Girls5eva Season 1, Episode 1 recap: Meet the women of Girls5eva

Peacock TV has been hitting it out of the park with their original comedies, from the Saved by the Bell reboot to Rutherford Falls and now Girls5eva. The fledgling streaming service has proven that it has some skin in the game. Girls5eva Season 1 is executive produced by Tina Fey and seems like a return to form for the Saturday Night Live alum. Girls5eva Season 1 currently sits at an impressive 100% approval rating at Rotten Tomatoes, complete with a Certified Fresh seal.

The first episode introduces us to the girl group, including members Dawn (Sara Bareilles), Summer (Busy Philipps), Gloria (Paula Pell), Wickie (Renée Elise Goldsberry) and Ashley (Ashley Park). Together they comprised the ’90s girl group Girls5eva, who only managed to have one hit song before they faded into obscurity.

Girls5eva Season 1, Episode 1 recap: What happened to each band member?

Fast-forward to the present-day, and things are much different for each member of the band. Ashley, who was often considered the “glue” and problem-solver, tragically died in 2004 due to swimming off the edge of an infinity pool. Dawn is married and has a kid but isn’t happy working for her idiot brother Nick (Dean Winters) at his rundown restaurant considered the best place for a “bathroom blowout” by Yelp.

Since coming out as gay and getting married, Gloria has achieved New York’s first official gay divorce. Now she works as a dentist and takes care of her “rapidly aging” father at home. Summer married a boy band member named Kev (Andrew Rannells) and they share a “girl boss” daughter, Stevia (Penelope Richmond), who spends her days being homeschooled and doing unboxings online. Kev is never home and only visits his family on the 31st of months that have those.

Then there is Wickie, who appears to be the most successful of Girls5eva as a rich “fempire” owner with her own shoe line and private jet.

Girls5eva Season 1, Episode 1 recap: A rapper gives the girls a chance to reunite

When up-and-coming rapper Lil Stinker (Jeremiah Craft) samples part of the group’s hit song, it suddenly gives them a reason to reunite. The song’s usage reminds Dawn that they might have royalty checks, prompting her to visit the band’s old manager Larry (Jonathan Hadary). He’s been sitting on checks for all the girls for a while now, and Dawn is horrified to find that the checks are just two days away from expiring, so she rushes to deliver them to her bandmates, who she hasn’t seen in years.

While Dawn gives Gloria and Summer their checks, they agree not to bother Wickie, who now lives in Los Angeles and seemingly living the high life. She probably doesn’t even need a check for a few hundred dollars.

Then Lil Stinker books an appearance on The Tonight Show and host Jimmy Fallon (who appears as himself) thinks it would be fantastic if Girls5eva reunited to sing backup for the rapper.

Considering none of them have much going on in their lives, it turns out to be relatively easy to get everyone back together again for one special night (except Ashley, of course, who they have commemorated with a memorial bench). The only potential hiccup is Wickie, who appears far too busy to see her bandmates.

Since the band broke up, Wickie has publically disparaged her bandmates, claiming they “dragged her down,” which is why she wanted to go solo. But after the girls give a successful performance on The Tonight Show, Dawn, Gloria and Summer are eager to reunite officially and maybe even go on tour with Lil Stinker.

They all go out to dinner to celebrate when Wickie bursts the happy bubble by telling them the truth. Lil Stinker doesn’t want them on tour because he thinks they’re old and washed up. Then Wickie storms out to return to her “good” life, but Dawn refuses to let her leave. She channels her inner Ashley to chase after her and is shocked to find that Wickie’s hotel room is far from the posh lifestyle she would have everyone believe, after all.

Wickie comes clean, admitting that her solo career failed, and she actually works at an airport where she’s responsible for shooting geese to clear the runway. She gets paid per goose. Dawn realizes that she probably could use that check.

Girls5eva Season 1, Episode 1 recap: Maybe a reunion is in the cards after all!

When Wickie tries to return home the next day, she gets stopped at airport security because her water bra exceeds the three-ounce liquid rule (and she’s forced to drink it!). But then the security guard recognizes Wickie from The Tonight Show and compliments her on how well the band performed, even asking for a selfie.

Wickie realizes that there might be an audience for a Girls5eva reunion, despite what Larry and Lil Stinker might think. She rushes back to Dawn’s apartment, the same place she’s lived forever (“Italians don’t move!”), and the two make amends. Together they call up the other girls and decide they’re officially going to try and revive Girls5eva. They even relocate Ashely’s memorial bench in front of Nick’s restaurant to have a better place in town than the construction zone it was in before.

Girls5eva Season 1 is now streaming on Peacock TV.