Diksha Sundriyal
Netflix’s dark comedy series, ‘No Good Deed,’ follows the story of a couple who wants to sell their house. The demand for the place is pretty high, and three couples have already set their mind on it and are ready to do whatever it takes to finalize the deal. Despite this, a dark cloud hangs over the house, as something very traumatic took place there several years ago. As the events unfold, the house witnesses more bloodshed while the truth slowly comes to light. Created by Liz Feldman, the series takes such unexpected and dark turns that it will make the viewers think twice before buying a house.
Liz Feldman Came Up With the Idea While Browsing Houses Herself
‘No Good Deed’ is an entirely fictional story cooked up by Liz Feldman, who started playing with the idea during the production of the third and final season of her Emmy-nominated series, ‘Dead to Me.’ Actress Linda Cardellini, who plays the soft and lovable Judy in the Netflix series, told Feldman that in her next role, she wanted to play someone who is the exact opposite. She wanted someone darker and grittier than the loyal Judy. This led Feldman to wonder what such a character would look like, and this gave rise to Margo. For Feldman, characters come to her before a story, and with Margo, she had the starting point for a potential idea. At the same time, she had also been pondering over the real estate scene in Los Angeles.
During the Covid pandemic, when Feldman, like the rest of the world, was cooped up in her house, she would spend her nights browsing through listings on the real estate website Zillow. Reportedly, she and her partner saw over 50 houses during this time, and each house offered its own story, which fascinated Feldman. She thought about all the secrets that the families had and what things may have happened beyond the walls of those houses. This laid the foundation for Paul and Lydia Morgan’s story about trying to sell their home. While the house and the sellers are an important part of a sale, a lot also depends on the buyers. Feldman realized that competing to buy one’s dream home is bound to bring the worst out of a person.
The writer said that she even saw some hint of that desire to win in her own partner and was surprised to see how even the most decent people in the world can turn a bit towards the dark side when it comes to getting something that they have their hearts set on. This paved the way for the three couples in the show who fall in love with the house that the Morgans want to sell. Once the idea had taken shape, Feldman pitched it to Netflix, and following the success of ‘Dead to Me,’ they didn’t have to think twice about working with her. The fact that a show with such a premise had never been made before was also compelling to the streaming service as well as Feldman. Once the writers’ room was brought together, the story took its own shape, as the writers helped her expand the story and take it in all kinds of directions. At the end of the day, the core of the story comes down to the lengths a person is ready to go to do what they think is best for their family.
The Actors Brought Their Own Personality to the Characters
When actors Ray Romano and Lisa Kudrow were brought on board to portray the Morgans in ‘No Good Deed,’ they brought their own touch to the fictional couple. Romano revealed that he felt a personal connection with Paul. He noted that Paul struggles with expressing his feelings and is more likely to bottle things up rather than talk about them, which is somewhat how Romano is in real life as well. The actor revealed that playing that side of Paul was easier, but there are still some fundamental differences between them. He noted that he doesn’t share Paul’s anger issues, and if he were in Paul’s place, he would have done some things very differently. While Romano embraced the similarities with Paul, Kudrow decided not to be aware of it. As they were filming, Feldman told Kudrow that she was like Lydia in some aspects.
Instead of asking Feldman to elaborate upon it, Kudrow decided to stay in the dark about it. Though the ‘Friends’ actress confessed that she brings a part of herself in every role she plays, considering the twisted turns the story takes, it makes sense why the actress wouldn’t have wanted to feel any closer to Lydia. For Feldman, creating Paul and Lydia was a process similar to creating Judy and Jen. She wrote ‘No Good Deed’ in the same tone as ‘Dead to Me,’ which means that things tend to get darker rather than comedic as the story moves forward. The idea of a couple sharing a trauma that binds them together is another thing that the two shows have in common. Jen and Judy are tied together following the sudden death of Jen’s husband, while Paul and Lydia are tied together by the mysteries of their house. In both cases, Feldman made sure that she created the kind of people that the audience could look at and say that it is someone they’d know in real life.
Read More: No Good Deed Ending, Explained: Who Gets Paul and Lydia’s House?
