Grosse Pointe Garden Society serves up a fun, frothy mystery

Raise your hand if you’ve seen this on TV before: A group of friends unexpectedly commit a crime, then act like everything’s eerily normal lest they get caught and lose everything. It’s an overly familiar yet addictive hook, particularly on long-running shows that use the time to flesh it out. Desperate Housewives, How To Get Away With Murder, and Good Girls have previously made a meal of this concept, blending dark suspense, wry humor, and emotional stakes to deliver a delectable, character-driven mystery. And NBC’s Grosse Pointe Garden Society is a promising addition to the genre.  

The show’s immediate appeal is that it hails from Jenna Bans, who helmed Good Girls and also wrote for DH and Scandal. Based on four installments screened for critics, Bans and her co-creator Bill Krebs bring a similarly frothy sensibility to GPGS. Think pleasing visual aesthetics (featuring a lot of flowers), snappy if at times cheesy and rote dialogue (the phrase “First rule of the garden club? We all have each other’s backs” is repeated a bunch), and, crucially, protagonists divulging juicy secrets as they form an unshakable bond. It’s the sort of show that knows—and thrives on—its unseriousness. 

In this case, the quartet aren’t suburban neighbors with white-picket fences and manicured lawns. Instead, they’re members of the titular supercilious organization, easing personal frustrations and miseries by perfecting their green-thumb skills together. The group includes longtime pals Alice (AnnaSophia Robb) and Brett (Ben Rappaport), as well as prim real-estate agent Catherine (Aja Naomi King), whose months-long infidelity threatens her marriage. Then there’s Birdie (Melissa Fumero), a reckless divorcée who joins the club in the premiere as part of her community service. She may be a rookie, but Birdie quickly charms her way into the trio’s inner circle. 

Everyone’s internal lives are messy, but at least they can make the external garden look flawless and win a coveted prize for it. It’s too bad that six months later, they’re burying a dead body in the middle of the same well-tended yard. Of course, this transgression occurs on the night of a fancy gala, so they’re dressed to the nines. The show jumps back and forth in time to set the stage for the murder and then gradually deals with its aftermath. Would it surprise anybody to learn that each of them has people they want to get rid of, including a sleazy coworker and an ex’s cunning new partner? GPGS plays guessing games with the audience, slowly peeling back who the killer and victim might be.