It’s almost time to head back to Serenity, South Carolina, for another night of margaritas. This time, however, the girls are also planning to take Manhattan. Despite Maddie Townsend (JoAnna Garcia Swisher) accepting her dream job in New York City, nothing can keep the friend group of Sweet Magnolias away from each other, and nothing can stop Season 5 from delivering another round of fun adventures between the small town and the big city. With one month left until the premiere on Netflix, we’re excited to share a new image from the upcoming return as part of Collider’s Exclusive Summer Preview series that teases wedding bells to come for Helen (Heather Headley) with her two besties there to help celebrate.
The image makes Helen the center of attention, with both Maddie and Dana Sue (Brooke Elliott) seated next to her with drinks all around. Glittering in Helen’s hand is a jewel-encrusted tiara topped with the word “Bride,” making this a celebration of her recent engagement. Season 4 didn’t just end with good news for Maddie, as her hard-working friend finally saw her dreams come true when Erik (Dion Johnstone) proposed to her. The two had reconciled and completely revitalized their relationship last year after the hurricane, and Erik even expressed a willingness to have kids. Given how much the Magnolias have been through together, Helen’s friends will be right by her side as she transitions into this exciting new phase of her life.
Season 5 will be all about new beginnings, in a sense. Sweet Magnolias filmed in both New York City and Atlanta for the upcoming run of episodes, meaning viewers will see both what’s happening in Serenity and how Maddie is adjusting to life in the Big Apple. The more ambitious scope of this season also explains the slightly longer wait for new episodes, but the result will be the biggest shake-up in the formula since the series premiered in 2020. Naturally, the exciting new setting is also an opportunity for a girls’ trip, letting the Magnolias explore New York when Helen isn’t busy planning her wedding — ideally with the extravagantly long train of her dreams — and Dana Sue isn’t juggling new community ventures.
Collider Exclusive · Universe Personality Quiz Which Iconic Universe Do You Belong in the Most? Star Wars · Lord of the Rings · Harry Potter · Game of Thrones · Star Trek
Five legendary universes. Five completely different visions of what the world could be — or already was. One of them is the world your instincts, your values, and your particular way of existing were built for. Eight questions will tell you which one.
🚀Star Wars
💍Lord of the Rings
🧙Harry Potter
👑Game of Thrones
🖖Star Trek
01
What gives your life its deepest sense of meaning? Every universe is built around a different answer to this question.
02
Which kind of world do you most want to inhabit? The environment shapes who you become. Choose carefully.
03
How do you prefer your conflicts resolved? The shape of a world’s conflicts tells you everything about its soul.
04
Who do you want beside you when things get difficult? Your ideal companions reveal the world you were made for.
05
What is your relationship with power? How you seek, wield, or resist power is the map of who you are.
06
How does your universe treat good and evil? A world’s moral architecture tells you more about it than any map.
07
What role would you naturally fall into? Every universe has archetypes. Which one fits you without trying?
08
What do you ultimately believe about the future? The answer to this is the clearest window into which universe already lives inside you.
Your Universe Has Been Chosen You Belong In…
Your answers point to the iconic universe your values, your instincts, and your particular way of seeing the world were built for. This is where you would find your people — and your purpose.
A Galaxy Far, Far Away
Star Wars
You believe in the cause — in the idea that freedom is worth fighting for even when the odds are impossible and the empire is vast.
You are drawn to the moral clarity of a universe where hope itself is a form of resistance.
You’d find your people in the Rebellion — a ragtag coalition of true believers held together by conviction more than resources.
Star Wars is fundamentally a story about ordinary people choosing to matter in an extraordinary conflict — and that is exactly your kind of story.
The Force may or may not be with you. But the will to use it for something larger than yourself certainly is.
Middle-earth
Lord of the Rings
You understand, in the deepest part of yourself, that the journey matters as much as the destination — and that the world’s beauty is worth protecting even at great cost.
Middle-earth is a world of ancient wonder, deep friendship, and a darkness that only retreats when enough small acts of courage accumulate.
You would thrive here because you value the fellowship more than the glory — the road more than the arrival.
Tolkien’s universe rewards patience, loyalty, and the willingness to carry something heavy across a very long distance.
Those are not burdens to you. They are simply how you move through the world.
The Wizarding World
Harry Potter
You believe that love, loyalty, and doing what’s right are not naive sentiments — they are the most powerful forces in any world, magical or otherwise.
The Wizarding World is a place of wonder hidden in plain sight, where learning is transformative and the bonds you form at school follow you into every battle.
You would flourish here because you take both the magic and the friendships seriously — and you understand that one without the other is incomplete.
Harry Potter’s universe ultimately rewards those who choose to stand for something even when standing is terrifying.
That choice — made quietly, without guarantee — is something you understand completely.
Westeros · The Known World
Game of Thrones
You see the world clearly — its power structures, its hypocrisies, its brutal arithmetic — and you are not paralysed by that clarity. You use it.
Westeros is a world that rewards intelligence, adaptability, and the willingness to understand that every alliance is also a negotiation.
You would survive here — possibly thrive here — because you don’t confuse the world as it is with the world as you’d like it to be.
Game of Thrones is a story about what happens when the idealists and the realists collide. You are sharp enough to know which one lasts longer.
Winter always comes. You are already prepared.
The United Federation of Planets
Star Trek
You believe the future is worth building — that curiosity, cooperation, and the expansion of understanding are not just ideals but the most practical path forward for any civilisation.
Star Trek is a universe where the questions matter as much as the answers, and where encountering something utterly alien is cause for wonder rather than fear.
You would belong here because you are fundamentally optimistic about what intelligence and decency can achieve — while being honest about how hard that achievement is.
The Federation is the universe’s most ambitious thought experiment: what if we actually got better?
You don’t just hope that’s possible. You think it’s the only thing worth working toward.
Serenity Is Expanding With ‘Sweet Magnolias’ Season 5
Image via Netflix
With a new location comes a greatly expanded cast for Sweet Magnolias Season 5. The Sopranos alum Jamie-Lynn Sigler is one of the big new additions, playing a prominent writer and one of Maddie’s new friends in New York, Nell Winters. Janice Wesley also joins, alongside Courtney Grace, John Gabriel Rodriquez, Aidan Merwarth, Austin Woods, and Iman Benson. Plenty of familiar faces will be back in town, too, like Logan Allen, Anneliese Judge, Carson Rowland, Brandon Quinn, Jamie Lynn Spears, Chris Medlin, and Justin Bruening. Showrunner Sheryl J. Anderson is also back at the helm to bring to life the next chapter of the series based on Sherryl Woods‘ beloved novels.
Sweet Magnolias returns for Season 5 on June 11. Check out our exclusive image above and stay tuned here at Collider for more new insights from our summer preview series throughout the coming weeks.
