Warning! Spoilers for Netflix’sNo Good Deedahead!
The Morgans attempt to sell their house inNo Good Deedto escape the truth of what happened to their son Jacob—but even they didn’t know the half of it. This Netflix dark comedy series explores the kinds of secrets that homes can hold, especially those placed in a competitive market.No GoodDeedfollows Paul and Lydia Morgan (Ray Romano and Lisa Kudrow), whose highly-saught-after listing gathers the attention of three couples: Leslie and Sarah (Abbi Jacobson and Poppy Liu), Dennis and Carla (O-T Fagbenle and Teyonah Parris), and JD and Margo (Luke Wilson and Linda Cardellini).
It quickly becomes apparent inNo Good Deedthat Paul and Lydiaare hiding something, and the tragic reveal is thattheir son Jacob was shot and killed in the home three years before they put it on the market(the cutoff for when such events need no-longer to be disclosed). Precisely what happened to Jacob is a slow build, however. First, it’s revealed that the Morgans made it look as if Jacob was shot by a burglar. Then,Netflix’s dark comedytragically unveiled the secret that their daughter, Emily (Chloe East), had been the one to shoot at Jacob, thinking he was a burglar. Still, it wasn’t actually Emily who killed the boy after all.
Who Really Killed Jacob In No Good Deed
The Extra Bullet Casing Revealed The Truth
The ending ofNo Good Deedreveals that unbeknownst to the Morgans, there were two bullet casings recovered at the scene the night Jacob was killed. Paul had gathered up one, while his brother Mikey (Denis Leary) had hidden another one away. Since Emily had only fired once, and the casings were clearly different from one another, it quickly became clear that something wasn’t quite right. Desperate to learn more, Lydiatook a look at the autopsy record for her son and discovered that a .40 caliber pistol killed him, while the gun Emily shot was a 9 mm.
It was a huge relief that Emily hadn’t really killed her brother, but this still left a lot of questions. Prospective home-buyer and lawyer Leslie learned that celebrity neighbor JD Campbell owned a .40 caliber pistol, and this man seemed to have motive since it was later revealed that his wife,Margo Starling, was having an affair with Jacob Morgan. However, Lydia realized the truth of it.Margo herself was the one who killed JacobinNo Good Deed.
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Flashbacks inNo Good Deedrevealed that Jacob had been stealing from the neighbors to dote on Margo with expensive gifts. However, when the much older woman ended things, Jacob broke into her house and began to steal the items back. He told Margo he would tell JD the truth about their relationship and began returning to his house. The gold-digger grabbed her husband’s .40 caliber and chased Jacob,shooting the boy at the exact same time that Emily shot (but missed)her masked brother. The Morgans covered the whole thing up to protect Emily, and Margo got away with her crime for years.
Margo Starling’s True Identity & Fate Explained
Margo Starling Is Actually “Luann”
Linda Cardellini’s characterMargo was difficult to like from the moment she appeared on screen inNo Good Deed—long before it was revealed that she had murdered her teenage lover. Lydia Morgan despised the woman, who seemed to love nothing but expensive clothes and ringing her celebrity husband dry. However, Margo managed to win Lydia over momentarily when the two women had a heart-to-heart, during which it was revealed that Margo had once lost a brother to a house fire that she herself had accidentally caused. It was very nearly a touching moment, but like everything Margo said, it was mostly a lie.
The ending ofNo Good Deedsaw JD discover that Margo’s brother, Bobby, wasn’t dead after all, and thathis wife’s real name was Luann. She and Bobby were poor con artists who had manipulated everything to ensure that Luann married a wealthy celebrity. All she had to do was wait out the terms of the prenup, and “Margo” would walk away from her marriage with millions. However, what she didn’t realize was that she had already spent all of JD’s money. The only thing she could hope to claim was the expensive house, but JD had a different idea.
Though the villain’s arrest is never seen on screen, it’s assumed that she finally faced justice for Jacob’s murder.
One of the final scenes of the Netflix dark comedy saw Margo/Luann sitting in the bathtub while the house around her goes up in flames.The fact that JD is then seen happily driving away implies that the man himself had burned the house down, intending for his con-artist wife to go down with it.However, a later scene inNo Good Deed’s final episode sees a heavily scarred Margo flirting with a man at a bar, who turns out to be Nate Morgan, Paul, and Lydia’s police officer nephew.Though the villain’s arrest is never seen on screen, it’s assumed that she finally faced justice for Jacob’s murder.
Who Ended Up Buying The Morgan House
The Bidding War Came To An End
Along with the mystery of Jacob’s death, the big question ofNo Good Deedwas who would end up with the Morgans' beautiful home. At one point or another, it seemed that each of the three couples, desperate to have their offer accepted would claim it. Paul and Lydia accepted JD and Margo’s offer, but it fell through since the soap opera star couldn’t produce proof of funds. Then, the Morgans accepted Dennis and Carla’s offer, butthe newlywed pulled out when Sarah sneakily revealed that Jacob Morgan had been murdered in the house.
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This left Leslie and Sarah, who had previously been disqualified when the former was caught snooping around the home at night. As a DA, Leslie was initially a threat to Paul and Lydia since she could potentially discover the truth about Jacob. However, it was because of precisely this that the Morgans wound up learning that Margo, not Sarah, killed their son.This earned Leslie and Sarah some additional points, and their offer was ultimately acceptedat the end ofNo Good Deed. They even respected Lydia’s wishes about the property’s beautiful mandarin orange tree.
The Fate Of JD Cambell’s House Explained
The last JD Cambell’s house was seen inNo Good Deed, it was up in flames while Margo was trapped in side. Of course, the fact that Margo was later seen alive reveals that she had somehow escaped (though not without significant burns). Still, it seems that the house itself didn’t fare so well. The final clip of Dennis and Carla sees them celebrating their anticipated move to Los Feliz—specifically, Derby Drive. However, it’s quickly clear that they don’t mean the Morgan house. Instead,Dennis and Carla are building a new home on JD’s old plot,revealing that the previous house was burned down entirely.
Dennis Still Has A Big Secret At The End Of No Good Deed
Dennis and Carla’s final scene inNo Good Deedrevealed a happy ending for the duo since the former had finally managed to publish another book, and the latter would get to build the home of her dreams in Los Feliz.However, this wasn’t the end of the couple’s secrets. Carla mentions that they are building their home with the massive advance on Dennis' third book, but the look on her husband’s face makes it clear that this isn’t entirely true. Dennis' text messages from Carla’s dad confirm this.The new house would be built from the $5 million the man had sent, and Carla doesn’t know a thing about it.
Why Lydia Was Finally Able To Play Piano Again In No Good Deed’s Ending
Lydia’s Tremor Finally Went Away
ThroughoutNo Good Deed, Lydia made it clear thatshe hadn’t been able to play the piano since her son’s death. She had once been a professional pianist, but Jacob’s murder during one of her concerts caused a terrible tremor in Lydia’s hands that she just couldn’t overcome. However, the Netflix series' final episode sees Lydia finally play, and not just any song, either. Lydia and her daughter Emily perform a song together that Jacob himself wrote before his death.
Playing piano was not only a source of enjoyment for Lydia, but it was a talent and art that she and Jacob shared.
Lydia’s inability to play piano until the end ofNo Good Deedwas really just a self-inflicted punishment. She had decided to buy a gun to protect the house since a known burglar was terrorizing the neighborhood. Of course, Lydia had no idea that the burglar was Jacob, andher guilt over setting her daughter up to kill her son was simply too much to handle. Playing piano was not only a source of enjoyment for Lydia, but it was a talent and art that she and Jacob shared. As penance, she psychosomatically caused her own tremor. But when the truth was revealed, the tremor went away.
The Flickering Lamp In No Good Deed’s Ending Explained
Jacob Truly Was Communicating With His Family
Among the Morgan house’s secrets inNo Good Deedwas the flickering light in Jacob’s old room.Paul believed this was owed simply to bad wiring, while Lydia believed wholeheartedly that her son would use the light to communicate and send her signs. Throughout the majority ofNo Good Deed, it wasn’t clear who was right. However, during the final scene of the Netflix series, the lamp on Paul’s table begins to flicker while Emily and Lydia perform together at the bar. Since this is outside the home, and none of the other tables' lights flicker, it’s implied that Jacob truly was reaching out to his family after all.
The True Meaning Of No Good Deed’s Ending
No Good Deed Uses Quirky Methods To Explore Impactful Concepts
No Good Deedis a dark comedy through and through, and that added touch of mystery certainly adds to the intrigue. Still, the most unique aspect of this Netflix series is the emotional heart behind it all. The Morgan home is beautiful inside and out, but it hides some ugly secrets, and its time on the market inspired other characters ofNo Good Deedto create even more damaging deceptions.This parallels with the Morgans' marriage. At the beginning ofNo Good Deed, they appear to be a tight-knit couple with a great sense of humor. However, their relationship was in shambles.
Characters frequently said that they had “always wanted to see the inside” of the Morgan house in No Good Deed, and just as this literally applied to the property, it figuratively worked for the family’s own secrets.
The ending ofNo Good Deedsees the Morgan house’s secrets come to light and be resolved. Similarly, the secrets Paul and Lydia had been keeping—their resentment and hatred for one another following Jacob’s death—come to the surface and are resolved as well. Additionally, the conflicted relationship between Lydia and her daughter and Paul and his son also served a role here. Characters frequently said that they had “always wanted to see the inside” of the Morgan house inNo Good Deed, and just as this literally applied to the property, it figuratively worked for the family’s own secrets.
No Good Deed
Cast
No Good Deed is a dark comedy series created by Liz Feldman for Netflix and stars Ray Romano as Paul Morgan in the lead role. Out of money and at the end of his rope, Paul considers selling his beautiful villa so he can pay his debts off and leave Los Angeles, but as he and two other families soon discover, the past is difficult to outrun.
