‘Grosse Pointe Garden Society’ Star Jennifer Irwin on ‘Peeling Back the Onion’ of Marilyn’s Complex Persona (Exclusive)

The newest episode of Grosse Pointe Garden Society saw a turning point for society president Marilyn, and Jennifer Irwin spoke to PopCulture.com all about it.

In “The Cup,” the Grosse Pointe Garden Society takes part in the Southeastern Michigan Gardening Cup against Bloomfield Hills, and Marilyn tried all she could to take home the top honor.

This included wanting to up Grosse Pointe’s game after finding out that Bloomfield Hills had a secret weapon. So Marilyn brought in replicas of the head sculptures, Moai, from Easter Island that were not only gigantic but crushing some of the flowers. Additionally, Marilyn didn’t even tell the rest of the society, and when they found out, they were not happy. Irwin told PopCulture she thinks it’s because Marilyn “had a game plan all season going in.”

“And to find out that Bloomfield Hills, which has been her rival, has surprised her with this choice, I don’t think she ever considered ghost orchids as an option,” Irwin explained. “So she’s flailing. She’s a desperate woman. She doesn’t have time to consult with people. She’s a leader. And so she goes off course a little bit, makes some decisions, goes rogue, make decisions that are not seen as the good ones. Not a good one. But she thought, ‘Hey. I gotta take matters into my own hands because sometimes you have to.’”

As Irwin said, Marilyn’s idea was not a good one, because not only were the statues crushing the flowers, but it was the one thing that docked them points instead of putting them over the edge. The loss was a surprising one, and Marilyn was “quite devastated.”

“We see her later at her home, we get a glimpse at the peeling back the onion, the layers, the persona that she’s very carefully cultivated, we start to see her home life and that it’s not necessarily healthy or happy that maybe she’s poured all this disappointment into and her entire identity into winning the cup,” Irwin explained. “So when that does not go her way, we get to see another side of Marilyn that I hope will bring an understanding, a little bit about why she is the way she is.”

Speaking of seeing another side of Marilyn, the episode also gave a look at her home life, which included her husband trying to get her to come to an event with him as she’s mourning the loss of the contest. She’s expected to put on a happy face, and it’s clear that she isn’t as prim and proper and bubbly as she makes it out to be. Said Irwin, “I mean, anytime you’re a mayor’s wife or anytime you’re in the public, whether it’s a small town or you’re running a country, organization, or a company, you’re always conscious of how you’re being seen. And she feels a responsibility to the town and to her husband, whether it’s deserved or not, to uphold this image. So when it kinda crashes for her, it’s devastating, and we see a little bit more about that as the season goes on.”

Following the loss, the society made a unanimous decision to impeach Marilyn and make Catherine president. At the same time, Marilyn decided to resign. However, Catherine did not tell Marilyn about the impeachment and even urged Marilyn to stay on as president after Grosse Pointe won the contest by default after it was found out Bloomfield Hills cheated. Even though everyone in the society does not want Marilyn as president, the contest and her staying on has given her a bit of a perspective shift, which could prove to be for the good.

“She purposely isolated herself, removed herself from dealing with anyone else in the club, because I think that she thinks that’s what good leaders have to do in order to be respected,” Irwin said. “But I think what I love about this episode is that you see this melting of this fierce rivalry between Catherine and her. This, ‘Who’s gonna be the president? Who’s the vice president?’ And this small jockeying for power. Petty power, but power.”

“And so when you see Aja [Naomi King]’s character kind of protect Marilyn in that moment when she sees a glimpse into her home life and how her husband is to her, she makes some decision in the moment to protect Marilyn and to lie to her and keep her as president,” she continued. “And it’s this very sweet moment of generosity, from Catherine, and that made me think, ‘Okay, maybe these two can work together. Maybe they’re not necessarily gonna be friends, but maybe there’s an alliance that will form.’”

New episodes of Grosse Pointe Garden Society air on Fridays at 8 p.m. ET on NBC, streaming the next day on Peacock.