going to be tuning in next week to see how it all turns out.

Check out Romper's new video series, Romper's Doula Diaries:

Watch full episodes of Romper's Doula Diaries on Facebook Watch.