Every rose has its thorns, and the members of the Grosse Pointe Garden Society seem to encounter a lot of them. While everything might look beautiful in this picture-perfect place, when you dare to get your hands dirty, you’ll see that more than one root is rotten, threatening the entire ecosystem. From cheating scandals to uptight PTA parents to vicious dog killers, the amount of drama in this town could drive anyone to the brink of insanity — and murder.
What Is ‘Grosse Pointe Garden Society’ About?

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Grosse Pointe Garden Society follows four members of the titular club, all of whom have secrets and are connected by one mysterious crime. The show follows two main timelines, one of which starts when party girl Birdie (Melissa Fumero) comes on the scene and shakes things up in order to satisfy her community service requirements. The other follows the fateful night of the aforementioned homicide and desperate cover-up, as well as the aftermath that seems to get more complicated at every turn.
In addition to Birdie, there’s school teacher Alice (AnnaSophia Robb), who longs for something more but feels pressured by her husband Doug’s (Alexander Hodge) parents to settle down and have children, and Catherine (Aja Naomi King), a real estate agent stuck in a passionless marriage who has a steamy, messy affair with her co-worker, Gary (Saamer Usmani). Finally, there’s Brett (Ben Rappaport) — the only man in the core four. He, too, is struggling in his relationships, as his ex-wife Melissa (Nora Zehetner) has recently married a wealthy and frequently arrogant man named Connor (Josh Ventura), who Brett sees as overstepping in his new role as a stepfather to his children.
‘Grosse Pointe Garden Society’ Is More Cringe Than Camp

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Grosse Pointe Garden Society’s setup is nothing new, with its plot sure to remind audiences of similar fare like Big Little Lies and Good Girls, the latter of which even shares a co-creator in Jenna Bans. While this isn’t necessarily a bad thing in and of itself — it’s sure to draw in viewers who are fans of those series — unfortunately, Grosse Pointe Garden Society doesn’t do enough to distinguish itself from other shows in the genre. It lacks the edge and style of Big Little Lies as well as the comedic sharpness and steaminess of something like Good Girls, causing it to feel like a pale, generic imitation of things we’ve seen done better.
I’ll give it credit for the fact it never takes itself quite too seriously, clearly attempting to lean into the absurdity and ridiculousness of its tropes. It’s just a shame that, instead of coming across as indulgent and campy, it falls rather flat and bland. There’s an occasional joke that evokes a chuckle, but its humor is mostly cringe-worthy. The same goes for its drama, which is sporadically compelling but, more often than not, is forced and heavy-handed. The show never finds its own voice or identity, going through the motions of what this kind of show already inherently is instead of exploring what it has the potential to be.
At the center of Grosse Pointe Garden Society is an adequately plotted murder mystery, as it technically checks all the boxes by providing an array of motives and red herrings, but the execution is too clunky to make any of it pay off. It takes a page out of The White Lotus’ book by withholding the murder victim throughout at least the first four episodes provided for critics, which feels like a misstep here, dragging out the pacing to sluggish speeds. Its dual timeline is much more convoluted than it should be, and the flash-forwards are colorized with an intense blue filter that’s such an eyesore it’s legitimately distracting. The central questions might pique your curiosity, but there’s a distinct lack of thrills and absence of edge-of-your-seat addictiveness you want in a good murder mystery.

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‘Grosse Pointe Garden Society’ Features An Uneven Quartet

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The cast does their best with the material they’re given, but while each character has a defined personality that fares a bit better than one-dimensionality, Grosse Pointe Garden Society can’t quite manage to subvert expectations to make them fresh or surprising, nor are they infused with depth to feel like real, fleshed-out people. They’re fun enough to watch at times — particularly the confident Fumero, who emerges as the comedic standout of the bunch — but the show fails to get its audience to truly connect to or care about its characters on a deeper emotional level. The closest it gets is with King, whose dramatic chops are the strongest. Her storyline with her husband goes in the most unexpected direction, and she and Sims have a nice, believable chemistry that sells their arc. The fact that all four of the lead characters’ central conflict heavily has to do with romance, however, feels a bit lazy and one-note.
Robb suffers the most from the writing. Considering Alice narrates the first episode, she emerges as the protagonist of sorts, though her characterization toggles between baffling and downright obnoxious. She’s often criticized by the characters around her for being immature due to her wanting to follow her dreams in New York and not have children — something the series clearly wants us to be upset about on her behalf. The issue is that Alice does seem genuinely immature, albeit because of her entitled attitude and petulant communication style. Her love of writing and desire to move to the city only pop up when it’s narratively convenient, and the audience never senses her drive or gets a glimpse of her supposed talent. All of the voiceovers connecting gardening to people are cheesy and on-the-nose, though hers are the biggest offenders, and her dog storyline is downright bizarre.
Rappaport is perfectly fine in his role, bringing some charisma to the table, though he is the most out of place and forgettable. I admire the show for doing something different by having a male character as part of the inner circle — something we don’t see a lot in these kinds of shows — but his inclusion, too, doesn’t add anything new to these kinds of storylines outside a passable but predictable will-they, won’t-they relationship with Alice.
Grosse Pointe Garden Society ultimately plays it too safe to be as fun and exciting as it has the potential to be, more comparable to forgettable mysteries like Apples Never Fall or glossy but empty satires like Palm Royale. It’s perfectly okay but not much more, existing in a lukewarm middle state that’s potentially intriguing enough to press play on the next episode but not so gripping that you’ll find yourself trading theories around the water cooler or frantically looking for Easter eggs on Reddit. And in the day and age of cultural phenomena like Severance and The White Lotus — its direct competitors — that’s not a recipe for a blooming, long-lasting show.
New episodes of Grosse Pointe Garden Society premiere every Sunday at 10/9c on NBC.

Grosse Pointe Garden Society

While it features a few solid performances, Grosse Pointe Garden Society is neither gripping enough to be a thrilling murder mystery nor campy enough to be an indulgent guilty pleasure.

Release Date

February 23, 2025

Network

NBC

Directors

Maggie Kiley

Pros & Cons

Fumero is a comedic standout, bringing vibrancy and humor to her character and the show.
King and Sims have excellent chemistry, with Catherine and Tucker?s dynamic having the most surprises and emotional impact.

The mystery lacks compelling thrills, and the show withholds too much information for it to be truly gripping.
It?s difficult to connect with and care about the characters beyond a surface level.
While there are moments of decent humor, the majority ends up coming off as more cringeworthy than fun and campy.

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