“No Good Deed” Recap, Episode 3: “Declarations of Intent”

Not a good deed

Letters of Intent

Season 1

Episode 3

Editor’s Rating

4 stars

****

Photo: Netflix

Okay, now it’s our turn Cook. This is what I was hoping for Not a good deed; some ridiculous shenanigans over there, a slightly cringe-worthy ending here, even our lead couple’s comedic chemistry seems to gel a bit more. See? There was nothing to worry about (I was very worried); we were just warming up.

Let’s start with the ridiculous shenanigans. Who would have thought that Paul and Greg the real estate agent would give us the first great character pairing? Not a good deed? Or that Ray Romano and Matt Rogers would make such a complementary comedic duo? I would never have thrown these two together, but I’m so, so glad someone else figured out how fun it would be.

When Paul tells Lydia about Mikey’s new blackmail threat and his plan to give him the $50,000 Rolex from the robbery cache, she makes it clear: There can be no more evidence circulating, especially now that Leslie is the lawyer is on the rise in their business. It’s too risky. Besides, she says, Paul should try to help Mikey. He has done so much for her, he has always been kind and he needs help. Giving him more money will most likely mean he’ll just go out, buy more drugs and end up back in jail. Paul backs away from the Rolex plan, but we can see him moving on to another plan.

And this other plan is to find out if Greg knows any drug dealers so he can buy some cocaine, slip it to Mikey, and get this guy out of his life for good. When Greg later learns the full extent of Paul’s conspiracy, he will say, “Well, that’s dark.” He’s not wrong! He is also very willing to help his client for a nice commission increase. Because no, PaulGreg is not a stereotype of a gay real estate agent in Los Angeles, he is a person Pauland he’s always sniffing because we’re in the middle of a super bloom, PAUL, God. But yes, of course he also drinks cola.

Greg introduces Paul to his dealer, Trish, who sells huge amounts of medication and runs a successful pet care business. I’ve enjoyed Romano in this role throughout (can anyone do Man Attempting to Repress All His Feelings While in the Middle of a Category 5 Crisis better?), but it’s never nicer to see him trying to do so than here act as if he had any idea how to buy cocaine in an even remotely relaxed way. He explains that he would like a block of Coke. “Okay, boss, it’s a cartel,” Greg says, impressed. (Only Rogers could pull off a line like that so easily.) Of course, all that goodwill is lost once Paul tries to pay for that stone with the Rolex, which Trish promptly informs him is a fake. That is a very Interesting detail considering where this watch comes from. Remember, Margo gave it to JD and JD is still under the impression that it is the original. Anyway, Greg presents Paul with the money (for another commission increase) and the two guys are completely wasted waiting for Trish to return, because you wouldn’t have thought we’d come out of this scene without Paul going to the tried drugs for the first time, have you?

The switch from Greg being so annoyed that Paul is trying to trade for cocaine to the two getting full of their pumpkins and becoming best friends when Greg explains that he hasn’t spoken to his husband in a week because he forgot to pick up his IBS medication is so, so good. Not so good? When Trish returns with the drugs, all three are immediately arrested by the police waiting outside the door. You will be taken to prison. (Nosy neighbor Phyllis happens to be in the store when it happens, so you know it’s going to be a thing.) But hey, Greg is finally talking to his husband. Sure, it’s about getting him out of prison, but communication is communication, as he notes.

This short stay in the slammer also gives Paul a little time to rethink his interactions with Mikey. We finally learn the truth about Mikey’s identity: he is Paul’s older brother. Makes sense, right? And as Paul admits to Greg, yes, he hates his brother for half a century of shit, but he also loves him for being his brother. It’s complicated. And he probably doesn’t want to send him to prison again.

However, this isn’t Mikey’s only revelation in “Letters of Intent.” While Paul was out trying to implement his plan to keep Mikey in line, Lydia had her own way of dealing with her brother-in-law. She invites him in – and even puts on some lipstick – to kill him with kindness and tiramisu.

The Morgan brothers may have problems, but Mikey is a big fan of Lydia. Maybe too big a fan, you know what I mean? Because while the two of them reminisce about the old times and look at Jacob’s baby pictures and Paul and Lydia’s wedding photos, Mikey complains about the night they all met. It was Mikey who met Lydia on New Year’s Eve, but because he was so drunk, he asked Paul to drive Lydia home and the rest, as they say, is history. This little trip down memory lane and Lydia’s desire to help Mikey start over, get clean and get his life in order gives the guy the wrong impression and he leans in for a kiss. Lydia immediately shuts down and runs to admonish herself for putting on the lipstick. Any kindness Mikey might have had disappears.

Just then, Leslie and Sarah are at the door. They had learned earlier that day that they were no longer eligible for the house; Lydia and Paul thought it best not to have a prosecutor running around. But after the couple has a detailed conversation about Sarah’s pregnancy and how she managed it after almost failing to become a mother, the two women decide to fight a little harder for the life they want. They give Lydia a letter they wrote about why they love the house and why they want to raise their child there. Leslie also offers any help she can to help the Morgans get justice for Jacob. Lydia is obviously in the middle of a real shitstorm, so she blows most of it off.

However, when he overhears this conversation, Mikey gets an idea: he wants the house. He’s the eldest son anyway, he should have had him in the first place. He begins searching the apartment and looking for the deed. When Lydia tries to stop him, he threatens her. He reminds her of what he has done, what he knows, that he can cover up a murder, that he saved her and Paul from “rotting in prison.” He was the one who staged the scene so that it looked as if the burglar had broken in and killed Jacob. He was protecting Lydia, not Paul. Their fight escalates.

Paul finally returns home – thanks, Greg’s husband! – and he goes in, ready to tell his wife about the day he just had. He finds Lydia standing stoically, waiting for him. “I killed your brother,” she tells him, pretty matter-of-factly for a woman who just murdered her brother-in-law. She took a fire iron – the one Mikey used to prepare the crime scene three years ago – and hit him over the head with it. Now he and his large head wound are curled up in the carpet in the middle of the Morgans’ secret room. Well, that won’t have a positive impact on the resale value.

• More secrets from our potential buyers: Carla is secretly loaded? As she faces a future with her mother-in-law and four cats, she decides to make an offer on another house using a million dollars from her father’s trust fund. She also makes a suspicious comment about always having to pay when accepting alms from family. When Dennis asks for the money, she lies and says she has a lot of savings. But Carla isn’t the only one lying in this house: Dennis has assured his wife and mother that he’s close to finishing his second best novel, but we learn he hasn’t even started it yet.

• Dennis ends up in the emergency room for a tetanus shot, and the doctor seems concerned about his blood pressure and medical history – Dennis’ father died of sarcoidosis when he was 39, and Dennis is now 38. The man needs to make some changes .

• I was really excited to see Dennis’s bumbling attempt to be on a show that also stars Lisa Kudrow, the queen of TV’s bumbling.

• Mikey isn’t the best guy, but it’s kind of nice that Lydia can tell him that she still feels for Jacob in this house and he doesn’t laugh at her.

• Phyllis seems to be everywhere! She catches Dennis walking past the Morgan house and thinks he’s some kind of sneak. Her racist dog doesn’t seem to like him either. “During Obama’s second term, I had to send him to sensitivity training.” “It didn’t work.”

• “I will literally lose my mind if I don’t get my medication!”