Even since Friends left Netflix at the end of last year – upsetting a bee’s nest of fans and perhaps contributing to the streamer’s bid for Warner Bros. Discovery – we’ve been on the lookout for our next comfort watch.
We have ITVX to thank for the latest entry into the category, after the ITV streaming service popped all 13 episodes of Grosse Pointe Garden Society on.
The show has been likened to a mash-up between homicide manual How To Get Away with Murder and the suburban soap Desperate Housewives.
Just like on Wisteria Lane, the official synopsis on ITVX teases that ‘some secrets won’t stay buried.’
The show revolves around the four members of a suburban garden club. They are Alice (AnnaSophia Robb), her bestie Brett (Ben Rappaport), plus real estate agent Catherine (Aja Naomi King) and It Girl Birdie (Melissa Fumero).
But their lives are set to turn topsy-turvy in six months, when a murder alters their lives into a maze of ‘scandal and mischief’.
When a body is discovered, the pretence of residential perfection starts to fragment and ‘dark truths surface’. Colour me intrigued.
Who is murdered? How is the person offed? And why did they do it? These are things the audience doesn’t know and has to puzzle away as the episodes unfold.
This might all sound a bit serious, so how does that campy Desperates energy come in? Well, there’s a voiceover from different characters in the cast and, given the gardening premise, this is laden with plant-based motifs that do things like comparing unwanted houseguests to pests. So they certainly commit to the bit.
This twisty drama first aired on NBC in the US at the start of last year and currently holds a 75 percent rating on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes – although note that the audience score is higher, because more on that later.
What other crimes dramas can you watch?
- Cuffs. This BBC drama about a rookie Brighton detective stormed Netflix at the end of last year.
- Accused. The BBC crime drama, starring British acting talent Olivia Colman, Sean Bean and Stephen Graham, is on Amazon.
- Broadchurch. The water-cooler classic has now been added to Netflix.
- Agatha Christie’s Seven Dials. Adapted by Broadchurch showrunner Chris Chibnall and based on one of her lesser-known novels, The Seven Dials Mystery.
On IMDb the show currently holds a 6.8 rating out of 10, where fans have praised it as a great laundry-folding type of show.
@Gillianannis-75784 described it as the perfect show to unwind with over the weekend, adding: ‘It’s a fun mystery with juicy storylines and so great comedy moments to balance out the drama.
‘Each episode ends on such an exciting cliffhanger that adds more evidence towards the mystery and intrigue.
Is Grosse Pointe Garden Society one for you?
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Definitely
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I'm less sure
‘I’m left at the end of each episode wanting to spend more time with these characters and see what shenanigans they get up to next.’
Meanwhile, another viewer was left questioning: ‘Why the bad reviews?? I just don’t understand.’
@Ptsrppl2 added: ‘I love this show! It’s one of our new favourites. There are so many twists and turns, and it’s very suspenseful. Always ends on a cliffhanger, leaving you waiting for more.’
Grosse Pointe Garden Society is available to stream on ITVX.
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