Quick review – NBC’s Deception series premiere: Is it Good enough?

I couldn’t stay away from the pun.

I like to think of myself as someone who doesn’t inherently enjoy soaps, but I think that it may be time to stop deceiving myself. There’s something thrilling about them, from Revenge to Dallas, the level of escapism is guilty pleasure fun. The problem going in with Deception is that it’s not any of that, however. It’s trying to be; obviously, this is NBC’s answer to the likes of breakout hit Revenge, but it already can’t be that. It took Revenge about three quarters of a season in to develop into the dark, twisty sort of drama it is now… after months of being good fun about rich people in the Hamptons. Deception wants to be a dark murder mystery right out of the gate. And it’s trying way too hard to take itself seriously.

If you haven’t heard already, Deception is the story of a wealthy New York family with many secrets whose daughter dies of a drug overdose — or so it seems. That’s why an old family friend comes back undercover to… uncover the truth.

Here’s the deal: the acting for Deception is just okay, though it seems like that may be because everyone was thrown into a situation where they don’t know each other and so it might improve. A lot of that has to do with chemistry. The writing is sometimes too on the nose (Ella Rae Peck plays a fifteen year old[!!!!!!!!] who just can not stand anyone omg like plz stahp talking to me stepmom!!111). And no one seems to guess that Meagan Good’s character is a cop even though she so overtly and obviously dresses like one the entire time. She also is extremely nosy for “just a houseguest,” but whatever. What else can you expect from a show that had three different titles?

Even though a lot of people will (and rightly so) compare Notorious/Infamous/Deception to the likes of Revenge, it also kind of reminds me of a cross between the ABC soap and Veronica Mars, in that a childhood friend is trying to solve their best friend’s murder. Of course, that is where the comparisons end. And Veronica Mars was a show that in its pilot already had a bigger mythos than Deception. Part of the problem here seems to be that once the murder is solved, and Joanna is free to break out of her cover, what’s the point anymore?

What Deception needs is to either lay it on thick with soapy music and reaction shots á la Madeleine Stowe or earn its seriousness. All that said, however, I’m coming back for episode two. It’s intriguing. What can I say?

You can watch the pilot for free on NBC.com or Hulu. Deception premieres tonight at 10/9c on NBC.

https://www.hulu.com/watch/435988