[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for No Good Deed Season 1.]
After eight episodes of drama, heartache, family strife, and very big secrets, the bidding war for the enchanting and desirable Loz Feliz home at the heart of No Good Deed has come to an end: The keys to Derby Drive are in the hands of suburban couple Leslie (Abbi Jacobson) and Sarah (Poppy Liu). But the reveal of who ended up in the house was far from the biggest twist or surprise that the Liz Feldman-created show served up.
One of those big twists? Linda Cardellini‘s secretive and sultry Margo Starling, who turned out to not just be another interested buyer hoping to turn the home into a profit, but a manipulative woman with a hidden past who played a role in murdering Lydia (Lisa Kudrow) and Paul’s (Ray Romano) son three years ago. Cardellini’s Margo is about as far as you can get from sweet bohemian Judy Hale, the character she played for three seasons on Feldman’s previous show, Dead to Me, and it’s a difference that was very intentional.
“When Liz came up with the idea of this character, the things that I was reading about…they’re just so fun for me to play, it’s not something I usually take on,” Cardellini says of the role, which reunited the actress with her Legally Blonde co-star Luke Wilson—though instead of staring at each other in a courtroom, the two had a much closer relationship, with Wilson playing Margo’s husband JD Campbell, a washed up soap star.
Saeed Adyani/Netflix
“You’ve got JD, who is just this not very bright out of work actor and then he’s with this dynamo who’s all about kind of having the right handbag and the right blouse and the right shoes…and something’s gotta pay for all that,” Wilson laughs. “And it’s not going to be this out of work actor. So right there I think you have the good friction to create fire.”
Literally. While Margo’s crimes eventually came to light after JD figured out her ruse and cut her off, karma eventually caught up with the resident liar and her house caught fire during a bath. At the end of the show, it was revealed that Margo had survived the fire, living to con another day…though not without some disfiguring injuries. (Not that it stopped her from having a glass of wine, or the police from catching her!)
“The home represents so much. The outside represents what people see when you invite people in—what they learn about you and then what are you projecting. The thing I think is fun about the writing, too, is the secrets that the home has, the secrets that the people have, and all of those things being layered into how you behave and how hiding something actually informs what you’re putting out into the world,” says Cardellini. “For instance, my character is hiding what she doesn’t like about how she grew up. So what she put out into the world is a blatant coverup of something she’s feeling deeply insecure about.”
Netflix
For the rest of the characters, there are happier endings: Original homeowners Paul and Lydia, whose relationship had been strained after their son’s death, reconcile after it’s revealed that Margo was the killer and not their daughter (who had carried guilt with her for many years after thinking she was the culprit). Meanwhile, Carla (Teyonah Parris) and Dennis (O-T Fagbenle)—proud parents of a new baby—are also making a move to Derby Drive, as they’re rebuilding Margo and JD’s mansion after the fire. They’ve also learned how to (mostly) co-exist as a unit with Dennis’ overbearing mother Denise (Anna Maria Horsford).
So, how do the actors think their characters are doing now?
“I think Carla would love to see Dennis stand up to his mother in a very real way that’s not her prodding him to do it, but he feels very compelled to lead in that way,” shares Parris, while Romano cites couples therapy for Paul and Lydia.
“I think they’re on the road to healing,” adds Kudrow.
“They probably take pilates together…they’re trying little things,” says Romano. “They’re doing better though, they’re doing much better.”
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As for Leslie and Sarah? “I think they’re thriving,” Jacobson says with a smile. “I think over the course of this season, they’ve grown so much, going after this house and communicating with one another. I think they’re at a new level of their relationship, which is always a good place to be.”
With everyone’s stories tied up but also left open-ended, does that mean there’s another season of No Good Deed to be had? While no official announcement has been made about whether there will be more of the show, Feldman is optimistic. “I have a very clear idea of what I want to do for Season 2,” she teases. “And I can’t wait to get into it with Netflix.”
Watch more from the cast in the above video.
No Good Deed, Season 1, Streaming Now, Netflix
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