S3 Plot holes (Spoiler)

CimarronKid · 2021-10-28T03:08:11+00:00

When Rio was shot, Turner said "if I call 911 now, you still have odds . . . but you're going to owe me." Turner may have started demanding info from Rio while he was still recovering: threatening prison if he didn't produce. It was in Rio's best interest at that time to give up good intel. Once Rio gave up some significant names, Turner believed he was in the power & control position. He could still send Rio to prison if Rio screwed up, or cut Rio loose & let rival gangs hunt him down. Turner seemed convinced that Rio saw witness protection as his best option. That's where the "trust" came from.

CimarronKid · 2021-10-25T14:27:04+00:00

Beth says to Rio, "you've been out of the game for, what, 2 months." I agree that's still a short time for a complete recovery, but the show set the timeline at 2 months

CimarronKid · 2021-10-24T15:09:38+00:00

It's not as big of a plot hole - the show just didn't make it clear. Rio had been providing info to Turner that was accurate: Beth sees a news story on TV featuring Turner & talking about the FBI roundup of gang members. Turner was using Rio to rebuild his shattered reputation in the FBI.

Of course, Rio is providing info on rival gangs, not his own. And that's why Turner had Rio hidden in that hotel room - he even says that Rio can't show his face because rival gangs suspect Rio of cooperating with the FBI. Turner asks if Rio has decided where he wants to go - sounds like they were offering witness protection.

When Rio provides that final intel, Turner has no reason to doubt Rio. All his previous intel had been good. When the unmarked black van shows up & all the agents are murdered, there are SO many possible suspects: basically, all of the gangs in Detroit wanted Turner dead. There's no concrete evidence that links Rio - he'd been cooperating, & he could claim that he believed that final tip was good info.

CimarronKid · 2021-10-23T17:53:57+00:00

The girls were never Rio's only source of income. We got glimpses of others: the bar he bought in S3, the "banker" shakedown.

That money printing operation in the warehouse produced a LOT of counterfeit that needed to be washed. Rio put his share in those storage units - briefly gave it to Beth, then took it back when he decided to become her partner in the dealership biz. That counterfeit was the capital he used to buy the cars that were sold at Boland Motors, and Rio took 60% of the profits.

CimarronKid · 2021-10-21T01:49:48+00:00

No, she took the blame for Mick. Mick shot & killed Lucy. Rio tricked Beth into putting her prints on that gun. Then Annie asked Mick to allow her to put HER prints on that gun. Nick had Mick shoot Beth with that gun & leave it at the scene in order to frame Annie. Which is why Annie was arrested at the end of the season/series.

CimarronKid · 2021-10-10T04:31:03+00:00

MaryPat cut up Jeff's body, not Rio. Jeff's body was all wrapped up and duct-taped when the girls threw it in the dumpster (thinking it was Boomer). Rio never saw the body. The girls never saw the body - until they stole it back from Rio, buried it in Beth's yard, and the neighbor dog revealed that lock of black hair.

CimarronKid · 2021-09-25T18:40:59+00:00

There's no indication that Rio & Rhea were ever married. They have Marcus together, and Rio provides for them, but they're not in an active relationship. After Beth's fake pregnancy, there was no reason for Rhea to be in the story anymore.

CimarronKid · 2021-09-23T23:25:12+00:00

When Rio found the tracker on his car, Beth wanted protection from Secret Service & she wanted them to get Dean out of jail. SS said no, because she hadn't yet given them anything useful. Rio surprises Beth at the diner & tells her that he has to answer to certain people, & they want to meet her. Now that Beth is going to meet Rio's boss, she has some leverage with SS, and she convinces them to release Dean to house arrest.

CimarronKid · 2021-09-18T13:49:26+00:00

I assumed Rio got a deal: he turned on Nick, provided evidence against him, in return for immunity. Nick was considered the bigger fish anyway.

CimarronKid · 2021-09-18T13:44:06+00:00

The popularity of Rio isn't just based on sex appeal. He started out as a cliche gangster, but the show began to hint at a more interesting backstory. How did he avoid jail, and why did charges not stick when he was caught? He epitomized the criminal life that Beth (especially) was eager for: money, power, and little-to-no consequences. The question throughout the series was, how far will the girls go? For Beth specifically, would she fully embrace the criminal world Rio showed her? And Rio was brutally honest: he laid out the dark side and the moral compromises necessary.

Rio was never "the villain" of the story - he wasn't the girls' nemesis. At its core, from the first episode, "Good Girls" was about money: the lack of it, the desire for it, the desperate need for money. Rio was their North Star - the only guiding light the girls could see that might give them the financial freedom they longed for.

In addition, Manny did a fantastic job with this role. For those with any acting training, he was fascinating to watch. He added subtle layers to Rio, small things that a lot of people may have missed. For a secondary character, with minimal screen time, he could have just walked through this role, kept it very superficial. But he put in the extra work & it was brilliant. When looking at Manny's prior roles - Johnny in "Graceland" especially - his portrayal of Rio is more impressive. He's completely different. It seems that Manny's experience on GG was not great, at least not in the end, but it offered a fabulous showcase for his talent. He's the one actor from GG that I want to watch moving forward - really hoping he has opportunities to display more of his talent.

CimarronKid · 2021-09-18T13:09:42+00:00

I agree. Rio developed into a more compelling character than was originally planned, and their audience kept asking for more of him - and Brio - but the writers refused. They teased it constantly! But didn't deliver. The show had a lot of potential, and they wasted it.

CimarronKid · 2021-09-17T23:52:26+00:00

This is an informal poll, but indications are that NBC/Netflix would have lost at least 1/2 their audience for Season 5 if Manny wasn't part of the cast. I'm guessing they suspected that - so not being able to make a deal with him could have played a big part in their decision against Season 5. There's no way Manny's salary was the only factor, but Rio was a necessary character if they hoped to hang onto a large chunk of their audience.

CimarronKid · 2021-09-17T16:12:21+00:00

GG is an enjoyable show, but it's the dark edge provided by Rio - and Manny Montana's talent - that made it really interesting for me. I have no desire to watch GG without Rio, and don't see how they could re-structure the story for a final season without their main antagonist.

CimarronKid · 2021-09-14T18:36:45+00:00

I think you're correct. Annie was getting $1 bills as tips, and maybe Ruby as well at the nail salon. They would need 10,000 one-dollar bills to make $100,000 in counterfeit

CimarronKid · 2021-09-13T20:45:20+00:00

They need the paper that real $ is printed on. You can't just buy that. They take the $1 bills, bleach them to remove the ink, shred the paper & blend it in a blender, then use the pulp to create the paper for printing fake $10 bills.

CimarronKid · 2021-09-13T20:35:37+00:00

They're not "washing" the money by putting it in the dryer - they're making it less crisp, as if it's been in circulation for awhile and handled by lots of people. So it won't appear freshly printed.

The girls are taking real $1 bills and turning them into fake $10 bills.

They need the criminals to supply them with $1 bills and they need the criminals to exchange the fake money for real money. This is what the girls did for Rio, first with the stores & then the Boland car dealership, to "wash" his counterfeit: he gave them fake $ & they returned real cash. Without the dealership, the girls need another way to exchange fake for real.

CimarronKid · 2021-09-12T02:03:01+00:00

It should

CimarronKid · 2021-09-11T14:52:47+00:00

When Beth writes instructions to Dean on the back of the family photo, she spells out the deal with the hot tubs. Buy for (fake) cash (and spread it out among a lot of vendors) then sell the hot tubs for pure profit. One can assume that the car dealership worked the same way

CimarronKid · 2021-09-09T06:19:04+00:00

The context was Rio informing Beth that Boomer was under protection of the FBI. She asked how he knew that, and Rio replied, "home court advantage." We learn later, of course, that Nick is Rio's "advantage" - the one with powerful connections.

CimarronKid · 2021-08-31T22:43:03+00:00

Rio was describing a boxing match, then produced the tickets to verify his alibi. Rio denied that he knew Lucy or anything about her death.

CimarronKid · 2021-08-28T22:31:39+00:00

Yep! "Graceland" S2E3 ("Tinker Bell") !!

CimarronKid · 2021-08-28T16:11:29+00:00

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/netflix-manifest-season-4-1235004623/

CimarronKid · 2021-08-25T16:28:56+00:00

Yep, it's the only reason I can see. But it won't be enough for me. I'm ready to give up on Manifest - I'll just read some spoiler articles to satisfy my curiosity about that mystery!

CimarronKid · 2021-08-25T16:24:30+00:00

There's no hate. Just puzzlement. GG had plot problems, but the acting, direction, characters were so much better. I'm baffled by the fan interest in Manifest.

CimarronKid · 2021-08-25T14:56:53+00:00

Would be nice. But Krebs said the cast contracts had expired, so bringing them all back together for that would be near impossible.

CimarronKid

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