In the middle of Netflix’s No Good Deed, we find Lydia Morgan (played by Lisa Kudrow), once a successful concert pianist, now stuck in the chaos of trying to sell her home. In one scene, she reflects on a recurring stressful situation and says, “I’m so sorry and I can’t believe this is happening again.”
The phrase “I Can’t Believe This Is Happening Again” might also have been a fitting title for Liz Feldman’s Dead to Me, a darkly comedic series about feminine friendship and murder. Despite its thin premise, the show managed to stretch over three seasons due to its wild and occasionally illogical plot twists, as well as the excellent performances from its stars, Christina Applegate and Linda Cardellini. It was a fast-paced show that was emotionally testing but rewarding for those who could endure the relentless twists and turns.
The Bottom Line
Strong performances elevate a series that is overly self-congratulatory about its cleverness.
Airdate: Thursday, Dec. 12 (Netflix)
Cast: Ray Romano, Lisa Kudrow, Linda Cardellini, Luke Wilson, Teyonah Parris, O-T Fagbenle, Abbi Jacobson, Poppy Liu, Denis Leary
Creator: Liz Feldman
This brings us to No Good Deed, a series that might as well have been titled, I Can’t Believe This Is Happening Again, Too. The show aims for an intensity level that makes Dead to Me seem relaxed by comparison. The eight-episode series feels like a companion piece to Dead to Me, reinforcing Liz Feldman’s penchant for withholding secrets and throwing unexpected twists as part of the comedic rhythm of the show.
Like Dead to Me, No Good Deed seems overly pleased with its storytelling ingenuity. However, when attempting to shock is the norm, the element of surprise loses its impact.
Yet, in the same vein as Dead to Me, No Good Deed leverages its dramatic framework to offer a rich and emotionally diverse script to its cast. Despite the contrivances, the comedy manages to offer insightful observations about how grief and secrets can influence a relationship, as well as sharp commentary on the Los Angeles real estate market’s unfortunate state.
Lydia is wedded to Paul, played by Ray Romano, and they are in the process of selling their 1920s Spanish-style home in Los Feliz. The home, which also served as Paul’s childhood abode, is filled with both joyful and sorrowful memories from raising their own children.
The property is listed with an enthusiastic real estate agent, Greg (Matt Rogers), who dreams of a swift sale and a substantial commission. The house has a healthy market, consisting entirely of couples with potentially relationship-ending secrets.
Leslie (Abbi Jacobson) and Sarah (Poppy Liu), a lawyer and doctor respectively, are looking for a place to expand their life together after several unsuccessful IVF attempts. Carla (Teyonah Parris) and Dennis (O-T Fagbenle) have only known each other for a year, but they’re already married and expecting a child. They need a home that can accommodate his devoted mother (Anna Marie Horsford’s Denise). Former soap star JD (Luke Wilson) and his lively, desperate trophy wife Margo (Linda Cardellini) reside across the street and have their eyes on the house. She is unaware of his career’s dire state, and he doesn’t know about her affair.
The key early spoiler is that Paul and Lydia are still wrestling with the grief of their teenage son’s murder three years ago, which occurred in their home. To the world, it was an unsolved crime linked to a series of recent neighborhood break-ins. However, only Paul, Lydia, and Paul’s good-for-nothing brother Mikey (Denis Leary) know the truth. Soon, Paul and Lydia will need to revisit the case and the pain as they, along with every other couple, learn valuable lessons about honesty’s importance and the detrimental effects of murder on a healthy relationship.
Therefore, it’s part whodunnit and part property hunt. Personally, I would have named it A Murder of Escrow, but No Good Deed isn’t a bad choice either. The show, like Dead to Me, explores the ugly measures good people sometimes resort to for survival or to acquire a ready-to-move-in house with a citrus garden, decorative arches, and stolen crime scene evidence in East Los Angeles.
No Good Deed is a somewhat mysterious and zany series — imagine a fusion of You’re the Worst, House Hunters, and Alfred Hitchcock. It features sudden violence, resurrections, absurd misunderstandings, complete breakdowns, and plenty of speculation about how much above the asking price it takes to purchase a murder house in today’s economy.
The aggressive musical score from Siddhartha Khosla (Only Murders in the Building, Elsbeth) and the assertive direction from Silver Tree and Feldman drive the show. They navigate the central residence as if they know every dark corner and every undocumented quirk in its layout. They even take us into the plumbing and electrical wiring in several trademark POV shots.
However, not all elements of the show are equally effective. The mystery is the show’s weakest aspect, as it takes a while to determine what needs solving. Many revelations defy basic logic, and there isn’t enough suspense to fill the plot holes. The conclusion is unsatisfying, not in a way that leaves room for a potential second season to rectify things. After the finale, there’s perhaps one loose end that remains, but it doesn’t seem sufficient to warrant another season. Yet Netflix isn’t labeling it a “limited series,” which is how it feels.
What is completely satisfying is the portrayal of the strained relationship between Paul and Lydia, as depicted by Kudrow and Romano. Feldman had a perfect cast in Dead to Me, and she has chosen her leads wisely again. Kudrow and Romano have built their post-sitcom careers on characters defined by their long-term desperation.
Paul and Lydia are alienated but utterly co-dependent. I spent a significant part of the premiere wondering if the biggest twist would be that they were ghosts unable to leave the property they were haunting. Instead, they’re hollow shells of people, haunting a property they can’t bear to leave. Romano’s weary demeanor and Kudrow’s fragility at breaking point are both well-utilized. They need each other, but at times they also need to inflict pain on each other. When the two characters confront each other, all of the actors’ TV-polished comedic professionalism gives way to raw, exposed nerves.
Of the two, Kudrow stands out for her chemistry with the rest of the cast. Romano has one humorous, implausible, and ultimately forgotten subplot with Rogers. But Kudrow gets to share hilarious scenes with Cardellini, who goes all out, as well as some good material with Leary, whose character is intriguingly underwritten, and with Chloe East who plays the couple’s daughter.
There’s good material in the secondary storylines with each of the potential buyers, but their stories amount to a lot of small curveballs and few significant payoffs, adding more to the overall chaos than anything truly cathartic.
The Leslie/Sarah storyline feels the most self-contained, as Jacobson and Liu share a warm romantic chemistry and they help move the mystery along. Cardellini and Wilson don’t need to have chemistry, since their marriage is a disaster (and their own dwelling is an extravagant modernist nightmare), so they just generate a good number of laughs — him with laid-back Los Angeles/Hollywood satire and her with a character whose sexual appetites border on predatory. Although both Parris and Fagbenle deliver fine performances, neither has a character with a distinct enough voice to give their relationship the subtlety it needs to fit into this puzzle.
No Good Deed is likely best enjoyed between episodes three and six. The bold twists are entertainingly absurd, the
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