Margo's Got Money Troubles review — Apple TV's new comedy series is addictive and surprisingly heartfelt | Tech Radar

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Margo's Got Money Troubles review — Apple TV's new comedy series is addictive and surprisingly heartfelt

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On the surface, Margo's Got Money Troubles might look like a run-of-the-mill comedy series, but there's so much more to love about it.

+Easy to watch 30-minute episodes, very bingeworthy

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Apple TV's new eight-part series Margo's Got Money Troubles is now streaming, and its three-episode premiere makes it an ideal binge watch.

There's plenty of reasons why you should, too. Elle Fanning leads an all-star cast, where she plays the titular role, who ends up unexpectedly pregnant after having an affair with her married English professor. With a baby on the way, she finds herself desperate for money.

It's a difficult situation, of course, but David E. Kelley's comedy drama handles it all with the right mix of humor and heart. Margo is supported by her estranged father, Jinx (Nick Offerman), a former pro-wrestler, and mother, Shyanne (Michelle Pfeiffer), a former Hooters waitress, with plenty of dysfunctional dynamics going on here.

Notably, Margo's decision to sleep with her married professor mirrors her mother's own, as she had a one-night stand with Jinx, who was also married at the time. The series doesn't shy away from Shyanne's disappointment that her daughter made the same mistakes as her, and there are plenty of heartfelt moments surrounding that.

Pfeiffer is brilliant as a concerned, frustrated mother whose immediate reaction to her daughter's pregnancy is to open a beer and go on a rant about what a stupid decision she thought the affair was. The first episode's heart-to-heart between Pfeiffer and Fanning is one of the best and most important scenes.

Nick Offerman's performance as Jinx is one of the standouts for me, too. He's known for his comedic work on Parks & Recreation and more serious takes on HBO Max's The Last of Us, and here he gets the chance to do both as a recovering addict and absentee father whose career as a pro wrestler is long gone. He's flawed, but does have good intentions.

Jinx goes on to be an unexpected asset for Margo as she joins Only Fans, creating adult content to help her earn more money for herself and her baby, whom she decides to keep after a tearful hospital appointment where she gets to hear the heartbeat for the first time.

It never gets too serious though, and Margo's Got Money Troubles is the perfect weekly comedy series to devour throughout April and May, with great pacing and short runtimes of 35–42 minutes per episode.

Apple TV has impressed me a lot lately, especially with its original shows, and this one is no exception. On the surface, it might seem like yet another comedy, but it does a deep dive into some difficult themes and handles them well.

You may have apprehensions about how sex work and unexpected pregnancies are portrayed here, but, again, it comes across as far more nuanced than you might think based on a few of the promotional images. There are some interesting conversations between characters throughout, and there's quite an eclectic mix of personalities to strike that balance.

This isn't the usual kind of show I review, and I was initially drawn in by the cast, but I've come away from Margo's Got Money Troubles feeling very good about it. I'm already hoping it'll come back for season 2.

Lucy is a long-time movie and television lover who is an approved critic on Rotten Tomatoes. She has written several reviews in her time, starting with a small self-ran blog called Lucy Goes to Hollywood before moving onto bigger websites such as What's on TV and What to Watch, with Tech Radar being her most recent venture. Her interests primarily lie within horror and thriller, loving nothing more than a chilling story that keeps her thinking moments after the credits have rolled. Many of these creepy tales can be found on the streaming services she covers regularly.

When she’s not scaring herself half to death with the various shows and movies she watches, she likes to unwind by playing video games on Easy Mode and has no shame in admitting she’s terrible at them. She also quotes The Simpsons religiously and has a Blinky the Fish tattoo, solidifying her position as a complete nerd.

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• Margo's Got Money Troubles review — Apple TV's new comedy series is addictive and surprisingly heartfelt

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