Ray Romano, Lisa Kudrow Comedy has good bones
An open house event for a luxury home already resembles a game of ‘Clue’: affluent people from different walks of life, brought together in a large, attractive space. The only thing missing from this ready-made setup is a corpse, a hole easily filled by creator Liz Feldman in the Netflix black comedy “No Good Deed.”
Feldman previously created “Dead to Me” for the streamer, another series about affluent, amoral residents of Southern California. (Christina Applegate’s character was even a real estate agent.) If “No Good Deed” recycles some elements from that earlier project, including the presence of Linda Cardellini as a woman who doesn’t tell the whole truth about her backstory, the in any case, benefit from it. because of their reliable nature. In fact, “No Good Deed” has such a solid setup — and such a stacked cast, led by Ray Romano and Lisa Kudrow as a couple looking to sell their Los Angeles mansion — that its overreliance on twists can be counterproductive. In central industry parlance, once the eight-episode season settles into its story, you can appreciate the good bones beneath all the unnecessary fixtures.
Paul (Romano), a contractor, and Lydia (Kudrow), a pianist, live in Los Feliz, a hip yet fun neighborhood soon to be renamed the “Nobody Wants This” zone. As empty nesters on a budget, it’s understandable why the couple would want to downsize. (Paul not only did most of the work on the house, he grew up there. The sale is pure profit!) But when Mikey (Denis Leary), a menacing figure from their past, returns to blackmail them about some long buried secrets, we learn that they may have ulterior motives for letting go of their old haunts.
Netflix has banned me from disclosing Mikey’s connection to Paul and Lydia, or what actually happened in their home about three years ago – not coincidentally the cutoff for when they would be legally required to announce a death on the premises . It’s true that “No Good Deed” withholds these crucial details for several episodes, ratcheting up the tension with vague, choppy flashbacks. But the answers are so important that I wish “No Good Deed” had just gotten to the heart of the story about a family in mourning, to better illuminate the relationships within. The marriage of Lydia, psychosomatically blocked from playing her instrument, and Paul, maniacally focused on progress, only comes into focus towards the end. Initially, they operate in a comedic register that’s old-fashioned for two sitcom legends, as they bicker and argue their way through an amateur cover-up. Once “No Good Deed” stops clearing its throat, Kudrow and Romano finally get to flex their dramatic chops.
At least ‘No Good Deed’ buys time with a bitchy, deft satire of greedy yuppies. Paul and Lydia’s suitors are a colorful group. Newlywed Dennis (OT Fagbenle, dropping his crazed accent from “Presumed Innocent”), an author, and Carla (Teyonah Parris), now six months pregnant, need more space for their growing family – which includes his overbearing mother belong. Denise (Anna Maria Horsford). Sarah (Poppy Liu) and Leslie (Abbi Jacobson) have been obsessed with the house for years, but their critical eye is unwelcome: Leslie is a prosecutor, while Sarah is addicted to Citizen. Even JD (Luke Wilson), the washed-up sitcom actor down the street, is interested, having spent all his earnings on a McMansion designed by his trophy wife Margo (Cardellini). (It’s the highest compliment that, at 49, Cardellini is more than believable as a scheming gold digger who gets by on her good looks.) As real estate agent Greg, Matt Rogers makes for a delightful ringmaster for this three-ring circus.
‘No Good Deed’ avoids the heavier implications of putting on a show in the modern real estate market; there is no mention of a housing crisis, or even a specific price. Instead, Feldman sticks to the broader symbolism of the home search, on the buyer’s side, and how a house is haunted by decades of memories, on the seller’s side. It’s a valuable subject, enough to keep “No Good Deed” alive through the distraction of twist after twist – a tendency that affects the entire ensemble, save just Paul and Lydia. From finances to family backgrounds, the surprises are uniformly less satisfying than the post-revelation candor. A stable status quo creates a more nurturing environment than constant unrest. That’s the point where you put all your savings into an empty building, right?
All eight episodes of ‘No Good Deed’ are now available to stream on Netflix.
