It took me several episodes to really fall for the charms of Margo’s Got Money Troubles, the new AppleTV+ series based on the novel of the same name, largely because there’s a lot the series needs to set in motion in those early episodes before we really get a chance to see just what the series has in store for us. But once we get that early exposition out of the way and let the show’s exceptional cast cook? Well, it’s not a perfect series, but there’s more than enough heart, comedy, and compelling drama to keep the series interesting through its eight-episode season.
The series follows the titular Margo (Elle Fanning, who has turned into one of the bestbyoung actors in Hollywood over the past several years), a college coed who has an affair with her married English professor, Mark (Michael Angarano, perfectly odious), and ends up pregnant. She opts to keep the baby, which only serves to complicate her already messy life – Mark, naturally, wants nothing to do with her or their son initially – and leads to her exploring alternate means with which to make some extra money. Surrounding Margo are her divorced parents, Jinx (Nick Offerman, the absolutely perfect actor for the part), a retired wrestler who has just returned from rehab, and Shyanne (Michelle Pfeiffer, also perfectly cast), who is engaged to a local pastor (Greg Kinnear, who is great) and who doesn’t want the knowledge of her daughter’s life choices to potentially derail the relationship. Oh, and there’s her truly compassionate and kind roommate Susie (Thaddea Graham), a cosplayer who just wants to help where she can. And that’s not even getting into Mark’s mother, or Jinx’s former wrestler colleague who helps Margo out with some legal issues – who are played by two Oscar winning actors, Marcia Gay Harden and Nicole Kidman (who is also an executive producer on the series).
So, a hell of a pedigree in front of and behind the camera (the showrunner is David E. Kelley, who is married to Pfeiffer, and is also the co-creator of some of the best and most popular shows of the last forty years). But as we’ve seen time and again, a great cast doesn’t necessarily mean a great show. And while I wouldn’t classify Margo as great, it’s absolutely a good series. And that’s largely due to how the show treats its characters. As Margo is forced to reckon with the realization that she’s not going to be able to hold down a traditional job and continue to care for baby Bodhi (despite having support at home) and begins to explore the world of OnlyFans as a potential outlet, the series never stands in judgment of her. It does, however, make sure to address the various outside concerns one might have on embarking on such a career. It also doesn’t shy away from the other complications baked into the plot: a professor having an affair with a student, a parent in recovery, a narcissistic parent who doesn’t want to shine the mirror on themself, and the various systemic realities of our world that judge women for choices they make without offering them viable alternatives. Some heady stuff but approached mostly without preaching judgment and often with a nice side of humor.
If I have one complaint, however, it’s that the series doesn’t always know the right tone to strike when it comes to some of these complex topics. When things are handled with humor, the show skates through the complexities, letting us laugh and smile in response to some tough topics. When it takes a sharp left turn into the realm of drama (the back half of the season is much more of a dramedy than a comedy – and it certainly needs to be due to the story beats), there can be a bit of tonal whiplash as a result. Sometimes, that whiplash works. Sometimes, it starts to feel a bit like we’re getting the drama simply for the sake of drama. And, as a former divorce attorney, the custody battle that inevitably starts had me rolling my eyes at times with just how unprofessional folks were without any real consequences. But I didn’t hold it against the show on the whole.
What makes the series work – despite those tonal issues – is the exceptional performances at its center. Fanning is the perfect lead, strong, funny, unafraid to put herself out there into some truly ridiculous and truly hard situations. Margo needs to walk the line between naiveté and resilience, and Fanning manages to handle that sometimes difficult ask with aplomb. Offerman is just an absolute star in the series. I’m so amazed at the performance he’s giving here, which asks him to be funny, emotionally vulnerable, and stoic at different beats. It’s the heart of the series and he absolutely nails it. And Pfeiffer has perhaps the hardest task of them all: Take a character we’re supposed to dislike at the outset and shade her in over the course of the season to show us just why she is this way without making her truly sympathetic. And she manages to pull it off – we end up understanding Shyanne without exonerating her for some of the truly hurtful things she has done. Not easy to do.
Margo’s Got Money Troubles could have opted to go for the easy laughs and some doses of pathos. It doesn’t, which helps to elevate the series beyond what you might expect on first glance while also serving as a reason for some pitfalls overall. But with a spectacular cast, an interesting story, and some compelling characters, this is a series that is worth your time.
Margo’s Got Money Troubles premieres on AppleTV+ on April 15. All eight episodes were provided for review.
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