Written by John Edward Betancourt GROSSE POINTE GARDEN SOCIETY -- "Pilot" Episode -- Pictured: (l-r) Melissa Fumero as Birdie, Ben Rappaport as Brett, Aja Naomi King as Catherine, AnnaSophia Robb as Alice -- (Photo by: Steve Swisher/NBC)
Caution: This article contains spoilers for the Series Premiere of ‘Grosse Pointe Garden Society’.
There are a great many reasons that people are enamored with suburbia. After all, it’s often a beautiful place with lush greenery and plants that are appealing and soothing to the eye. Not to mention, we tend to call it home and find comfort and peace there. But above all, why we truly love suburbia, relates to the fact that it is the personification of the American Dream. For this is a beautiful space where family is forged in a safe and secure environment, and where people have the time and the peace to come up with the amazing idea to go into business for themselves and create the next great American company. But in reality, suburbia is not the dreamscape we think it is. For it is nothing more than the extension of a world that operates in the grey and where bad things and bad choices happen. It merely serves as a place of absolution, one where all use that cleansing to try to reinvent themselves time and again because of its promise, and because the world doesn’t afford us the American Dream or dreams, we seek, and well, that’s why the new series Grosse Pointe Garden Society on NBC is of note. For it explores in detail the darker side of suburbia and the hard truths that few face in its realm, and it accomplishes that particular feat in ‘Pilot’, by introducing us to four important people who all volunteer at the garden society that shares the namesake of this series. There’s Birdie, a socialite that is stuck planting flowers as part of her community service and she is eager to find direction and meaning in life. There’s Catherine, a real estate agent that is in a loveless marriage and she is trying to find connection. There’s Brett, a divorced dad desperate to be near his kids and be seen as a role model to them, and there’s Alice. A teacher that wants her students to follow the rules and do right and when we meet them in this story, they’re lost. They’re angry, and they’re all fighting to get what they want with mixed results. Mainly because they believe in the promise that suburbia has sent to them and that leads, to a fascinating opening chapter of this story.  GROSSE POINTE GARDEN SOCIETY -- "Pilot" Episode -- Pictured: (l-r) AnnaSophia Robb as Alice, Ben Rappaport as Brett -- (Photo by: Steve Swisher/NBC)
Wherein we focus on each of those journeys, and the struggles and frustrations that come forth for everyone as they try to get what, they want and obtain their dreams. But at every turn are setbacks, some of which reflect upon how the past sometimes prevents us from moving forward. As is the case with Bridie’s journey. Or how finding agency doesn’t always pan out for us, since some people fight back, as is the case with Alice and Catherine’s journey. Or how, no matter how kind, and loving we can be… there are those ready to see us fail. Something we see take place for Brett, and all in this story don’t understand how those roadblocks can exist in the slightest, for they are stunned when those problems arise.
But that shock relates to the fact, that they believe the lives they’ve built in suburbia because of the promise it provides them with, will help them overcome those humps when in fact, there are more obvious solutions to their endgame and their satisfaction. But they cannot and will not listen or think upon those. Because this is a magical place, a wondrous world that absolves us of ignorance and bad deeds since it is sanctuary. Which clearly creates an ironic and frustrating world that also correctly points out that said absolution and grace… can lead to bad things and invite the darkness of the world into such a place. As evidenced by the surprise in this tale. For it is far more than a character study, it is also a murder mystery. For we now know that in a few months’ time, someone is going to die in Grosse Pointe, and this foursome of friends are involved in some manner, and that will explore that secondary theme, and this moment serves as the perfect way to end a perfect premiere. For this episode really did create a booming dynamic world that we want to know more about, a compelling mystery for us to solve and realistic characters that harbor problems that we can relate to. All of which compels us to continue the journey. To see if this group can break free of the promise of suburbia and forge their own path, and of course… to learn, more about this hideous murder and whether or not the corruption of promise made them hideous killers or broken people in the wrong place at the wrong time. Until next time. Watch ‘Grosse Pointe Garden Society’
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