No Good Deed is a family/criminal drama that is about a murder that was neatly covered up three years ago. Unfortunately, it comes up again after all this while, and the characters in that universe find out the details leading up to the murder and discover who killed the victim. It is not a serious investigative drama, but this show has characters who are rich, nosy, sad, yet hypocritical. Most of the people in the show are married and getting on with their lives when, inadvertently, a sale of a beautiful mansion opens up a Pandora’s box.
Lydia
The amazing Lisa Kudrow is Lydia Morgan, a famous pianist who is married to Paul, a rich businessman. They have been going through a very rough patch in their marriage since the death of their son, Jacob. They don’t talk about him, yet they feel they are somehow responsible for the death. There is a constant friction between the couple as Paul wants to sell the house, but Lydia is not sure, as it’s full of family memories. The couple goes through their ups and downs when another volatile family member walks in and wreaks havoc in their life.
There are also three major prospective home buyers who are showing interest in their mansion. All of them are going out of their way to pamper Paul and Lydia, yet the couple keeps having doubts about selling their house as many unfortunate incidents keep happening. Will Lydia agree to sell the house that has memories of her deceased son Jacob? That is what No Good Deed is about.
Paul
Everyone knows Ray Romano, and he portrays the role of Paul Morgan, Lydia’s husband, who is very keen on selling his home that has been in the family for a long time. He has many financial issues, and sadly his son Jacob was killed in this place. The latter is the biggest reason why Paul is keen on finishing this deal as soon as possible. Unlike Lydia, Paul looks like he is over the sentimental value of this home. To his shock, his brother Mikey shows up asking for money and later demands the house be transferred to his name. There is a dark history between him and Mikey, which forces the latter to go after his only brother.
Mikey and Paul have a love-hate relationship that only Lydia understands. Paul and Lydia are in a bad place, as the last three years they have been dealing with the tragedy of losing their son to a robbery gone wrong. The husband and wife are in their own world as Paul does not bother much about what Lydia wants any more.
Margo
The fantastic Linda Cardellini portrays the role of Margo Starling, the second wife of the actor JD Campbell. She is a typical trophy wife who claims to be a good person, but she burns most of her time spending her husband’s money. Margo is also having an affair with a woman named Gwen. Margo is also keen on buying Lydia and Paul’s home, but she has kept this a secret as she plans to leave her husband to live with Gwen. Margo is a manipulative woman who goes out of her way to convince her husband to stay in the marriage when he learns of her infidelity. Margo is very keen on buying Paul and Lydia’s home, and she is very persuasive to the point she begins to flirt to make things go her way. Margo, however, has kept a lot of secrets, and her husband is also unaware of much about her past.
JD Campbell
Luke Wilson is JD Campbell, an out-of-work soap opera actor who is going out of his way to make sure his wife Margo does not leave her. He is also keen on buying the house for his wife in the hope it will make her want to stay with him. JD is also losing a lot of money because Margo is spending his money on designer bags since she isn’t aware he is out of work. JD, just like several others, is an insecure man who is not confident about himself or trusts that he is good enough for Margo. He is completely blindsided by Margo when she accidentally reveals her adultery. Since JD is the naive one, he is willing to give her a chance to make their marriage work. Unbeknownst to him or anyone, Margo is a master manipulator and a serial liar who has kept many secrets from him.
Dennis
“O-T” Fagbenle is Dennis Sampson, a popular writer who has recently gotten some money in his hand thanks to his bestseller book. He and his wife Carla became notorious after getting married shortly after dating since she got pregnant. Carla is in her last months of pregnancy, and Dennis wants to buy Paul and Lydia’s home and start his family. He also intends to make his mother live with him, but Carla is not on board with that. Dennis is close to his mother, and he wants to make it up to her for not inviting her to his wedding. Since his mother and Carla have two different ideas of how home life should be, Dennis is confused. Dennis is also going through writer’s block and has not been able to work on the sequel to his hit novel. How he will gather the money to buy Paul and Lydia’s home is what his arc explains.
Carla
Teyonah Parris portrays the role of Carla, wife to Dennis. She is also in the last trimester of her pregnancy and isn’t looking forward to living with Dennis’ mother. Carla has had a difficult relationship with her father, and she assumes every parent-child relationship to be like that. This is the reason Carla wants to raise a child away from their grandparents, so that she can raise the kid with Dennis the way they want. She lets Dennis know that she comes from a rich family, but Dennis does not care about that, and she likes this quality in him. Just like Dennis, she is also interested in buying Paul and Lydia’s home, but she is concerned about Dennis feeling guilty about keeping his mother away from their tiny wedding ceremony.
Sarah
Poppy Liu is Sarah, a doctor who is also highly interested in buying Paul and Lydia’s home. Sarah, unlike the others, is interested in finding out what people are up to and what the news of the neighborhood is. She is interested in hearing gossip about the rich people living around her, and she does that using an application. The moment Sarah learns that Lydia lost her son, she is keen to find out what happened, which helps her formulate an easy way to decide whether to buy the house or not.
Leslie
Abbi Jacobson is Leslie, Sarah’s wife, who works as a prosecutor with the District Attorney in Los Angeles. Leslie is one step ahead of Sarah, as she is always in an investigation mode. Ever since she learned from Sarah about Jacob’s death, she wants to find out if there was any cover-up. There is a lot of mystery about the house, which Leslie finds weird. She also tries to break into Paul and Lydia’s house, but she is unsuccessful at gathering enough information. Leslie wants to make sure she is making the right decision, and for that she needs to find out what happened in that house.
Mikey
Denis Leary is Mikey, Paul’s older brother, who is a criminal by profession. He shows up at the beginning of the show asking for money from Paul. It is also learned that Mikey helped Paul and Lydia to make Jacob’s death look like it was carried out by a robbery gone wrong. Mikey comes back from prison demanding not just to be given money but to be given the house back. Mikey and Paul have had a love-hate relationship since their childhood. It is also hinted that he liked Lydia, but she chose Paul over him. He tries to kiss Lydia, but she pushes him away. Mikey is making sure his demands are met but his aggressive style does not work.
