This article contains spoilers for Margo’s Got Money Troubles Episode 1.
Apple TV is on a remarkable run, with shows such as Severance, The Studio, Pluribus, and Shrinking rounding out a slate that rivals HBO’s finest television output of the 2000s and 2010s. Margo’s Got Money Troubles, adapted from the novel of the same name by Rufi Thorpe, continues that streak. The series premieres on April 15 with its first three episodes, and, on paper, it boasts a compelling premise. Expectations are largely met, and it is easy to believe from “The Hungry Ghost” alone that the streamer has another hit on its hands.
Margo (Elle Fanning) is an only child, born to parents Shyanne (Michelle Pfeiffer) and Jinx (Nick Offerman). Jinx, an ex-wrestler and absent father, pops in and out of her life, leaving Shyanne to raise her alone. As a child, Margo immersed herself in dolls and elaborate make-believe. Her imagination became both refuge and a companion, a trait she carries into adulthood as a student at Fullerton College – albeit briefly. When her professor, Mark (Michael Angarano), questions whether she wrote her assignment, his insistence that she could go anywhere, even Harvard, with her talent as a writer quickly turns into something far less admirable: an affair.
Margo’s Got Money Troubles will divide audiences. Some will back Margo’s decisions; others will align with her friend Becca (Sasha Diamond), a surprising standout of the premiere. When Margo mentions she is meeting her professor for coffee, Becca cuts through the pretence and insists that a professor does not ask a student for coffee without ulterior motives. Margo, buoyed by her romanticised worldview, insists he is married. Becca sees through it immediately. He has wowed her with the kind of hollow wisdom that only sounds convincing to someone who wants to believe it. Margo falls for him as though he were a character; she is likely one to him, too.
Naturally, Becca is right. Mark proves as unsettling as any man who exploits power dynamics to pursue younger women. He writes Margo a poem titled The Hungry Ghost – a title that later gains significance, filled with lines such as “I feel nothing / keep touching me / I feel nothing / I’m a hungry ghost”. Margo calls it beautiful, but Becca calls it what it is: creepy. The series leaves little doubt as to where your sympathies should lie.
Though Nick Offerman does not appear in Episode 1, Michelle Pfeiffer boasts a strong presence and already feels like a contender come awards season. She is at her strongest opposite Fanning. When Margo tells Shyanne about her “amazing” literature professor, it does not take long for Shyanne to realise that her daughter is entangled in an affair she should never have entered.
The affair leads, inevitably, to a pregnancy. Watching Margo cycle through multiple tests to confirm the result is darkly comic, particularly given how recklessly she and Mark behave throughout the episode. When she tells him the news, it goes as expected. He claims he wants to be there to support her in any way possible, though he quickly suggests calling Planned Parenthood and admits he is unsure if a private doctor could do “it”. By “it”, he means an abortion, a decision she believes he is making for her. Margo thinks terminating a life is something to consider; he thinks aborting her future is, too.
“The Hungry Ghost” proves most effective in the fallout. Shyanne understands her daughter better than anyone, yet understanding does not mean that she supports her choices. She recognises that Margo wants to keep the baby, but cannot endorse a decision she believes will derail her life. She reminds Margo of what she had – college, ambition, and a future – and what she stands to lose. Margo, in turn, does not know what that future would have been.
This tension reflects one of the show’s strongest elements in its portrayal of mothers and daughters. Shyanne and Margo are more alike than either cares to admit. Jinx was married when Shyanne became pregnant, mirroring Mark’s situation. Though in Shyanne’s case, there appears to have been love between the two. Margo insists she feels none of that, nor does she want Mark. She does want the baby; she wants it more than she has ever wanted anything.
Given the series title and the fact that she is a college student waitress with roommates, Margo cannot come close to affording the world her unborn child deserves. Shyanne buys her a stroller with her Bloomingdale’s discount, which offers Fanning some excellent comedic work after she lies on the shop floor until her mother relents, only to find she cannot get back up with her bump.
The series lives up to its dramedy label when Margo and Shyanne come across Mark with his family. Margo cannot resist heading over to ask if he remembers she took his lit class. Angarano is excellent, portraying a man eager to pursue an affair but entirely incapable of facing the consequences. Mark claims he endeavoured to be responsible by discouraging her from having the baby, then wonders if it is even his child. If that were not bad enough, Shyanne walks by, and he checks her out.
David E. Kelley writes a script – and series – that is as biting as it is deliberately uncomfortable. While you feel for Margo, you will in part agree with Shyanne, though perhaps not with her harshness. Margo is angry at Mark and at Shyanne, and has every right to be. She insists at her breaking point that maybe keeping the baby was a stupid decision, but it is her choice, and she is having the baby.
Shyanne counters that she will love the child, but she will not celebrate the tragedy for one second. The life Margo never got to have is over, and this will break her. Margo insists she is not broken in a scene that would, in any other year, have landed Fanning her first Emmy. This year, she has Jean Smart and Lisa Kudrow to compete.
“The Hungry Ghost” is an excellent start to a promising series, though it only gets better from here. Margo’s Got Money Troubles begins with confidence – and has more than enough bite to sustain it.
