In case you ever doubted that the worst secrets and techniques are buried simply beneath the floor, Grosse Pointe Backyard Society’s wickedly twisted finale, “Bad Seeds,” yanks these skeletons up by the roots. The episode is a superb, genre-blending mixture of suburban satire, psychological unraveling, and simply sufficient emotional weight to maintain you invested in these deeply flawed (and at occasions, legal) characters. That is Determined Housewives meets Fargo, with potting soil and designer wine tumblers.
Let’s begin the place all the things began to rot: Keith. His useless physique, as soon as buried within the backyard in a misguided try at “let’s pretend this didn’t happen,” has vanished. Naturally, this sends Alice, Brett, Birdie, and Catherine spiralling. Viewers could have thought the worst had already occurred with the wooden chipper, however no, that was simply compost for the finale’s actual insanity.
The script flips early with the information that Melissa goes after full custody of the children and personally serves Brett the papers. It’s humiliating, uncooked, and really on-brand for a season that’s been about unraveling identities, Brett: the daddy, the husband, the lover. Melissa’s motivations are grounded in actual emotional ache, however her timing is merciless, particularly when Brett is already drowning in guilt (and homicide).
Marilyn’s flashback to the “accidental” killing of Molly is a few of the present’s darkest materials so far. What was as soon as a unusual character has been peeled again to disclose somebody simply as able to manipulation and cruelty as any of the core 4. Her energy performs with Patty, relationship again to a mysterious favour and even darker previous dealings, add wealthy layers to the present’s ongoing theme of ladies wielding energy in shadowy, unstated methods.
In the meantime, the non-public investigator serves as each comedian reduction and a reminder that secrets and techniques in Grosse Pointe by no means keep buried. His demand for cash in trade for Keith’s physique is peak crime drama absurdity, proper up till he collapses in the course of his personal rip-off. That the core 4 even debate letting him die exhibits how far gone they’re morally. That they save him anyway? A reminder they haven’t utterly misplaced their humanity… but.
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| “Bad Seeds” – GROSSE POINTE GARDEN SOCIETY. Pictured: Felix Wolfe as Ford and Melissa Fumero as Birdie. Photograph: Matt Miller/NBC ©2025 NBCUniversal Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved. |
Birdie stays probably the most deliciously unpredictable character within the sequence. One minute she’s making flippant jokes about homicide (“rest in peace, Keith”), the subsequent she’s feeling maternal pangs as her son prepares for school. Her selfie scene with Ford, touching and honest, contrasts sharply along with her later giddy participation in turning Keith into backyard mulch. And in some way, it really works. That stability of maternal heat and deranged pragmatism is Birdie in a nutshell.
Catherine, in the meantime, is spiralling underneath the burden of guilt. Her storyline — a mom, a realtor, a PTA mother, a assassin — reaches emotional depth this episode. The second she sobs whereas taking a look at her actual property slogan “honesty, integrity, heart” was heartbreakingly human. Catherine is the present’s ethical middle whilst she compromises that morality in nearly each episode. Her lack of ability to reconcile who she was with who she’s grow to be is the emotional cornerstone of the finale.
As for Alice, she’s the one who makes the boldest transfer by episode’s finish by strolling into the police station, lastly able to confess. Or perhaps she’s not. When Joel swoops in to deal with her interview, it’s clear that corruption in Grosse Pointe isn’t restricted to yard potlucks. Whether or not Joel’s motivations are love, self-preservation, or one thing extra sophisticated, stays to be seen.
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| “Bad Seeds” – GROSSE POINTE GARDEN SOCIETY. Pictured: AnnaSophia Robb as Alice. Photograph: Matt Miller/NBC ©2025 NBCUniversal Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved. |
And let’s not neglect Patty, who realizes Keith by no means made it to the cabin. The truth of his disappearance is about to blow up throughout the entire city. That closing flashback to Patty and Marilyn burying Molly’s physique, the unique “bad seed” on this season-long mess, exhibits that the corruption of this so-called backyard society has been festering for a protracted, very long time.
“Bad Seeds” is a pitch-perfect season finale. Twisted, sharp, and stuffed with the present’s signature darkish humour, it delivers on almost each plot thread whereas planting sufficient intrigue to develop one thing even greater subsequent season. If NBC has any sense, they’ll renew this chaotic backyard membership of flawed ladies and their buried lies. As a result of let’s face it: this city has a complete lot extra fertilizer to unfold.
