We know, we know. We’re a little late to the party. But if there’s ever been a party worth getting a little late into for so you can speed through the first few episodes, it might just be this one. Grosse Pointe Garden Society, titled so because the show is set in the affluent Detroit suburb of Grosse Pointe, Michigan, is the perfect successor to the days of Desperate Housewives with a dash of Clue and a little of The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window.
Except in many ways, this show is its own thing because here, you’re not trying to figure out who the killer is. Here, as four members of a suburban garden club are caught in a murder, you’re caught in three different timelines and trying to figure out who the victim is. And truly, isn’t that a much more interesting mystery?
The foursome at the center of the show is Alice (AnnaSophia Robb), a high school literature teacher, her best friend Brett (Ben Rappaport), a landscaper, Catherine (Aja Naomi King), a real-estate agent and vice president of the Garden Society and Birdie (Melissa Fumero), a wealthy socialite. They all work well at being what they are, but it’s truly Catherine and Birdie who steal the show in two very different roles for Aja Naomi King and Melissa Fumero.
We’d follow these two anywhere, and Michigan doesn’t seem like such a big ask.
But it is, of course, not just this foursome, but their personal lives and their partners we have to contend with. Some of the specific storylines end up being more interesting—we admit we cannot stop thinking about the drama with Catherine cheating on her husband and her husband’s reaction, but care very little about Brett clashing with his ex’s new husband Connor—but that might be a matter of how the stories are being presented now. With this show, there might be a twist coming that makes us care in an episode or two.
Finally, there’s the mystery at the center. I’ll admit the thrill of trying to figure out who is dead makes me want to pull out a notebook to track clues, but the three advancing timelines do get confusing at times. Where are we on each timeline? Who can keep track? This is a show that requires all your attention, even if it’s mostly a light, fun watch in general. But the questions are fun for now, and as long as the show gives us some answers soon and does a good job of raising some new questions as it does so, I can see myself returning to Michigan for seasons to come.
Grosse Pointe Garden Society airs Sundays on NBC.
