Analysis of the Good Girls, Annie Marks

Oh Annie, where do I begin with this analysis? Let’s talk about her birth order and being the younger sibling to Beth. Annie doesn’t ever have to fully think things through because Beth has been there solving her problems and taking care of her, her entire life. This allowed her to be more impulsive and less calculated than Beth. While Beth is thinking of tomorrow, Annie is always living in the moment. Sometimes it makes her so much fun, but in the next breath it leads to her repetitive self-sabotaging behaviors.

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Looking at when Annie falls short, fans may have a moment where they think she is clueless, but underneath it all, she’s always had an inner hustler in her. In the flashback, Beth tells Ruby that Annie has been charging kids to jump off their porch and has them believing they can fly. I don’t think any of the girls are 100% street smart, but Annie has the most street knowledge out of the girls. This is because she is the only single mother, and has really had to learn how to cut corners and survive.

Her shortcomings come from her being impulsive and emotional. Maybe it all goes back to “youngest child syndrome,” where the theory states youngest children are attention seekers, risk takers, and spontaneous. Maybe it has to do with Annie telling Ruby in the flash back of their childhood, their mom was in bed when they were trying to drive to get groceries, and when Ruby asked if their mom was sick, Annie responded “she just really likes it there.” Children who don’t have a present caretaker sometimes tend to be more impulsive and unable to regulate their emotions. It also can lead to unstable romantic relationships later in life.

Now that we’ve opened the can of worms regarding Annie’s relationships, let’s dive into that series of train wrecks. I kept seeing fans try to ship a relationship between Annie and the gangster Eddie who broke the kids finger for bullying her son. Let’s talk about why that toxic mash up is not Annie’s cup of tea. I believe the therapist Josh tells Annie she goes after unavailable men. Well this therapist writing the analysis sees something different than therapist Josh. Annie goes after men who have a flaw in their “responsible lives.” Annie loves feeling like she can swoop in and bring a sense of excitement and fun in their life. Annie lives for being the break in people’s normalcy and providing a much needed wild streak, and that’s why she is able to appeal to the men she goes after; even Josh who is in the denial phase of his own countertransference issues. This is why Eddie and Annie did not happen; Annie as exciting as she may appeal to the Greg, Noah, and Josh’s of the world, would have been a blip on Eddie’s radar. What fun would that provide in Annie’s life? She is the corrupter, and she wants to do the corrupting.

Recapping on the idea of her needing to corrupt in her relationships; it’s because it gives her a sense of control. She is constantly butting heads with Beth because she knows deep down inside Beth is in control of the “Good Girls” trio. Beth has probably always been the one in control because she was the older sister, trying to figure things out and make sure the basic needs were might, such as going to buy groceries because their mom wouldn’t get out of bed. She understands that Beth’s intentions are meant for good, so she reluctantly goes with the flow the best she can, but not without throwing in rebellious jabs from time to time.

However, even though Annie does not lead in the trio, she makes it her life’s theme to not live like Beth. She has called Beth’s lifestyle the “Stepford mom without a pulse.” Annie makes it a point to live an unconventional lifestyle. She cannot see herself compromising herself to pretend to be something she is not, and that is okay because her solidarity and independence may be a source of her struggle, but it brings her strength. In a nutshell, Annie is at times childlike, but she is a wild spirit animal in all of us that wants to break free from time to time. The difference is we know how to tame the wild spirit when it rises up, but Annie has not quite found her balance yet.

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