While streaming has all but absorbed the standard network TV drama, there are still some notable exceptions to the rule. Take the new mystery/crime/drama Grosse Pointe Garden Society from co-showrunners Jenna Bans and Bill Krebs: a midseason gem that will use Peacock as a way to bring in many more weekly viewers than the series will experience live organically. From the surface, there will be ground-level similarities between Pretty Little Liars, Desperate Housewives, and even HBO’s Big Little Lies. Digging a deeper hole, viewers will realize that this buzzy new show, overflowing with gardening metaphors and scandalous secrets, presents a unique strain of flower all its own. Led by an all-star cast of favorites and an addictive, time-jumping narrative, Grosse Pointe Garden Society makes for a twisted suburban thriller with enough thorny extras to break skin.
In the pilot episode, we are immediately introduced to the major dilemma at hand: a dead body, buried by the shovels of our four leads, right in the center of a garden. Six months earlier, it is time to meet several denizens of Grosse Pointe in a truly creative narration comparing their likenesses to different types of flowers. The central players in the garden club are as follows: Alice (AnnaSophia Robb), a geranium; landscaper Brett (Ben Rappaport), a recently-divorced father of two compared to a resilient dandelion; zinnia over-achiever Katherine (Aja Naomi King), the “hardest-working flower in the garden;” and newest volunteer Birdie (Melissa Fumero), a classic Lily of the Valley—invasive, wild, and without boundaries, sentenced to community service and in need of rebuilding her life from the ground up. Each character gets their time to shine throughout the episodes, gradually unveiling more about their involvement in the murder at the top of the series.
This first episode nicely establishes an alternating structure between “present day” and “six months later.” The latter setting has a bluish filter on it to distinguish the time periods, whilst present day relishes in the full colors. ABC’s How to Get Away with Murder once skillfully utilized this structure, even including our very own Aja Naomi King in the mix. Grosse Pointe Garden Society feels to be a natural evolution to this concept. Although critics were only given the first four episodes to view in advance, it would appear that throughout the season, the distinct periods will be given almost equal airtime leading up to an eventual merging in the finale.
The formula here just works: four distinct characters, trying to make it through their messy lives and leaning on their friendships for comfort in the process. This allows for some excellent interplay amongst the stellar cast. Alice’s central conflict concerns the murder of her dog, and how to navigate her relationship with husband, Doug (Alexander Hodge), among his parents’ growing concern. Meanwhile, Katherine’s affair with realtor co-worker Gary (Saamer Usmani) gets really messy really quickly. Brett struggles with keeping custody of his children as his cheating wife (Nora Zehetner) and her new beau (Michael Bonini) put up a strong fight. Lastly, Birdie may be the most compelling of the lot. A rich debutante, her worldview is more cutthroat than the others; she tries to reconnect with her teenage, biological son (Felix Wolfe) after giving him up for adoption. Read: expect cheating, scandals, and soap opera antics all season long. Messy, complex characters making questionable decisions makes for an especially engrossing watch that, at least in these initial four episodes, absolutely hooked me.
Any good mystery will ask plenty of questions of its audience, and certainly Grosse Pointe Garden Society is filled with them. Each time something small may be resolved, a bigger question looms. In these early episodes, the biggest question of all is still who killed the buried corpse, and perhaps more importantly, whose body is it? There are enough clues laid out to ascertain parts of the solution, but I have no doubt that the actual answers will be withheld for the majority of the season. Grosse Pointe Garden Society may have murder at its heart, but it always saves room for the concise development of arcs. Depending on how the rest plays out, this could be one to watch, especially for those missing a juicy primetime drama deep in the harshness of winter. Stylish and suspenseful, your newest television obsession has arrived in a bouquet of demented perfection.
The Grosse Pointe Garden Society welcomes new members, starting Sunday, February 23rd on NBC, and next day on Peacock.
