No Good Deed has landed on Netflix, and with eight episodes and multiple storylines to keep track of, we’ve broken down the new show’s ending, including what happened to Jacob.
The new series hails from Dead to Me creator Liz Feldman, so you can expect plenty of humor tied into its darker themes.
Friends icon Lisa Kudrow and Everybody Loves Raymond’s Ray Romano lead the cast as Lydia and Paul Morgan, a couple whose house sparks a feverish bidding war between numerous families.
But it’s not just the house that has everyone on edge: each family vying for the property is hiding secrets of their own, culminating in an ending. Warning: major spoilers ahead!
What happened to Jacob?
The No Good Deed finale reveals Lydia and Paul’s daughter Emily (Chloe East) wasn’t the one who killed Jacob – it was actually their gold digging neighbor, Margo Starling (Linda Cardellini).
You see, as the episodes progress, we learn that Lydia and Paul are selling the house three years after Jacob (Wyatt Aubrey) was killed. This means they don’t have to disclose the death – but the property value isn’t the only reason they want to keep the secret shtum.
What the authorities believe is that Jacob was shot dead in a burglary gone wrong, and the perpetrator has never been identified. But through flashbacks, it seems Lydia and Paul are involved in the tragic event, and the same goes for Paul’s criminal brother Mikey (Denis Leary).
Suspicions are only raised further when we learn that their surviving daughter Emily won’t speak with Lydia, despite her best efforts to stay in touch. Does she blame them for what happened?
In short, no. As is revealed in Episode 7 of the binge-worthy TV show, Jacob had been acting out as a result of his father’s tough love by stealing from the neighbors’ homes.
On the night of his death, Jacob came barging through their garden wearing a balaclava. Emily, not realizing it was her brother, locked the door and grabbed a gun. When he busted through the door, she pulled the trigger and he died.
The parents and Mikey helped cover up the death, knowing it was a mistake. As Lydia tells her, “It was a horrible accident.”
However, when the three of them confront the incident in the present day, Paul makes a shocking discovery: among the evidence they’re hiding to protect their daughter, there’s a second bullet casing from the gunshot that killed Jacob.
Since Emily only pulled the trigger once, this means there was someone else there that night. And that someone else is Margo.
Up until now, Margo has proven to be the true villain of this show. She’s been lying and plotting behind her husband JD Campbell’s (Luke Wilson) back to rinse him for everything he’s got.
What we don’t find out until the No Good Deed finale is that she had been nurturing a relationship with Jacob, who had stolen items to give to her as gifts.
On the night of his death, he broke into her house to get the stolen items back. Margo caught him and said, “You put that back right now or I’ll tell the whole neighborhood you’re stealing.”
But he replied, “I’ll tell JD about us.” Although Margo claimed there “is no us,” Jacob said, “That’s not what you said in that bed last week.”
Margo then chased Jacob down the street and, as he reached the door, Margo shot at the same time Emily did – but it’s Margo’s bullet that killed him.
Margo’s misdeeds catch up with her
Don’t fret – Margo gets her comeuppance. At the end of the No Good Deed finale, a six-month time jump shows Margo getting arrested by Mikey’s son, Nate (Kevin Alves).
Prior to this, JD, a struggling soap actor, discovers that his wife is nothing more than a lying cheat. He confronts her and tells her that their prenup means nothing as he’s got no money left.
But she demands he puts their flashy LA house under her name. He refuses, so Margo starts hitting herself, saying she’ll falsely accuse him of abusing her if he doesn’t.
Margo’s deadbeat brother comes in to support her, and JD gives in. But before he leaves with his daughter, he sets fire to the house, seemingly killing Margo in the process.
Six months later, we find out Margo is still doing her thing, having escaped the house fire with burns to one side of her face.
While sipping on a cocktail at a bar, a man approaches her and she starts to flirt with him. But the camera switches to reveal the mystery man is, in fact, Mikey’s cop son.
“Enjoy that drink. It’s gonna be the last one you have for a while,” Nate says, before referring to Margo by her real name, Luann.
JD gets his happy ending too, as the following scene shows him back on set, having landed himself a new acting gig.
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The house goes to Leslie and Sarah
Leslie (Abbi Jacobson) and Sarah (Poppy Liu), the young couple who are one of the families desperate to get their hands on Lydia and Paul’s 1920s Spanish-style villa, end up getting the house in the end.
Earlier on in No Good Deed, we learn that Leslie and Sarah have been trying for a baby through IVF. After several failed attempts, Leslie decided she wanted them to stop and move on with their lives, with the Los Feliz house being a major part of that plan.
Sarah has her reservations, especially as she’s haboring secrets of her own: she’s still trying for a baby behind Leslie’s back.
When she falls pregnant, it causes a rift in their relationship. But by the end of the Netflix show, they have made amends and Lydia and Paul choose them as the new owners of their house.
The heartwarming final sequence shows Leslie and a heavily-pregnant Sarah setting up their new home, while looking out at the mandarin tree Lydia wanted the new owners to keep.
Dennis’ secret could pave the way for Season 2
Prospective buyers and new parents Dennis (O-T Fagbenle) and Carla (Teyonah Parris) also get a happy ending of their own. But Dennis is hiding the fact that he cashed in Carla’s father’s $5 million gift, which could be explored if No Good Deed Season 2 were to get the go-ahead.
Throughout the show, Dennis and Carla have been preparing for the birth of their first child, and a major part of this involves finding a house.
While bidding for Lydia and Paul’s property, they go through ups and downs, especially when Dennis’ mother Denise (Anna Maria Horsford) gets involved in their home hunt.
It turns out that all three of them have secrets. Dennis claims he’s working on his second book but he’s been struggling with writers’ block, an issue that gets sidelined when his health declines.
Dennis believes he’s going to die from sarcoidosis, the same disease that killed his father, Jimmy. But Denise lets slip to Carla that he isn’t going to die… because Jimmy isn’t Dennis’ biological dad.
Meanwhile, Carla’s been concealing the fact that she’s the daughter of a billionaire, but she doesn’t talk to her father on account of him cheating on her mom and destroying their family.
All of their secrets come out following the birth of their son, with Carla explaining that she didn’t say anything about her dad as she didn’t want Dennis to only love her for the money.
Once everything is settled, they decide against buying Lydia and Paul’s home due to the murder that unfolded there. Instead, they purchase the shell left behind from JD’s property, and everyone’s seemingly happy… except for Dennis.
You see, after the birth of their son, Carla finally agreed to speak with her dad Randall, and he sends them a stuffed toy.
Carla says “it’s so restrained, it’s almost freaky,” and she gets up to leave. As Dennis looks at the toy, a piece of paper falls out: it’s a check for $5 million. Rather than telling his wife, he pockets it.
After the time jump, we see Dennis, Carla, and Denise getting ready to build their dream home in place of JD’s house. “And that is thanks to the huge advance on Daddy’s third book,” Carla says while holding their son.
Little does she realize that their renovation plans aren’t being paid for by Dennis’ book advance, but rather her father’s generous gift.
As everyone celebrates, Dennis looks at his phone to find texts from Randall asking when he can see his grandson. A new message comes through saying, “Are you ignoring me? I gave you five million dollars and you just disappear?”
Given this is the only part of the plot that remains open-ended, if Netflix were to give No Good Deed Season 2 the greenlight, this could be where the story goes next.
No Good Deed ends on a heartwarming note for the Morgans
At the very end of No Good Deed, Paul, Lydia, and Emily are back together as a family. As Paul watches Emily and Lydia perform on stage, the lamp on his table flickers. He smiles and says, “Hi,” providing a sense of closure after the death of Jacob.
Earlier on in the new series, Lydia is at odds with their decision to sell the house. She believes Jacob’s spirit communicates with her via a light in his bedroom, an idea Paul scoffs at, causing a rift in their already strained relationship.
Meanwhile, Lydia, a famous concert pianist, has been unable to play ever since Jacob’s death. When she goes to visit Emily, she discovers her daughter on stage singing and playing the guitar – she’s inherited her mom’s gift for music.
After figuring out that Margo was the killer, the family finally heal their wounds and move on with their lives. Paul embraces the idea of Jacob’s presence, while Lydia and Emily are able to bond as mother-daughter through their love of music.
No Good Deed is streaming on Netflix now. You can also read our breakdown of the Black Doves ending, everything we know about Emily in Paris Season 5, and our rundown of the best series of 2024.
