NBC’s upcoming murder mystery series Grosse Pointe Garden Society already had Us intrigued — but does it live up to the hype?
Prepare to plant yourself in front of the TV because Grosse Pointe Garden Society seeds desperation into its drama. In the rollickingly scandalous series, four members of a horticulture club in suburban Michigan become intertwined in a murder.
We don’t know who’s dead … but we quickly learn that the members of this disparate group have their own personal issues — and plenty of potential victims in their orbit.
High school teacher Alice has The Carrie Diaries’ AnnaSophia Robb, again on voiceover duty as her character is dealing with both her lost dog and the pushy, powerful mom of a slacking student. Meanwhile real estate agent Catherine is played by How to Get Away With Murder’s Aja Naomi King, who makes up for her husband’s lack of attention by hooking up with a married coworker … in a house they’re showing.
With both the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes coming to an end, the winter TV schedule is overflowing with highly anticipated premieres and returns — but some shows are still delayed, and others will have shortened seasons. Fans of Abbott Elementary looking forward to more episodes of the sitcom will be in for a bit of […]
As for hard-drinking successful author Birdie? Brooklyn Nine-Nine’s Melissa Fumero brings her to life as a woman “volunteering” with the garden society after a DUI. Garden manager Brett a.k.a Ozark’s Ben Rappaport rounds out the group and is still hurting after catching his now ex-wife getting it on with her colleague.
Suffice to say, burying a body together bonds the foursome — but can their shared secret also stay buried? Seems unlikely, with guilty consciences, loose lips and trust issues coming into play à la Big Little Lies.
Balancing a light tone with dark subject matter isn’t easy, but Good Girls creators Jenna Bans and Bill Krebs know what they are doing. At premiere’s end, a new development will set the shovel-wielding friends scurrying to cover their tracks, again. Not since Desperate Housewives has a series been so suspenseful and fun.
In addition to Fumero, King, Rappaport and Robb, Grosse Pointe Garden Society stars Alexander Hodge, Nancy Travis, Matthew Davis and Felix Wolfe. Before the show’s premiere, Fumero spoke to Us Weekly about finding herself drawn to spookier projects.
“They just happen to come up for me,” she shared after her darker arc on Peacock’s Based on a True Story. “So something about me screams mystery. But I’ll take it. It’s a genre that I enjoy and I’m not complaining.”
With all the suspense and fun of Desperate Housewives, Grosse Pointe Garden Society premieres on NBC Sunday, February 23, at 10 p.m. ET and new episodes are available to stream on Peacock the next day.
