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

Bill Townsend (Chris Klein) has certainly made a mess of things for many of the residents of Serenity, South Carolina, in Netflix’s Sweet Magnolias, especially his own family. This small-town physician and so-called family man has been a destructive force throughout the series. When the story begins, it’s fresh on the heels of Bill cheating on his wife Maddie (JoAnna Garcia Swisher) with nurse Noreen (Jamie Lynn Spears), the latter of whom gets pregnant as a result of their affair.

So, by his own twisted sense of logic, the responsible thing for Bill to do is to leave Maddie and their three children — Tyler (Carson Rowland), Kyle (Logan Allen), and Katie (first played by Bianca Berry Tarantino, later recast with Ella Grace Helton) — and propose to Noreen, a woman he doesn’t truly love. And this all happens before the events of the series premiere. From here, the wreckage from Bill only gets worse, but not to any extent that justifies how Sweet Magnolias Season 3 paints Bill out to be the devil incarnate.

Sweet Magnolias

Release Date

May 19, 2020

Cast

JoAnna Garcia Swisher , Brooke Elliott , Heather headley , Logan Allen

Main Genre

Drama

Seasons

3

‘Sweet Magnolias’ Shows Bill as an Incredibly Flawed Man

Is Bill a good guy? Absolutely not. The first season alone shows that as Bill strings Noreen along in a relationship he’s not invested in whatsoever while ignoring the pain he caused to his first family. He pressures Ty about baseball, unwilling to listen to what anyone wants but himself. When Noreen leaves him at the end of the season, finally deciding to put herself first and realizing the truth about their relationship, we can’t help but cheer. Undeniably, he has made mistakes, yet for a show that preaches forgiveness, Sweet Magnolias refuses to move on from Bill’s past. From the beginning of Sweet Magnolias Season 2, Bill is treated as a villain — one of the worst people to ever exist, really — by just about every single person who knows him. He’s cut off from his family (for the most part), and matters are made worse by the reveal that Isaac (Chris Medlin) is his biological son, whom he never knew about because Peggy (Brittany L. Smith) was silenced by their mothers and sent away to give birth.

Bill Tries To Take Accountability in ‘Sweet Magnolias’ Seasons 2 and 3

After the first season, and Noreen leaving him, Bill begins trying to take accountability for the damage he has caused. He pleads for Maddie to take him back, receiving a firm no. He tries to connect with his children again, but Katie is truly the only one willing to give Bill any space to right his wrongs because she’s too young to fully understand what has happened. He begins to listen to Kyle and Ty about what they want, rather than pushing his will upon them — as we see in the Season 2 finale when Ty admits that he doesn’t want to play baseball anymore. However, every time Bill attempts to start making things right, the series shifts focus and forgets about it because it’s not the story Sweet Magnolias wants to tell.

Then Sweet Magnolias Season 3 doubles down on making Bill into some irredeemable villain, which is rather disappointing. Realizing how he’s failed with his other children and how much he has missed in their lives, Bill shows up at Isaac’s house to speak with Noreen about having a bigger role in their newborn daughter’s life. As he says himself, he respects Noreen’s decision to keep Bill off of Bex’s birth certificate, but he would like a chance to be her father. This particularly upsets Isaac, who is furious with Bill — and his anger doesn’t quite make sense or feel warranted. Finding out Bill, the town philanderer, is his father is certainly a blow, but Isaac — especially when he visits Bill at work afterward — acts like Bill is some awful human being who abandoned him as a child. When, as we learned, Bill was kept completely in the dark and didn’t even know that Isaac existed. Thus, Isaac’s frustration feels out of line, as since the truth was revealed, Bill has given Isaac what he wanted: space (except for his unexpected visit). But, we’re supposed to side with Isaac.

Likewise, Noreen’s treatment of Bill feels completely exaggerated considering the circumstances. Yes, Bill used her to escape his marriage and never really cared for her as he should have. That’s true. But, why does Noreen deserve forgiveness for her role in their affair and Bill doesn’t whatsoever? They both made a mistake. Leaving Bill’s name off of Bex’s birth certificate feels like an overblown punishment. Later, when Noreen meets with Helen (Heather Headley) to discuss their informal agreement of child support, Noreen reaffirms her position to keep Bill off of the birth certificate and out of her life. And, again, as with Isaac, we are supposed to feel that Noreen’s actions are justified as Bill is the big, bad villain of the story. But, while Bill was an emotionally unavailable loser that used Noreen to escape his marriage, he didn’t do anything unforgivable. Instead, both of these situations highlight Noreen and Issac’s immaturity, especially because of the drastic impact Noreen’s choice has on her daughter’s life.

Villainizing Bill Like This Takes Away from ‘Sweet Magnolia’s Story

Because Bill hurt her, Noreen is robbing her daughter of a father — something we actively see hurting Ty and Kyle. She is withholding Bex from him, which will either force Bill to miss out on his daughter’s life or to become even more of a villain by going through the court system to establish paternity and having a formal custody agreement. Meanwhile, Isaac doesn’t need to have a relationship with Bill whatsoever, but his lashing out at Bill for something Bill had absolutely no input in — while simultaneously embracing Peggy, who was aware of his birth — is completely out of line. It says something that Maddie, of all people, is the one being gracious towards Bill and giving him the most patience as he attempts to grapple with his mistakes.

In short, Bill isn’t the villain that Sweet Magnolias Season 3 attempts to make him out to be, and the series is missing out on quite a powerful story by painting the character in this light. Bill owning up to his mistakes and trying to do right by his children — all five of them — could have been a fantastic depiction of fatherhood. From what we’ve seen of Serenity, something we love is that everyone is given the opportunity for a second chance if they’re willing to put in the work (and haven’t done anything so bad to not deserve it).

Instead, the series doubled down on Bill being the villain with the lazy choice to make him Isaac’s father and then not allowing him to actually put in any work toward becoming a better man and father. When he tries, as he does with Bex, he’s shut down and told to stay far away, which kind of goes against what he should be doing with his underaged children. Bill isn’t a great guy, but it’s disappointing to see the series act like Bill is so much worse than he really is, which is why Bill — and the writing around the character — remains the weakest link in the entire series. Hopefully, should Bill return to Serenity after leaving in the Season 3 finale, the series fixes their mistake.

Sweet Magnolias is streaming on Netflix in the U.S.

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