Grosse Pointe Garden Society is an American drama TV series created by Jenna Bans and Bill Krebs, along with Casey Kyber, who serve as showrunners and executive producers. The series is produced by Universal Television. It premiered on NBC and JioHotstar on February 23, 2025. The first episode, “Pilot,” was directed by Maggie Kiley and written by Jenna Bans and Bill Krebs.
Cast:
Melissa Fumero, Aja Naomi King, Ben Rappaport, AnnaSophia Robb, Alexander Hodge, Nancy Travis, Matthew Davis, and Felix Wolfe
Storyline:
Four members of a wealthy suburban gardening club in Grosse Pointe in Michigan share a horrible secret, which is a murder that still haunts them.
Six months back, Alice (played by AnnaSophia Robb) puts up a poster for her missing dog Molly at a local garden centre. The viewers are shown how the members of the garden club actually seem like flowers. Alice sees herself as a geranium who has to succeed in the wild and is trying her best. Alice has an aim to become a magazine writer in New York. Brett (played by Ben Rappaport) works as the garden centre manager and landscaper and he resembles a dandelion, flexible and resilient. He shares custody of his two children with his ex-wife Melissa (Nora Zehetner) who got married to Connor (Josh Ventura). Catherine (played by Aja Naomi King) who is the club’s vice president is compared to a zinnia, which means a dynamic perfectionist. Feeling ignored by her husband, she engages in an affair with a coworker at her real estate job. Birdie (Melissa Fumero) who is the newest volunteer is compared to a lily of the valley, which means wild and interfering. An author with an interesting past, she is volunteering as part of community service after crashing her car into a fountain. As the audience gets to know about the personal struggles of these members of Grosse Pointe Garden Society, the story keeps shifting from the ‘present day’ to ‘six months later’. The four members are shown to bury a body in the garden while they are dressed in party attire. They then drive the victim’s car to an industrial area and set it on fire and by-mistakenly they leave the victim’s phone inside. The episode then brings us to the present where Alice has a heated argument with a troublesome student whose wealthy mother tries to control Alice. Alice also faces pressure from her parents that she and her husband Doug (played by Alexander Hodge) move in to live together as a family. Catherine finds out that her co-worker has gifted an identical bracelet to Birdie and several other women.
Review of Episode 1: Pilot
Positive Aspects
The story takes us to a dual-time approach which means the viewers get to see the present events along with flash-forwards of six months later, which is quite unique, considering we have always seen comparisons of present-day events with flashbacks in a story. So, there is a murder mystery in the future that the characters try to hide in the best way possible and that is shown through the timeline with a mixture of present and flash-forwards.
The performances of each character being compared with that of the flowers in the garden were also quite interesting in the initial minutes of the episodes. The cast including AnnaSophia Robb as Alice, Aja Naomi King as Catherine, Melissa Fumero as Birdie, and Ben Rappaport as Brett have done their parts well.
Negative Aspects
The story uses a familiar plot to keep viewers interested in discovering the reasons behind the murder and the actions of the four characters. However, in today’s world of many OTT services, this approach feels less engaging. Some dull scenes could have been cut, like when Alice urges her principal to expel a student who killed her dog named Molly. The principal refuses by saying that the student’s parents are influential, which doesn’t add much to the main story. While Alice’s strong morals are shown well, it seems out of context that she would be involved in a murder six months later, making this subplot seem disconnected.
Series Quality
The first episode titled Pilot of Grosse Pointe Garden Society is visually appealing, featuring many scenes set against lush garden backdrops. However, the show doesn’t offer much that stands out, which might make it less engaging for viewers.
Verdict: 2/5
Grosse Pointe Garden Society had the potential to be entertaining, but it falls short due to weak writing and misaligned background music. Throughout the first episode, I felt disconnected, with little to remember or learn from. Given its lack of originality and depth, you can skip this series without any regret.
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