Halfway through the third season of Girls5eva, the revived girl group is invited to perform at a Y2K party. At the event, moments from the women’s past haunt them, and Summer (Busy Philipps) attempts to right a wrong.
In Episode 4, “Orlando,” Girls5eva is invited to perform at the birthday party of a young woman named Taffy England (Catherine Cohen), who’s in a relationship with a rich older man.
Dawn (Sara Bareilles), often the level-headed one, worries about Girl5eva’s impact on Taffy’s life given the misogyny laced in the girl group’s music during their early years.
Meanwhile, the other members of the band are dealing with their own flashbacks to the past, be it cocaine, old lovers, or accidental rivals.
Summer, often portrayed as the stereotypical blonde of the group, learns that one of her “old friends” is also performing at the party. “Pixie, it’s me! Your old friend Summer,” she says as she rushes to embrace the other singer.
Immediately taken aback, Pixie (Ingrid Michaelson) rejects Summer’s greeting and says, “You think we’re friends? You ruined my song.” The scene pivots to a flashback of the two singing Pixie’s song “What If God Had A Daughter?” during which Summer begins to adlib and scat.
The scene felt inspired by Jewel and Jessica Simpson‘s 2004 performance of “Who Will Save Your Soul” on the Nick & Jessica Variety Hour — an unforgettable pop culture moment that has resurfaced multiple times over the years. But showrunner Meredith Scardino tells Decider that it was inspired by multiple female pop legends, one of whom being Kim Cattrall.
“We had seen [the Jewel and Jessica Simpson] clip and we had also seen Kim Cattrall scatting, so it was a bit of a mash-up. A fun story of, like, what if something that Summer perceived to be a wonderful moment didn’t land that way with her scene partner,” Scardino says.
Describing Summer’s reaction after getting the cold shoulder from Pixie, Scardino adds, “It was sort of her being like, ‘Oh my god, did you guys not like what I did? This is so crazy. I had no idea. Obviously, I need to make it up.’”
The showrunner says she had always imagined Summer and her ex-husband Kev (Andrew Rannells) to be the type that had a variety show during the early aughts.
“I’m such a fan of all those ladies of that era, like Jessica Simpson, all the girl groups, Britney [Spears], and everybody. It’s fun to have a little fun with them. Ultimately, we love them,” Scardino shares.
As the showrunner described, after Summer learns of Pixie’s animosity, she makes a passionate attempt to smooth the situation over. But, in the truest Girls5eva fashion, not everything goes as planned. What can we say? Summer was simply born for the spotlight!
Girls5eva is currently streaming on Netflix.
