Bill Townsend Isn’t the Villain ‘Sweet Magnolias’ Wants Him to Be

Invoice Townsend (Chris Klein) has actually made a multitude of issues for most of the residents of Serenity, South Carolina, in Netflix’s Sweet Magnolias, particularly his family. This small-town doctor and so-called household man has been a damaging drive all through the sequence. When the story begins, it’s contemporary on the heels of Invoice dishonest on his spouse Maddie (JoAnna Garcia Swisher) with nurse Noreen (Jamie Lynn Spears), the latter of whom will get pregnant on account of their affair.

So, by his personal twisted sense of logic, the accountable factor for Invoice to do is to go away Maddie and their three youngsters — Tyler (Carson Rowland), Kyle (Logan Allen), and Katie (first performed by Bianca Berry Tarantino, later recast with Ella Grace Helton) — and suggest to Noreen, a lady he doesn’t actually love. And this all occurs earlier than the occasions of the sequence premiere. From right here, the wreckage from Invoice solely will get worse, however to not any extent that justifies how Sweet Magnolias Season 3 paints Invoice out to be the satan incarnate.

‘Candy Magnolias’ Reveals Invoice as an Extremely Flawed Man

Is Invoice a great man? Completely not. The primary season alone reveals that as Invoice strings Noreen alongside in a relationship he’s not invested in in any way whereas ignoring the ache he brought on to his first household. He pressures Ty about baseball, unwilling to take heed to what anybody desires however himself. When Noreen leaves him on the finish of the season, lastly deciding to place herself first and realizing the reality about their relationship, we will’t assist however cheer. Undeniably, he has made errors, but for a present that preaches forgiveness, Candy Magnolias refuses to maneuver on from Invoice’s previous. From the start of Sweet Magnolias Season 2, Invoice is handled as a villain — one of many worst folks to ever exist, actually — by nearly each single one that is aware of him. He’s minimize off from his household (for essentially the most half), and issues are made worse by the reveal that Isaac (Chris Medlin) is his organic son, whom he by no means knew about as a result of Peggy (Brittany L. Smith) was silenced by their moms and despatched away to offer start.

Invoice Tries To Take Accountability in ‘Candy Magnolias’ Seasons 2 and three

After the first season, and Noreen leaving him, Invoice begins making an attempt to take accountability for the injury he has brought on. He pleads for Maddie to take him again, receiving a agency no. He tries to attach along with his youngsters once more, however Katie is really the one one prepared to offer Invoice any house to proper his wrongs as a result of she’s too younger to totally perceive what has occurred. He begins to take heed to Kyle and Ty about what they need, relatively than pushing his will upon them — as we see within the Season 2 finale when Ty admits that he doesn’t need to play baseball anymore. Nonetheless, each time Invoice makes an attempt to begin making issues proper, the sequence shifts focus and forgets about it as a result of it’s not the story Candy Magnolias desires to inform.

Then Candy Magnolias Season 3 doubles down on making Invoice into some irredeemable villain, which is relatively disappointing. Realizing how he’s failed along with his different youngsters and the way a lot he has missed of their lives, Invoice reveals up at Isaac’s home to talk with Noreen about having a much bigger position of their new child daughter’s life. As he says himself, he respects Noreen’s choice to maintain Invoice off of Bex’s start certificates, however he would love an opportunity to be her father. This significantly upsets Isaac, who’s livid with Invoice — and his anger doesn’t fairly make sense or really feel warranted. Discovering out Invoice, the city philanderer, is his father is actually a blow, however Isaac — particularly when he visits Invoice at work afterward — acts like Invoice is a few terrible human being who deserted him as a baby. When, as we realized, Invoice was stored fully at nighttime and didn’t even know that Isaac existed. Thus, Isaac’s frustration feels out of line, as because the reality was revealed, Invoice has given Isaac what he needed: house (apart from his sudden go to). However, we’re supposed to facet with Isaac.

Likewise, Noreen’s remedy of Invoice feels fully exaggerated contemplating the circumstances. Sure, Invoice used her to flee his marriage and by no means actually cared for her as he ought to have. That’s true. However, why does Noreen deserve forgiveness for her position of their affair and Invoice doesn’t in any way? They each made a mistake. Leaving Invoice’s identify off of Bex’s start certificates seems like an overblown punishment. Later, when Noreen meets with Helen (Heather Headley) to debate their casual settlement of kid assist, Noreen reaffirms her place to maintain Invoice off of the start certificates and out of her life. And, once more, as with Isaac, we’re supposed to really feel that Noreen’s actions are justified as Invoice is the massive, unhealthy villain of the story. However, whereas Invoice was an emotionally unavailable loser that used Noreen to flee his marriage, he didn’t do something unforgivable. As an alternative, each of those conditions spotlight Noreen and Issac’s immaturity, particularly due to the drastic impression Noreen’s selection has on her daughter’s life.

Villainizing Invoice Like This Takes Away from ‘Candy Magnolia’s Story

As a result of Invoice damage her, Noreen is robbing her daughter of a father — one thing we actively see hurting Ty and Kyle. She is withholding Bex from him, which is able to both drive Invoice to overlook out on his daughter’s life or to turn into much more of a villain by going by the court docket system to ascertain paternity and having a proper custody settlement. In the meantime, Isaac doesn’t must have a relationship with Invoice in any way, however his lashing out at Invoice for one thing Invoice had completely no enter in — whereas concurrently embracing Peggy, who was conscious of his start — is totally out of line. It says one thing that Maddie, of all folks, is the one being gracious in the direction of Invoice and giving him essentially the most endurance as he makes an attempt to grapple along with his errors.

Briefly, Invoice isn’t the villain that Candy Magnolias Season 3 makes an attempt to make him out to be, and the sequence is lacking out on fairly a strong story by portray the character on this gentle. Invoice proudly owning as much as his errors and making an attempt to do proper by his youngsters — all 5 of them — might have been a incredible depiction of fatherhood. From what we’ve seen of Serenity, one thing we love is that everybody is given the opportunity for a second chance in the event that they’re prepared to place within the work (and haven’t executed something so unhealthy to not deserve it).

As an alternative, the sequence doubled down on Invoice being the villain with the lazy option to make him Isaac’s father after which not permitting him to truly put in any work towards turning into a greater man and father. When he tries, as he does with Bex, he’s shut down and instructed to remain distant, which sort of goes in opposition to what he ought to be doing along with his underaged youngsters. Invoice isn’t a fantastic man, but it surely’s disappointing to see the sequence act like Invoice is a lot worse than he actually is, which is why Invoice — and the writing across the character — stays the weakest hyperlink in all the sequence. Hopefully, ought to Invoice return to Serenity after leaving within the Season 3 finale, the sequence fixes their mistake.

Candy Magnolias is streaming on Netflix within the U.S.

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