The Real Villain On Good Girls According To Fans

Throughout its four seasons on NBC, "Good Girls" taught its viewers not to underestimate your seemingly average suburban housewife. The dramedy series follows Beth Boland (Christina Hendricks), Ruby Hill (Retta), and Annie Marks (Mae Whitman) — three moms just trying to make ends meet. When they all become desperate, they decide to rob a grocery store for some quick cash. However, the ill-thought-out decision leads them down a criminal path that is way more than they originally signed up for, and it drastically changes their lives. 

However, this crew's counterfeit money scheme and flirtations with mob boss Rio (Manny Montana) came to an abrupt end when "Good Girls" was canceled after Season 4. "Good Girls" stands out as a comedy because it's a show with very few admirable characters. Indeed, even the protagonists turn to crime because they feel as if they've run out of options. On the other hand, Rio pretty steadily remains the main source of trouble throughout the show's four seasons. Some "Good Girls" fans think that while it's easy to pinpoint Rio as the villain, one other character was just as bad, if not worse.

Shortly before the release of "Good Girls" Season 4, Episode 6 ("Grandma Loves Grisham"), a Reddit user on the r/GoodGirls subreddit shared a meme arguing that Beth's husband, Dean (Matthew Lillard), is actually the real villain of the show. The poster of the meme pointed out that, throughout the series, Dean cheats on his wife, lies to his family about having cancer, and demonstrates an overall inability to be a competent leader or family man. 

In total, this Reddit user summed it all up rather succinctly. U/mrnmrsedwards wrote, "Dean is the scum of the Earth." This led to an interesting discussion that compared Rio's repeated acts of violence to Dean's various transgressions. Few Reddit users were in a rush to discount Rio's serious crimes, but plenty also agreed that Dean represents a genuine villain. "Dean is like dying a death of a thousand freaking cuts," u/MarionberryParty3208 wrote. "Ugh!"

Of course, on a show like "Good Girls," Dean is only one of a number of less-than-praiseworthy individuals. Another Reddit user pointed out that the irony of the series lies in that none of the characters can be archetypically classified as "good." "They're all criminals or scumbags. Except like ... Stan," u/krzyriver wrote, referring to the character played by actor Reno Wilson. 

There certainly seem to be plenty of reasons for fans to dislike both Dean and Rio, and most fans also seemed in general agreement that the show is populated with a bevy of morally corrupt characters.