Why does it feel like every new show these days has a big central mystery, whether the series bills itself as one or not? Sure, the showrunner wants some intrigue in his career, but haven't we reached a point where TV shows are full of episodes whose episodes depend on backstory that ties together fateful nights and explains mysterious mysteries? How many more riffs on the narrative device can the audience take?
All this to say that No Good Actiona joke that seems to be coming He is dead to Me Creator Liz Feldman, is incredibly frustrated when she surrenders to her mystery element. Like the house Lydia (Lisa Kudrow) and Paul Morgan (Ray Romano) are in the process of selling, the series has good bones and is incredibly prosperous, but its beauty is weighed down by something dark and heavy. See, a crime happened in this house three years ago, a crime that Lydia and Paul would like to forget, and their relationship with the separation in their home has been further complicated by the death of their son. Both are still struggling, grieving in different ways, but life—and real estate—goes on.
Morgan's beautiful corner house is hot property for interested buyers, and the series focuses on three couples with similar levels of dysfunction. There's Leslie (Abbi Jacobson) and Sarah (Poppy Liu), a lawyer and a doctor, respectively, who have had their own problems with having children. They love the house, but Sara can't help but feel that the vibes are off, leaving Leslie to investigate. Then there are newlyweds Dennis (OT Fagbenle) and Carla (Teyonah Parris), who are expecting a baby and profits from Dennis' upcoming novel. Having met less than a year ago, the two have family secrets of their own. Finally, the neighbors of Lydia and Paul across the street want to throw their hats in the ring; Broke housewife Margo (Linda Cardellini) sees an investment opportunity in more ways than one, while her unemployed actor husband JD (Luke Wilson) thinks it would be a smart way to downsize.
Oh, and to round things out, Paul's brother Mikey (Denis Leary) is out of jail and says he needs 80K ASAP—or something.
It's a lot, sometimes too much for a thread to throw. Things start at a fast pace, though No Good Action it slows down as it progresses, leaving some of its underlying parts and supporting characters to dry. The couple will disappear in an episode, which talks about the difficulty of managing so many moving parts, and not all conflicts are created equal. Leslie and Sarah's fertility journey, for example, is disproportionately magnified, as they instead become true-crime operatives obsessed with the Citizen app and solving a central Morgan mystery. That back-and-forth makes the dramatic moments feel unfairly dark, and the quick descent into a weighty topic often sucks the air out of the show.
That does No Good Action which is difficult to judge. At best, it's a fun flight of real estate with a little caper on the side. But worst of all, it's hard dour. Thankfully, episodes only run for 30 to 40 minutes, so things move quickly compared to other series, but the show has a hard time balancing its quick wit with its sad story. Romano gets to work in his comedic wheelhouse (and there's added humor in thinking that Paul would have grown up in LA and ended up that accent), and Kudrow becomes a straight woman for once. But the depressing number of shared scenes result in painful conflicts. Their family is broken, their marriage is broken, and their house is strong such a dark secret that their relationship unfortunately sometimes ends. A cloud of sadness hangs over this show, and not enough is being done to end it.
You might laugh at least a few times per episode (Linda Lavin's appearance as the oddly loud neighbor is a gift), but the well-written comedy smashes and hilarious ensemble cast aren't enough to lift it. No Good Action in the shadows. It starts off fast enough, and that sly energy gives the show momentum, but it focuses too much on its dramatic self-awareness to be truly entertaining.
'No Good Deed' is streaming on Netflix now.
