The 2025 TV schedule has been quick to reward fans of small town drama, as Sweet Magnolias returned in early February for those with a Netflix subscription. While I had several things I wanted from Season 4 of the Serenity, South Carolina-set romance (after a sorta slow start it did deliver, especially with major surprises for Maddie), I wasn’t expecting to really get something out of the season that made me feel good as a Black woman who already loved the show. Let’s take a look at how Sweet Magnolias Season 4 leveled up when it came to its representation of Black women.
(Image credit: Netflix)
Peggy And Helen Were Always Important To Serenity, But They Have Way More Responsibility In Season 4
One of the things that I already loved about Sweet Magnolias was that there was a good representation of a pretty wide cross-section of ethnicities/races/sexual preferences across the board. We had Trotter and his husband Ashley for LGBTQ+ rep (with Isaac’s sexuality being confirmed in Season 4), and numerous characters who weren’t white but were important to both the drama and the town as a whole.
These include Helen, of course, as one of the Magnolias and the main legal ace in town, and also Peggy, who began the show as one of the town’s local newspaper reporters who was in everyone’s business, for better or worse. Season 3 saw the Magnolias realize how corrupt the mayor was, and help get him out of office. Helen then became campaign manager for Peggy, with the latter being installed as mayor by Season 4 and convincing a reluctant Helen to help her overhaul the town’s fucked up finances as interim town manager. And, as we saw, they had a lot of work to do.
(Image credit: Netflix)
It’s Wonderful To See Black Women Being Trusted For Their Political And Business Savvy On A Large Scale
Basically, this meant that two Black women had been entrusted with the future of the town, and after generations of having one corrupt, white family full of shitbirds in charge and doing everything from giving sweetheart deals to their friends to outright stealing town funds. Peggy and Helen were given the reins and trusted for their political and business savvy on a huge scale, when the town could have balked at Peggy as mayor simply because she had no background in politics.
(Image credit: Netflix)
I Also Loved Seeing How The One-Time Frenemies Fully Bonded AND Helped Another Black Woman Rise In Serenity’s Ranks
If you’ll recall, Peggy and Helen were clearly not buddies in Season 1. In fact, it wasn’t until Helen helped Isaac find his birth mother, who turned out to be Peggy (she’d had him in secret in high school), in the second season that the one-time gentle frenemies started to bond. Well, having to handle making budget cuts and finding all of the corruption the previous mayor left behind really saw the two become actual friends. I love Black women being friends and fully supporting one another!
Also, while Henrietta has been around since the first season as the assistant to that long line of Lewis mayors who were slowly running the town into the ground, Season 4 saw the older Black woman (who admitted to being treated like “wallpaper” by those mayors) really step up. But, that was because Peggy and Helen gave her an opportunity to step up, and she did such a good job being “steady, insightful and even innovative,” as Peggy put it, that she and Helen decided to make Henrietta the new permanent town manager. I LOVE Black women helping other Black women rise in the ranks!!
(Image credit: Netflix)
Not For Nothing, But Including Pastor June, There Are Now Four Black Women Helping To Guide A Whole Town
Since the first season, Pastor June has been the spiritual leader of choice for much of Serenity. When Dana Sue and Ronnie got back together, they went to her for relationship counseling. When Maddie was having issues with Cal, she got closer to June and they started hanging out as buddies.
Now, with June still important to Serenity, Peggy as mayor, Henrietta as town manager and Helen as the always brilliant and amazing Helen…there’s a whole (fictional…sigh) town that’s trusted the heart of its leadership to four Black women and it really felt good for us to be seen in those positions of power, kicking ass, taking names and doing it all while looking fabulous!
We don’t know yet if Sweet Magnolias will return for Season 5, but you can bet I’ll be watching if it does!
