Now streaming on Netflix, “Sweet Magnolias” wraps its fifth season with Helen and Erik swapping vows, finally beginning their wedded life together — just as another Serenity couple is facing the end of theirs.
The cracks in Dana Sue and Ronnie’s marriage have been showing all season — first with him devoting too much time to his new e-bike business, then with him admitting that his off-brand inventory likely started the fire that burned down their house — but they’ve officially reached the danger zone by the time we arrive at the finale. Not only does she refuse to dance with him at Helen and Erik’s wedding reception, but she can barely even stand catching his glance while the happy couple recites their vows.
The tension culminates in a long-overdue confrontation between Ronnie and Dana Sue, the latter of whom reveals that they don’t need a fresh start in a new house. Instead, she’s looking for a solo apartment to live in while she figures out whether their marriage is salvageable.
“When I read that, I was surprised and not surprised,” Brooke Elliott says of her character’s decision to put some distance between herself and Ronnie. “And I love that the writers did that. It’s gotten to that point, so let’s not be afraid to have her do that. Of course I love Dana Sue and Ronnie, and I also love Brandon Quinn, but I do think they’ve earned that space.”
Why Brooke Elliott understands Dana Sue’s feelings about Ronnie
The key issue in Dana Sue and Ronnie’s marriage, Elliott says, is that “they didn’t quite do all the work when they got back together. They didn’t communicate everything they needed to. They both went back into similar habits and ways of doing things and ways of seeing life, and sometimes they don’t align.”
It pains Brooke Elliott to admit this, as she loves actor Brandon Quinn as a romantic scene partner, but she fully understands what Dana Sue is saying in their final scene together.
“As much as my heart is soft to Ronnie and Dana Sue, I also wonder sometimes if it does have to be that hard,” Elliott tells TVLine. “Maybe she needs to do some things that are right for her, and he needs to do some things that are right for him, and I don’t know if that will always keep them together.”
Will Dana Sue and Clark ‘grow into something’ in Sweet Magnolias Season 6?
But even if Netflix renews “Sweet Magnolias” for Season 6, there’s no guarantee that Dana Sue and Ronnie will find their way back to each other. Let’s not forget the Magnolias’ new business partner Clark Bellson (played by John Gabriel Rodriquez), whose long-standing rivalry with Dana Sue appears to be giving way to flirtation.
“Clark is offering those pieces that she’s really struggling with in Ronnie and has always struggled with in Ronnie, so it’ll be really interesting to see if that actually does grow into something,” Brooke Elliott tells TVLine. “Is it something that just shows her that she does want to be on her own more? Or is it something where she goes, ‘I do want this, but I want to fight for it with Ronnie’? I don’t know!”
Adds showrunner Sheryl J. Anderson, “We really enjoyed bringing Clark in because, while our men are magnificent, Clark brings a different energy and takes a different approach than our other men. It was fun to put that catalyst into everybody’s relationships and have him shake things up a little bit.”
OK, let’s talk: Are you rooting for Dana Sue and Ronnie to get back together? Would you like to see her pursue things with Clark? Or would you rather see her standing solo for a minute? Drop a comment with your hopes for a potential sixth season of “Sweet Magnolias” below.
