Sweet Magnolias season 3 recap guide: All 10 episodes explained

Sweet Magnolias season 3 episode 5 recap

If there was any doubt, it’s confirmed at the top of the episode that Dana Sue and Ronnie are indeed renewing their vows. Before they start planning, Dana Sue has a lot of other items on her plate to get to first including throwing her a sweet 16 party.

Before her party, Jackson shows up to wish Annie happy birthday during the evening hours and gives her a putter as his Putt-Putt queen. She’s understandably disappointed that he’s going to miss her big party, but the show must go on and Dana Sue and Ronnie throw her a beautiful celebration filled with family and friends.

Everything is going swimmingly until Kathy shows up and creates a big scene, claiming Dana Sue stole her brother and restaurant from her and roasting Helen and Maddie.

After their recent setbacks, Ryan suggests he and Helen set some ground rules to help them navigate their new relationship. Helen’s ask is simple: all she needs is for him to want to stay as badly as she wants him to stay. To let Serenity be home and enough.

It doesn’t take long before they have their next fight though. After Kathy’s outburst at Annie’s birthday party, Ryan tries to defend Kathy saying their community can be intimidating. That sits about as well as you might expect and it continues to be clear that the pair might not be in as good of a place as they’re projecting.

As the episode ends, our Sweet Magnolias gather for margarita night at Helen’s and she quickly catches them up on CeCe moving in and her relationship woes with Ryan. This is when things become unexpectedly heated when Maddie justly asks if Helen is happy.

Helen immediately goes on the defense and Maddie rightfully reminds Helen and Dana Sue both how they had no problem sharing thoughts about her relationships, but she listened and learned rather than turning them away.

Dana Sue tries to defuse the situation, but when she tells Maddie to drop it and makes a comment that the answer is clear she too enters Helen’s line of fire. Dana Sue clarifies that between the awkward exchanges during their double date and Helen’s reaction to the question about her happiness, it is clear. Rather than talking through things, Helen tells her friends they need to leave bringing an abrupt end to their night.

Odds and Ends From the Episode

• As hinted at in the previous episode, Noreen accepts a job at the Corner Spa running their new daycare program.
• CeCe moves into Helen’s and begins to settle in.
• Vernon Hall has stepped in as temporary mayor and turns to Maddie for help prioritizing where he should focus his attention first.
• Ty begins to take on a heavier class load at school as he begins prepping for college, but begins to question whether he might have walked away from baseball too easily and for the wrong reasons. He has identified a prospective school though, and asks Cal for help in telling his mom about the decision.
• Speaking of Ty, after Annie’s party, he takes her to see Jackson and it’s hinted that Ty might be harboring some feelings for Annie.
• While enjoying the party, Dana Sue, Maddie, and Helen discuss the money left by Miss Frances again and the trio comes up with the idea of starting a foundation to help Serenity.
• Kyle finds out about Nellie’s family moving and he decides to write her a letter
• Jeremy the hot farmer Dana Sue had an almost-fling with, returns looking fresh with a new haircut.
• Peggy brings some friends to Sullivan’s to enjoy Isaac’s talents. After enjoying their meal, she makes a sweet gesture in telling him she wanted to introduce her friends to her special friend who made the delicious meal they were raving about.
• Kathy attempts to lure Erik to Z’s full-time. As he’s pondering the decision, he meets a woman named Genevieve and they seem to hit things off. Earlier in the episode, Erik was confiding in Howie how he’s still hung up on Helen, so could this be the rebound he needs to begin moving forward?