Episodes 1-3 of Margo’s Got Money Troubles are now streaming on Apple TV. New episodes premiere weekly on Wednesdays. Minor spoilers for all eight episodes below.
On its face, the premise of Margo’s Got Money Troubles is simple: a college student and aspiring writer sleeps with her professor, gets knocked up, decides to keep the baby, and turns to OnlyFans to support herself. But the new series – the first three episodes are now streaming on Apple TV – is so much more than that. I don’t know what I was expecting when I started watching the show, but by the time I finished the full season I was left moved, devastated, hopeful, and chuckling to my heart’s content.
The show stars Elle Fanning as Margo, a talented writer whose circumstances and family history have left her a step behind her dreams, if not completely down on her luck. She seems to be on track to at least have a go at a meaningful career when a dalliance with Mark – her married professor (Michael Angarano) – leaves Margo with a little bundle of joy named Bohdi. Her dire circumstances lead to Margo getting canned from her job (it turns out Italian restaurants don’t necessarily make the best daycares) and two of her roommates moving out. Enter: the show’s titular theme. Margo is broke, a single mother, and in desperate need of some cash.
As the series progresses, Margo’s emerging career as an OnlyFans model serves as the central throughline of both opportunity and conflict. But hung on that spine of plot are a wide array of brilliant story choices and standout performances. These elements blend and elevate Margo’s Got Money Troubles from a standard character-driven dramedy to an eloquent examination of what happens when society beats someone down and then judges them for trying to survive.
As Margo, Fanning is consistently both grounded and radiant. In early episodes, her performance showcases the physical and emotional toll of being a new mother in unsparing, graphic detail. As the show progresses, Margo constantly hits roadblocks in the form of broken relationships, financial difficulties, and never-ending parental challenges. But you don’t doubt for one second she’s going to make it. Margo is unapologetically herself and Fanning’s portrayal contains multitudes. She effortlessly transitions from infectious laughter to desperate sobbing in a single take and transports the audience into Margo’s chaotic, beautiful life moment after unsparing moment.
Michelle Pfeiffer and Nick Offerman come close to stealing the entire series as Margo’s parents. Their scenes together crackle with layer upon layer of history, both spoken and unspoken. Offerman – in a performance that’s at once nuanced and devastating – shines as Jinx, an ex-professional wrestler who’s also a recovering addict. He moves effortlessly between genuine affection for his family (for a while, he’s Margo’s go-to babysitter) and agonizing despair. It’s the furthest thing from Ron Swanson (Offerman’s iconic character from Parks and Recreation) you can imagine and Offerman has a chokehold (pun intended) on the audience whenever he’s on screen.
As Margo’s mother, Shyanne, Michelle Pfeiffer is nothing short of electric. Somehow, despite her nearly half-century long career – including some of the most iconic performances ever shown on screen – Shyanne just might be the character Pfeiffer was born to play. She’s at once confident and unsure of herself, constantly striving to better her circumstances but immensely disdainful of anyone who thinks they’re superior to her family. Shyanne never claims to be mother of the year, yet she agonizes over what she perceives to be her daughter’s irrational decisions and goes to bat for Margo time and time again. An ex-Hooters waitress, Shyanne’s face portrays confidence that masks a million possibilities of things that never were. In her first collaboration with husband and series Executive Producer David E. Kelley, Pfeiffer turns in a truly remarkable performance that, in a just TV landscape, would merit its own spinoff.
The stellar cast is rounded out by Greg Kinnear, who plays Shyanne’s fiancé Kenny – a goody-goody church president who gives what could be a schlocky character serious depth, Marcia Gay Harden as Mark’s calculating mother, Nicole Kidman as ex-wrestler Lace who later becomes Margo’s custody lawyer, and Thaddea Graham as Margo’s roommate and constant cheerleader Susie. It’s an all-star lineup of top-tier acting talent who turns in a set of intricately layered performances.
Margo’s Got Money Troubles is co-produced by A24 and it shows. The colors are vibrant. The conflict is edgy yet often wholesome. Nearly every episode contains fun and lighthearted moments but never strays far from a pervasive sense of melancholy. At times, especially in later episodes, the drama turns exceptionally dark. But such is real life, and the show never lets you forget that its characters are fully drawn and alive, warts and all.
The story, based on Rufi Thorpe’s bestselling novel, drags a bit at times (a wedding sojourn to Vegas in the middle of the season could use a bit less scenery and a few more character moments) but is always engaging. The ending verges on overly dramatic with a big courtroom scene where the stakes couldn’t be higher, and the denouement is a real head-scratcher with a heel turn that seems to come out of left field. But the finale still contains some beautiful moments that wrap up the story in a heartwarming yet realistic way.
Margo’s Got Money Troubles is an example of a character-driven streaming series at its finest. It’s hilarious, heartwarming, moving, devastating, and thought-provoking all at once. If you’re looking for a simple story about a girl trying to make good and better her circumstances, search elsewhere. But if you want to see a masterclass of ensemble acting and a genuinely entertaining love letter to blended (and found) families, you couldn’t ask for better than Margo’s Got Money Troubles.
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