Warning! Spoilers for Netflix’s No Good Deed ahead!
There was no question that Margo Starling was up to no good in No Good Deed, but her overall plan and connection to Jacob Morgan’s murder was the real kicker. This character, played by Linda Cardellini, is the despised neighbor of Paul and Lydia Morgan (Ray Romano and Lisa Kudrow), obsessed with expensive handbags, jewelry, and real estate. Margo is married to soap actor JD Campbell (Luke Wilson), but it’s quickly evident in No Good Deed that she has engaged in countless affairs over the years. Still, these weren’t random exploits. Everything Margo did was part of a grander scheme.
All the characters in No Good Deed had their own secrets—that’s the entire point. Paul and Lydia themselves had waited until enough time had passed before putting their house on the market so that they wouldn’t have to disclose that their son had been murdered in the house. It’s eventually revealed in No Good Deed‘s ending episodes that they were being so deceptive to protect their daughter, Emily, who had shot a 9mm pistol at her brother the exact moment he was killed. However, as it turns out, it was Margo, not Emily, who killed Jacob Morgan.
Margo Killed Jacob In No Good Deed, Not Emily
There Were Two Guns On The Scene That Night
Jacob had been burglarizing houses leading up to his death, and when he entered his home wearing a ski mask, Emily assumed he was an intruder and shot at him with the family gun. Paul and Lydia, trying to protect Emily while also defending Jacob’s reputation, made the scene look as if a burglar had killed Jacob and the whole thing was swept under the rug. However, the events of No Good Deed lead to Lydia and Paul discovering that there were two bullet casings found and hidden away that terrible night, though Emily had only shot once.
No Good Deed
is available to watch on Netflix.
When Lydia (with the help of prospective home-buyer Leslie) examined the autopsy report, she learned that a .40 caliber pistol killed Jacob—not the 9mm owned by the Morgans. This meant that Emily’s shot must have missed. A later flashback reveals that Margo Starling had shot Jacob from behind just as he entered his home and at the same exact time that Emily fired her weapon. Of course, the Morgans never saw precisely how this happened, but they deduced that Margo was responsible when they learned about her disturbing history with Jacob.
Margo’s History With Jacob Explained
Margo Had An Affair With & Murdered A Teenage Boy
In the early episodes of No Good Deed, Lydia explains that she hates Margo so much because she fired Jacob, who had been teaching the woman’s stepdaughter to play thepiano. However, at the end of the dark-comedy series, the little girl revealed that she had never learned to play because Jacob was coming to their house to spend time with Margo. This is, of course, highly inappropriate. Jacob was a teenager, and Margo a full grown woman. Though she tried to claim that they only talked to one another, Margo’s history of adultery indicated otherwise.
Though she tried to claim that they only talked to one another, Margo’s history of adultery indicated otherwise.
As it turns out, Margo’s extravagant tastes are precisely why Jacob began burglarizing houses—he was stealing gifts to give to someone he naively thought was his lover. Eventually, Margo got bored and told Jacob to stop coming around, leading the teen to break into JD Campbell’s home and steal all his lavish gifts back. Margo confronted him, and Jacob threatened to tell JD everything and ran back to his house. Terrified of getting caught, Margo chased after Jacob with her husband’s .40 caliber gun and shot the boy before returning to her house as if nothing ever happened.
Margo’s Real Name & Brother Explained
Luann & Bobby Were Partners In Crime
Margo sleeping with and then murdering a teenager is a pretty terrible secret, but it is far from her first. When she and Lydia had their heart-to-heart in No Good Deed, Margo said that her brother had died in a house fire when they were little. She had left a space heater on, and the home had gone up in flames. However, later, when JD went to sell his boat to pay for the Morgan house, he found a man named Bobby living in it, who claimed to be the brother of someone called “Luann.” Of course, this was none other than Margo, whose brother had certainly not died after all.
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Margo’s fire story was partly true—Bobby proved as much by showing JD the burn scars. However, this was about the extent of the woman’s honesty. It’s ultimately revealed that Margo’s real name is Luann and that she and Bobby were raised poor and resorted to elaborate cons to improve their lot in life. While marrying a wealthy celebrity certainly achieved this, it was only a step in Margo/Luann’s overarching plan. As the character herself said in No Good Deed, she was playing the long game. It’s for this reason that Margo murdered Jacob since the boy ending her marriage would have ruined all her hard work.
Why Luann Pretended To Be Margo To Meet JD
Luann & Bobby’s Big Plan Explained
Together, Luann and Bobby arranged a meet-cute by calling in a bomb threat at an airport. Once “Margo” met JD, it didn’t take long for her to get the soap opera star to marry her. This allowed her to live in luxury, buying expensive purses and decorating their mansion with ridiculous appliances and designs. In the meantime, Bobby lived on the couple’s boat, unbeknownst to JD, since Margo had told her lie about losing her brother when he was only 10. Of course, Luann’s goal wasn’t to stay married to a celebrity forever. She wanted her own wealth, and to get it, all she had to do was wait out the prenuptial agreement.
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If JD found out that his wife was having an affair with a teenager when Jacob threatened to tell the truth, he would have divorced Margo, and she would have been left with nothing. However, if she stayed married long enough, she would take half of JD’s wealth. Unfortunately for Luann, all her planning came to very little since she had wildly miscalculated. She spent so much of JD’s money that he had nothing left to split with her, even if their marriage outlasted the terms of the prenup. At the end of No Good Deed, Margo demanded the house instead. However, since JD lit the whole thing up, this woman of “lies and Gucci” was toast.
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No Good Deed
No Good Deed is a dark comedy series created by Liz Feldman for Netflix and stars Ray Romano as Paul Morgan in the lead role. Out of money and at the end of his rope, Paul considers selling his beautiful villa so he can pay his debts off and leave Los Angeles, but as he and two other families soon discover, the past is difficult to outrun.
- Release Date
- December 12, 2024
- Network
- Netflix
- Cast
- Lisa Kudrow , Linda Cardellini , Luke Wilson , Ray Romano , Teyonah Parris , Abbi Jacobson , Poppy Liu
- Character(s)
- Margo Starling , Lydia Morgan , JD Campbell , Paul Morgan , Dennis , Leslie Fisher , Carla , Sarah , Mikey , Greg , Denise , Gwen , Phyllis
- Creator(s)
- Liz Feldman
- Seasons
- 1
- Writers
- Liz Feldman
- Directors
- Silver Tree
