Tracy Oliver is a Hollywood writer who has the distinction of being the first African-American woman to write a film that grossed over $100 million in the box office. That film was Girls Trip (2017), which was directed by Malcolm D. Lee, the cousin to Oscar-winner, Spike Lee, and which put comedian, Tiffany Haddish on the map. Oliver has written for several series, but this one feels like it's been the most personal to her. In a lot of ways, it feels like she took the idea for Girls Trip and turned it into a television program. For this third and final season, Oliver literally takes Girls Trip and uses it for a storyline where the blockbuster flick gets adapted into a Broadway musical. If anything, I hope that Oliver really does put "Girls Trip: The Musical," on Broadway because like in television, even streaming television, Broadway could do for more stories about Black female friendships.
Meagan Good (Shazam! Fury of the Gods and Think Like a Man) stars as Camille Parks, a Black woman who works as a professor at Columbia University. She quit her job though to pursue a career as a writer. She got a book deal to another one. She got a good advance, but she lost her health insurance. This would be fine, if it weren't for the fact that she just learned she's pregnant after her doctor told her she couldn't get pregnant and after she broke up with her boyfriend because she resigned herself to not wanting to be a mother. Her reason for not wanting to have kids might be due to some modern-day concept of de-stigmatizing childlessness, but really it's due to Camille's relationship with her mom not being the best.
Grace Byers (The Blackening and Empire) co-stars as Quinn Joseph, a business owner who leans toward fashion design. This season, she moves into becoming a stylist for celebrities. A lot of this series feels like an all-Black version of Sex and the City (1998), and if so, Quinn is probably more of a "Charlotte," the bubbly type, more happy-go-lucky and the more privileged and pampered person of her friend-group. Yet, sometimes Quinn can be more like a "Miranda" in terms of her being unlucky in the dating department, as well as revealed in And Just Like That (2021), her ability to date both men and women.
The majority of this season, Quinn is deciding about whether or not to pursue a relationship with a man named Seth, played by Kofi Siriboe (Girls Trip and Queen Sugar). Seth is a professional athlete who is very wealthy, probably has tons of endorsements. He's capable of giving her a fairy-tale life, living in the lap of luxury. He can give her anything. The only thing he can't give is monogamy. He describes himself as "ethically non-monogamous." He could also be called polyamorous. There's one scene where Seth explains why he's polyamorous and this idea of having multiple friendships being the basis of having multiple romantic partners. Yet, there is a lot more to unpack there that this series doesn't dive into, but it provides an opportunity for Quinn to decide what she'll compromise or settle for, which is a question for all the women this season.
Shoniqua Shandai (The Obituary of Tunde Johnson and I Am the Night) also co-stars as Angie Wilson, the big and over-the-top sassy friend. She's an aspiring singer and actress who despite being not anywhere near fame still considers herself to be a diva. She gets cast in a Broadway show that adapts Girls Trip. However, she was recently engaged to Mike, played by Luke Forbes (Dog and Crown Heights), a businessman who is very much a traditional guy and a bit conservative in terms of what he wants his wife's role to be. For Angie, it becomes what she'll compromise, either her career or her fiancé.
Jerrie Johnson (Good Trouble) also co-stars as Tye Reynolds, a Black woman who works in the tech industry. She's designed apps but also other things. She seems to be a lesbian or same-gender-loving woman. She reveals though that she never came out to her parents. She merely cut herself off from them. She avoided the conversation and just simply avoided them all together. Her current girlfriend, Eva, played by Gail Bean (P-Valley and Snowfall), challenges her not to avoid such things because it's having an effect on her.
While the series is wonderful in terms of its depiction of modern-day life for Black women in this distinct New York City neighborhood, its ending did disappoint a little. Camille broke up with her boyfriend, Ian Walker, played by Tyler Lepley (P-Valley and The Haves and the Have Nots). This season seemed like it would be about her moving on because he wanted to have children and she didn't. However, she becomes pregnant and learns so, after breaking up with Ian, and after he's moved on to another relationship with Portia, played by Logan Browning (Dear White People and Hit the Floor). This season then seemed as if it would be about how these two would co-parent, while having separate lives.
Unfortunately, this final season isn't about that. Instead, it's about how Camille and Ian are basically the equivalent to Carrie and Big from Sex and the City. Clearly, they would've separated, if not for the fact that Camille got pregnant. I'm not a fan of using pregnancy or a baby in a narrative to bring a couple together romantically. It's a soap opera, hetero-normative cliché that feels incredibly contrived in 2025.
Rated TV-MA.
Running Time: 30 mins. / 6 eps.
Available on Amazon Prime.