This article contains spoilers for Margo’s Got Money Troubles Episode 3
As we head towards the end of the 2025-26 TV season, it is no surprise that Apple TV has delivered yet another series in contention for the best the medium has to offer. Margo’s Got Money Troubles opens strongly across its first three episodes, marking it as the next show you should be watching from the streamer.
David E. Kelley’s scripts grapple phenomenally with the struggles of motherhood, particularly in how people view Margo (Elle Fanning) – her mother, ex-roommates, and workplace included – for having Bodhi. Episode 2 introduced Margo’s father, Jinx (Nick Offerman), who Margo believed to be dead, though he was in rehab and unable to respond to the messages she sent about her pregnancy. He arrives as soon as he hears about Bodhi, much to the delight of Susie (Thaddea Graham), Margo’s remaining roommate, who is obsessed with Jinx and wrestling.
Margo’s Got Money Troubles delves further into motherhood’s difficulties when Margo attends a job interview with Bodhi in tow. The interviewer is aghast that she brings her baby, and only digs deeper, dismissing her past jobs and her interest in writing. If that encounter goes poorly, a meeting with Mark’s mother, Elizabeth (Marcia Gay Harden) and a lawyer goes better – depending on your perspective. They offer her $50,000 for Bodhi, which will be placed into a trust and invested in a mutual fund. In exchange, Margo must agree not to attend Fullerton, now or ever, and to cut all contact with Mark and his family. Margo agrees, thinking of her son’s future.
The future, however, does nothing to ease the present. A diaper run, exceeding $200 – a criminal amount for a necessity – rattles her, until she overhears a conversation between Jinx and Susie. Susie has wrestling on, and Jinx recognises Arabella, who was once with WWE, until they terminated her contract over her OnlyFans presence. She earned more in one month on OnlyFans than she did in a year of wrestling – a detail that intrigues Margo and introduces the show’s next divisive plot point. Regardless of where you stand, it’s an angle worth exploring, and Kelley handles it with notable sensitivity.
“Jinxed” is at its strongest when it centres on Fanning and Offerman. Jinx needs a place to live and offers to become Margo and Susie’s roommate. He cannot contribute much financially, but he can cook and clean. Margo knows the statistics surrounding drug addiction and insists he must remain clean if he is to be around Bodhi. Jinx, who checked himself into rehab, assures her he is. He admits he would relapse if he lived alone; he needs someone to “perform sanity” for. The episode digs into his addiction with care. Years of spinal surgeries led to hoarding and abusing pain pills, which escalated into heroin use.
Offerman is an actor many will recognise, if not by name, then by face, thanks to his comedic work, though his Emmy-winning turn in The Last of Us demonstrated his dramatic range. Margo’s Got Money Troubles sits in dramedy territory, which is perhaps why the series features his best work yet. His presence here is quietly devastating. Nothing lands harder than Jinx earnestly explaining his addition to a daughter he does not know as well as either would like. It hits even more when Margo asks if he knows she loves him and tells him he can stay. Fanning and Offerman are captivating, revealing emotional depths that genuinely move you.
After that heartache, the episode pivots back to Margo’s interest in OnlyFans. As she studies herself in the mirror and squeezes breast milk against the glass, she realises people would pay to see it. She signs up under the name HungryGhost, taken from Mark’s poem. Given that she has just agreed to sever all ties with him, it is difficult to imagine that choice will not come back to haunt her.
The episode further complicates the tension surrounding Margo and Shyanne (Michelle Pfeiffer). When Margo reveals that Jinx will move in, Shyanne calls the decision insane – Margo has a child. She argues he will not be a good influence on Bodhi, noting he was not around long enough to be a bad influence on her. Shyanne urges Margo to stop making impulsive decisions without considering the consequences. While Jinx may deserve Margo’s support for now, Shyanne is not entirely wrong – her bluntness pushes Margo to retaliate.
Shyanne is not alone in her reservations. Becca (Sasha Diamond), previously the voice of reason, also questions Jinx moving in. However, she oversteps by suggesting foster care for Bodhi while Margo gets her life together. Margo recoils, asking how she could even suggest it. Becca argues Bodhi needs a mother who has her act together; Margo insists she already does. The series thrives on moral ambiguity, but here Rebecca feels unnecessarily harsh.
Later, Shyanne confronts Jinx directly, asking how selfish he can be after nearly destroying Margo’s life by leaving. She insists she will ensure that does not happen again and refuses to let Margo take on another burden in him. Margo intervenes. It becomes clear that Shyanne fears Margo will repeat her mistakes, even if she cannot say it outright. Fanning, Pfeiffer, and Offerman create a family dynamic so fraught and messy that, despite everything, you still want them to find common ground. This is three actors working at the top of their game, and Margo’s Got Money Troubles will for sure make for an interesting awards season.
The episode returns to OnlyFans and the choices women make to support themselves and their families. Margo sets up her profile, rating male genitalia using Pokémon as a scale. Margo’s Got Money Troubles approaches the subject with care, a tone it maintains going forward. Margo believes Bodhi made her life – harder, yes, but meaningful. He made her. As she stands on the edge of something bigger, she gains her first subscriber.
“Jinxed” stands as the strongest of the first three episodes of Margo’s Got Money Troubles. It highlights the exceptional work of Elle Fanning, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Nick Offerman, while tackling divisive subject matter with sensitivity – and this is only the beginning.
