No Good Deed

As Episode 1 of "No Good Deed" (2024 release; 8 episodes ranging from 30 to 39 min) opens, several couples are visiting an Open House of a Hollywood Spanish mansion that has gone on the market. We get to know Paul and Lydia, the owners of the house, and we are left wondering why they are selling this beauty. At this point we are 10 minutes into Episode 1.

Couple of comments: this is the latest from creator Liz Feldman ("Dead To Me'). Here she digs into the psyches of several couples, 3 of which who want to buy the house, and the sellers couple. The mini-series is plot heavy so the less said about that, the better. I will say that it took a couple of episodes to really get into this, so if you think it starts off a little slow, you are right but hang in there!. Ray Romano and Lisa Kudrow are excellent as Paul and Lydia, but it's really al all-star cast (Luke Wilson, Denis Leary, Poppy Liu, Lina Cardellini, etc.). These are all short episodes, perfect for binge-watching. I saw the entire series over 2 evening, and was said to have the series come to an end.

"No Good Deed" started streaming on Neflix about a week ago. I watched this a few days ago. The series is currently rated 79% Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, and for good reason. If you are in the mood for a dark comedy, or are simply a fan of any of the all-star cast, I'd readily suggest you check this out, and draw your own conclusion.

It's unfortunate the low ratings are coming from people who "only watched 2 episodes" . It is in fact a slow burn, but if you stick around you won't be sorry. Yes, there is a lot going at once, but it all comes together in the end.. tears were shed several times.

The talent alone is impressive! From Dennis Leary, to freaking ALICE (Linda Lavin), there are some serious name drops here!

And a note fo those that take issue with 1 lesbian couple, and more ethnicities than white on the show... Welcome to how life really is.. this was absolutely not overkill, and those that thought it was need to take a hard look inward and ask why.

Cast was really good, the story was really good. It truly was a slow burn, which I don't mind. However, execution was not great. For some reason, I hated every single character. They never grew to become lovable, as I originally expected. However, plot twists were there, which I appreciate. Even though it was very slow at times, it continued to through several twists which made the story overall more entertaining. A lot of the side stories were not needed, like a lot of the brother's story. His kid, him missing, all of that appeared to have some huge connotation which never truly landed. Bottom line: good story, good cast, not the best execution.

6.8 in rating, why!? I would give 8.5 if possible. I binged it over like a 24 hour time period. Ok at times a bit cheesy, but I just really like the casting and the acting, it feels warm and sincere, and the murder mystery is interesting enough with a small twist, without everything beeing all sad and miserable. The story is light and entertaining but has a certain amount of darkness due to the main story line. Like a nice but not too expesive piece of dark chockolate, covered in strawberry glaze. Give it a shot and you won't be disappointed. Don't expect a crime drama or true realism. This is an endearing comedy with a dark undernote.

I always tend to get a little nervous when such big names are involved in a limited Netflix series. But it felt like this cast really delivered and hit all the marks. Ray Romano and Lisa Kudrow have a certain chemistry that was perfect for this story. I'm always happy to see Linda Cardellini in a role like this as well.

Great pacing, adequate suspense, lots of comedic relief. For once, I didn't expect the twist ending and each storyline felt resolved by the last episode. I really enjoyed it!

Would absolutely recommend if you're looking for a palette cleanser in this new fast-paced streaming world.