Apple’s new comedy-drama series, Margo’s Got Money Troubles, seemingly came out of nowhere for me. And I was even less familiar with the fact that it was adapted from a novel of the same name. Who knew!
Margo is just starting college when she starts regularly hooking up with her English Lit professor, Mark, who managed to woo her with praise for her writing abilities. No doubt that she is a good and creative writer, but you just know that’s his schtick to sleep with students on a regular basis. And of course this clown is married with kids. Which makes Margo’s situation a little more sticky: she’s pregnant. While it seems obvious that she should get an abortion, something is telling Margo to keep it, and so she does. It makes her single mom’s world difficult, as she’s trying to get married to a youth minister, so a baby out of wedlock is certainly not the look.
In time, she comes around and does all she can to help Margo prepare, though she knows it will be the most difficult time in her life no matter how prepared she is. After Bodhi enters the world, Margo tries reaching out to her dad, former famous wrestler, Jinx, whose been spending time getting sober at a facility. He eventually does come around, and while everyone is nervous about his past abuses with opiates and heroin, he proves himself to be an invaluable grandfather. Seriously, seeing his tough character interact with Bodhi is so, so sweet. I can’t also help but think this is him trying to make up not being around that much when Margo was young.
In an effort to get some support, she kind of loosely blackmails Mark. Inretaliation, his lawyer mother, ashamed of her son and his stain on the family’s reputation, offers Margo a trust for Bodhi in exchange for never interacting with them again and dropping out of school. Though the trust exists, she still needs money for her kid, and sadly no one in her life is swimming in it. What starts out as a joke soon turns into a fully-fledged money making operation: she joins OnlyFans. While compared to some of the other stuff out there, she does pretty well. All people have a kink, but she just has a harder time reaching an audience. When she starts collaborating with some local OnlyFans stars, Margo’s creative ideas really start to shine with the help of her roommate and Jinx.
Of course, OnlyFans is not a conventional career, and especially not for a mother. I won’t lie, I kind of agree with that stance, though I do understand that sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. And honestly, Margo really seems to enjoy it. Could it scar Bodhi later in life? Abso-freaking-lutely! But I guess that’s a problem to confront at a later time. Like my preconceived notions, there are a lot of people in Margo’s life who also whole-heartedly oppose this career move, and it also threatens her future of keeping Bodhi with her forever. Stuff really comes to a head in the final few episodes, where shit gets real, and ultimately scary for Margo, but things do resolve in a satisfying way.
This show has already been renewed for a second season! Given that I don’t know anything about the book, I really don’t know how closely the plot was followed, nor do I know if other books exist telling Margo’s story. But I do have faith that this series is in good hands with David E. Kelley at the helm. I look forward to what’s next!