Based on Rufia Thorpe’s acclaimed 2024 novel and adapted to television by David E. Kelley, Apple TV’s dramedy, “Margo’s Got Money Troubles,” follows college freshman Margo Millet (Elle Fanning), an aspiring writer whose world unravels after she becomes pregnant during an affair with her married professor, Mark (Michael Angarano). Despite some titillating plot points, the series never quite delivers an authentic portrait of a determined young mom who uses sex work as a move toward financial freedom.
“Margo’s Got Money Troubles” opens at Fullerton Community College. After class, Mark, Margo’s English literature teacher, pulls her aside to compliment her work on her latest assignment. Viewers will immediately clock him as a slimeball, but Margo is delighted someone finally recognizes her writing, and almost immediately, their affair begins. When Margo realizes she’s pregnant, Mark does exactly what’s expected: He vanishes. From there, Margo begins piecing together her new life with the help of her beauty-obsessed mother, Shyanne (Michelle Pfeiffer), and her father, Jinx (Nick Offerman), a former pro wrestler and recovering addict who has been in and out of her life for as long as she can remember.
Despite her parents’ love, Margo quickly realizes that raising a child takes a ton of money and resources. Moreover, Shyanne and Jinx’s personal issues and financial constraints stop them from being a foolproof support system for Margot and their new grandbaby. Therefore, when Margo learns about OnlyFans, she decides to tie her joy of writing and creativity to sex work in an attempt to provide for her baby.
There is nothing overtly wrong with “Margo’s Got Money Troubles” — the actors are solid, and the premise is intriguing enough. Two main things drive the series. The first is Margo’s tumultuous relationship with her roommates and her best friend Becca (Sasha Diamond). Though one of Margo’s roommates, Susie (Thaddea Graham), remains by her side throughout her pregnancy and even acts as a reliable companion once she gives birth to her son, her other roommates, fellow college students, are confused by her choices and frustrated by her screaming, colicky infant. Additionally, despite her sometimes crass delivery, Becca tries to be the voice of reason from the beginning. She tells Margo to end the romance with Mark and even questions her decision to continue her pregnancy rather than pursue her dreams and eventually move to New York City. Their relationship showcases how the late teens and early twenties can either shatter or reinforce female friendships forever. It’s a nuanced depiction rarely showcased on television, and refreshing to witness here.
The second highlight is the depiction of Margo and Shyanne’s mother-daughter bond. Having experienced her own tumultuous relationship with Jinx and barely getting by as a struggling single mom, Shyanne is both heartbroken by Margo’s choices and completely protective and loving toward her. The pair share the show’s more compelling and complex scenes. In Episode 5, “Flamingos,” during a short trip to Las Vegas for Shyanne’s wedding to a boring man named Kenny (Greg Kinnear), Margo finally tells her mother about her OnlyFans work. Shyanne’s reaction is one of the most gut-wrenching and authentic of the series.
Still, “Margo’s Got Money Troubles” feels a bit off-center. While Offerman is convincing in his role, the rest of the main cast seem just out of place. Pfeiffer is almost too elegant as Shyanne, a Bloomingdale’s employee determined to get her happily ever after despite the mess her only child has made. Likewise, in her first role since her Academy Award nomination for “Sentimental Value,” Fanning’s maturity makes her feel miscast as Margo, a 19-year-old with an underdeveloped frontal lobe, determined to make detrimental decisions.
This isn’t to say the audience can’t feel Margo’s frustration, anger, sadness and love for her infant son. Yet, Fanning is just a bit too pulled together in the role as if she’s trying on the sex worker’s costumes instead of truly embodying her. Also, Kelley’s decision to infuse Margo’s OnlyFans persona, Hungry Ghost, into the series, starting with Episode 6: “Grude Match,” feels disjointed, throwing off the show’s tone rather than providing the seamless integration that should have elevated the story. Like real-life OnlyFans models and sex workers, Margo is very serious about her career and providing for her baby. However, this depiction feels false, lacking the comedic heft to truly be the dramedy it’s billed as. Instead, the show presents as a bubblegum, off-kilter version of Netflix’s 2021 miniseries “Maid.”
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Overall, “Margo’s Got Money Troubles” has several important themes: family, the stigma of sex work and the follies of youth. Still, its overstretched narrative (the show may have worked better in six episodes instead of eight) and lack of grit strip away its authenticity. While there are many interesting characters and storylines, by the time the finale episode, “Lock and Load,” comes to an end, the luster of the series dulls considerably. In the end, it feels like a cautionary tale rather than one of triumph.
The first three episodes of “Margo’s Got Money Troubles” debut April 15 on Apple TV, with the remaining episodes airing weekly on Wednesdays.
From Variety US