No Good Deed is a family drama that slowly unfolds into a murder case that is solved three years after everything happened. This Netflix show is unlike most serious crime dramas, for it has hints of dark humor. The show starts by focusing on a couple who are on the verge of selling their home, but soon a lot of unpleasant secrets emerge.
Spoilers Ahead
Why were Lydia and Paul selling their home?
No Good Deed began with Greg, a realtor based in Los Angeles, putting up Paul and Lydia’s fancy mansion in the Los Feliz neighborhood of the city for sale. Lydia was not keen on selling the place as she was aware her husband spent a lot of time building the home. Paul was short on money since Lydia hadn’t been working as a pianist for the last three years. Paul was keen on selling the house, while Lydia was hesitant, since their kids, Emily and Jacob, grew up here. Paul’s brother, Mikey, an ex-convict, was back in their life demanding 80,000 USD, and Paul had no money on him. Lydia ended up selling her beloved piano to keep Mikey at bay. Mikey kept mentioning covering up a major crime for them, and how he felt the couple owe him a lot. There are some flashes of their past indicating that their son Jacob was killed in what looked like a robbery gone wrong in the same house. Three years later, Lydia could sense Jacob in the house, speaking through a bulb in his room.
How was Dennis’s relationship with Carla?
Dennis and Carla had gotten married in haste as the latter had gotten pregnant very early in their relationship. Dennis was an author riding on the success of his first book. Carla’s profession was not mentioned, but it was indicated that her father was very rich, though Dennis wasn’t aware of it. Since Carla wasn’t very close to her father, she found Dennis and his mother being attached to each other weird. Dennis and Carla were interested in buying Paul and Lydia’s home, but on finding out her mother in law might move in with them, she backed out from the offer. There was also a mention of his father having died young of sarcoidosis, with Dennis being worried he might have it too.
Were JD and Margo happy?
JD Campbell was a soap opera actor living in Los Angeles with his second wife, Margo, who was a classic trophy wife, and both were interested in buying Paul and Lydia’s home. Initially, the couple showed up separately, but Margo later revealed that Paul and Lydia were selling the house because it had been three years since Jacob died in it, and now they wouldn’t have to reveal it to prospective buyers. JD was hoping to save their marriage, as it was going through a rough patch. Margo, on the other hand, was having an affair with Gwen and was hoping to buy the home with her. Gwen called off the relationship and Margo inadvertently ended up confessing to her husband about her infidelity. She promised to be better, and the first step to their reconciliation would be the purchase of Paul and Lydia’s home. Paul and Lydia were invited for dinner at their home. JD and Lydia ended up having a good conversation while Margo began to flirt with Paul in the hope he would accept her offer, which was more than what the others were offering.
Were Leslie and Sarah trying to dig into the murder case?
Leslie and Sarah were another couple who were keen on buying Paul and Lydia’s home. Leslie was a prosecutor with the District Attorney, and she had a penchant for getting into investigation mode. Sarah was a doctor, and both were trying to have a baby. During their private tour of the house, Sarah ran into Lydia, who accidentally revealed that her son had died. Leslie and Sarah went into investigation mode and found out that Jacob was killed in an armed robbery.
What happened to Mikey?
Mikey had begun to bother Lydia and Paul as he demanded the house to be transferred in his name. In a fit of anger, Lydia injured him and assumed he was dead. Paul put Mikey’s body behind a hidden makeshift space in their bedroom and called off the sale of the house. To their shock, Mikey’s son, Nate, a police officer with the LAPD, showed up. Paul had to distract Nate by taking him to Mikey’s apartment, and found out his brother had sent an unusual message to his son. Paul also learned that the 80,000 USD was for Nate and his fiancée, as was his demand for the house. Paul found the evidence box that Mikey kept threatening him and Lydia with that contained items from the night Jacob died. A concerned Lydia back at her home saved Mikey from having a seizure due to his fever and nursed him back to health. This incident calmed Mikey down and he did not go after his brother and sister-in-law. Lydia also learned from Mikey that Paul was aware of the fact that their son was robbing them and the other houses in the neighborhood.
Why was Emily feeling guilty?
Lydia indicated many times that their daughter Emily had not come home since Jacob’s death, and she had not spoken to her in the last three years. Lydia decided to mend her relationship with Emily and finally talk about what was causing the gap between them. They finally addressed the elephant in the room, which was Jacob’s death, and how everything since then had been snowballing into a big unsolvable rift. After a long talk about their relationship and in the hope of mending it, Lydia was back home with Emily. The daughter accidentally found the evidence box in the kitchen and asked her parents about it. This revealed that Jacob was accidentally killed by Emily as she’d assumed there was a robber entering their home. The gun belonged to Lydia, and ever since the parents had maintained that an armed burglary gone wrong had led to Jacob’s death. Paul never forgave Lydia for having a gun in the house. Lydia too was consumed by guilt, which had caused a rift between her and Paul all this while.
What did Leslie inform Lydia?
Leslie got her hands on Jacob’s autopsy report, which stated that the bullet used on him was of the same caliber as the gun owned by JD, according to pictures they had of him holding it. Lydia learned from the hospital that Leslie had taken the report and learnt about a different bullet casing found near Jacob’s body. She was also informed that it could have come from JD’s gun since they were neighbors. Lydia came back home to let Paul and Emily know about this development.
Did JD confront Margo?
JD was in dire need of cash as he had lied to Margo about landing a superhero film. To save himself he decided to sell his boat, but was shocked to find Margo’s brother Bobby living in it, because she had let everyone believe that her brother died in a fire she accidentally started. JD confronted his wife about her past, and just like before, she manipulated him by talking about her abusive childhood instead of being honest with him. JD was even more livid on learning that Margo had stalked him before getting into a relationship with him, and he began to wonder if his wife was ever honest. Margo, on learning that her husband might use that as leverage to divorce her, decided to kidnap Harper, his daughter from his first marriage. She asked Emily, Lydia and Paul’s daughter, to take care of Harper till she came back.
Margo learned from JD that he did not have any money on him. So her relying on the prenup was futile. On realizing she would get nothing, including the house, her final move was to hit herself to prove that JD was an abusive husband.When JD came to pick up Harper, he was confronted by Paul and Lydia about the gun that he owned which was used to kill Jacob. Harper accidentally revealed that Jacob gave her piano lessons only once, and the rest of the time he was at their house to hang out with Margo, indicating that he and Margo were having an affair.
Was Dennis in an existential crisis?
Dennis, on the other hand, was facing his own troubles. He had not only learned he could have sarcoidosis because his father had it, but he’d never shared with Carla how he’d not been able to start his second book. Carla had learned from Dennis’ mother that his biological father wasn’t who he thought it was. She asked his mother to tell him, but she refused to do so. As Carla went into labor, Dennis had all these thoughts hitting him at once, since he was worried about being diagnosed with a deadly illness. Carla was in distress watching her husband agonizing over his father’s illness, and she was forced to tell him about his real parentage. This changed his perspective since he felt betrayed by his mother. Dennis also learned from Carla that she hailed from a rich family, but she had a difficult relationship with her father. She hid her family background so that Dennis would love her for who she is and not her father’s money. This was a life-changing moment for him, as he held his newborn baby in his arms, all while learning his childhood was a lie. Since Dennis was a father himself now, he realized he would never be able to lie to the kid. It seems he would do things very differently, and this revelation came at the right time.
Carla and Dennis’ doctor was Sarah, Leslie’s wife, who helped in the safe delivery of their son. Since she was aware of the details of Jacob’s death, she purposely let it slip in the conversation about this incident. The whole idea was to make Dennis and Carla back away from making an offer so that she and Leslie could put one in instead. This was the best opportunity, as Dennis and Carla had just had a kid, and they wouldn’t want to live in a house where a young boy had been murdered. Sarah and Leslie were willing to take the risk as the house was too good to be let go.
Who killed Jacob?
Lydia confronted Margo about the affair she had with Jacob. As a mother, she had to do it because Margo turned out to be an evil person who was not afraid to lie her way out of everything. She had managed to manipulate JD, and he stated that his wife was capable of making up any amount of lies to save her face. Lydia was horrified to know that Margo knew about Jacob’s kleptomania all along but chose to keep quiet. Margo, as expected, began to make up stories to get her out of the bad situation since she’d been caught in her web of deceit. Margo could be termed as a narcissistic woman who would do anything to save herself. If she could betray and trap her husband, she could very well hurt Lydia as well. Unlucky for her, when she tried it, Lydia was carrying her gun as well.
Margo, in her defense, let Lydia know that she killed Jacob because he’d threatened to reveal the affair to everyone. She was worried about losing the money during the divorce, and of being dubbed as a paedophile for having an affair with a minor. Lydia and her family could not go to the police, as it would implicate all of them for covering up and lying about the crime. Lydia also could not afford to lose her family after all these years of trauma. She, however, got the closure she was looking for and she could let go of the guilt since Margo had admitted to the crime. Margo was merciless and an insensitive woman who was so far removed from reality.
No Good Deed had several loose ends tied up as a part of the conclusion. Paul, Lydia, Emily, and Mikey came together as one family. They knew how things ended, and all of them were now living guilt free. It was as if Jacob had shown them a path to find the answers during the sale of the house. Mikey did his part by buying the piano back for Lydia so that she could play the instrument again after three years of giving up on it. On the day of Emily’s performance, she gave a tribute to her brother Jacob, and her mother was on the piano. The light on the table flickered just like it used to happen to Lydia. Paul finally felt his son’s presence around even though he was long gone, something Lydia had also felt and spoken openly about it. JD, out of sheer agony, set the house on fire in the hope of destroying it so that Margo wouldn’t forcefully take it away as a part of the divorce settlement. There was no clarity on if he intended to kill her or just destroy the home because it would affect the insurance money he would receive. This fire was reminiscent of the arson she claimed her brother died in. That fire could have been started by Margo for insurance money. Maybe she was successful in doing so because for the world Bobby was dead, but the reality was something else.
Margo got trapped in the fire, and initially there was no indication of whether she made it or not. However, JD was seen leaving the neighborhood and going back to acting, his only passion in life. JD probably would never seek another relationship after the horrifying end of his second marriage. JD was done with pleasing his psychotic wife, and he wanted to run far away from her. Margo, on the other hand, was arrested by the LAPD, possibly for her role in killing Jacob. Margo’s face was half burnt in the arson, but that didn’t stop the police from detaining her.
Dennis and Carla decided to get each other to speak to their respective parents. Carla wanted Dennis to forgive his mother because, as a parent, she was only protecting his feelings. Surely he would understand that emotion since he was a father himself. Dennis also asked her to give her father a chance since he was trying to make amends for the mistakes he made. Since she was a mother as well, she hoped to understand her father’s emotions because she could make mistakes in the future as a parent. In the gift sent by Carla’s father, Dennis found a five million dollar check, and he was aware this was meant for them as a couple. He knew Carla would not accept it, and he also knew Carla loved him for not going after her money, but this cheque was a tempting offer. Her father probably knew Dennis taking the money would make Carla question her husband’s character.
Dennis and Carla’s arc ended with him signing his new book, which was slated to be successful as well. The couple, instead of buying Paul and Lydia’s home, purchased JD and Margo’s home. This indicated that, after the arson, JD sold it to the next best buyer, which was Dennis and his wife. Dennis received a message from his father-in-law about encashing the check, but he never responded to his attempt to get in touch with his daughter and grandchild. This proves Dennis used the money to buy JD’s mansion for his wife, son, and his mother, but he had to keep the fact hidden. If father-in-law were to speak to Carla, he would in no time inform her about Dennis’ discretion. It is surprising how Dennis never thought things would not end smoothly. He would have to face Carla as she would question his morals and possibly leave him as well. Dennis got himself in a mess, and he had no clue how to get out of it. Paul and Lydia’s home was purchased by Sarah and Leslie. Sarah was halfway into her pregnancy, and they were happy to have gotten their hands on their dream home.
No Good Deed ended with the footage of Margo killing Jacob, who shot him at the same time his sister pulled the trigger. This could be the reason behind Margo’s arrest. Paul and Lydia will get out of this mess thanks to Leslie, who will be on the couple’s side and make sure Margo is given the highest sentence for killing Jacob.
