The Madness is a limited crime thriller series created by Stephen Belber that follows CNN pundit Muncie Daniels (Colman Domingo) when he gets caught up in a murder case while renting a cabin in the Poconos. After stumbling upon the crime scene and successfully escaping the killers, Muncie finds the police, who set their sights on him as the prime suspect. The situation only gets worse for Muncie when the victim is identified as Mark Simon (Tahmoh Penikett), an alt-right influencer, whose political opinions were the complete opposite to Muncie's, adding to the increased suspicion by the police and the public that Muncie may have committed the murder himself.
As the evidence against Muncie increases, he and his family face the consequences of being a suspect in a high-profile murder case. From weeding out who Muncie can and cannot trust, to discovering the personal lives of those also involved with Mark Simon, The Madness is a gripping and intricate drama that tackles contemporary social issues in a stylized way. The best episodes of this Netflix series balance the multiple story lines at play and add layers to the explanation behind the framing of Muncie.
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The Madness
Release Date November 28, 2024
Network Netflix
Character(s) Muncie Daniels
Producers Jenno Topping , Stephen Belber , Peter Chernin , VJ Boyd
8 "Discord"
Episode 3
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After Muncie intimidates a group of white boys who were camped outside where his family was staying, his public standing begins to further unravel. Despite this, Muncie seeks out the man he saw at the Mark Simon crime scene, and he starts his search at the Profane Discord compound, an anarchist group that he believes the killer is a part of. Through his research at the compound, and at a swingers club with his ex-wife Elena (Marsha Stephanie Blake), he learns that the man is named Don Sloss, Jr. (Dru Viergever) and he takes this information to Franco Quiñones (John Ortiz).
Although Muncie makes some headway in his search for the truth, even learning that billionaire Stu Magnusson (Bradley Whitford) was involved with Mark Simon and had a motive to kill him, the news cycle that is painting him as the criminal keeps churning. Muncie's family comes into more danger, his behavior becomes slightly more erratic and his desire to run and fix everything himself starts to take over. The introduction of Magnusson also hints to fans that this crime was no random act of violence, and Muncie's downfall is being powered by some very influential people, which is an intriguing development.
7 "Djibouti"
Episode 2
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The legal help that Muncie thought he could get from his friend Kwesi (Deon Cole) falls through when the law firm is unwilling to take on such a high-profile criminal case. Kwesi tells Muncie to take his family and move somewhere beyond extradition, but Muncie knows what's happening to him is wrong, and he seeks out help from his daughter Kallie (Gabrielle Graham), his new FBI contact, Quiñones and Simons' widow Lucie (Tamsin Topolski). But with evidence planted in his car, the man at the crime scene turning up with multiple stab wounds, and people in public baiting him, Muncie might be up against more than he can handle.
Even the people who Muncie thinks are on his side, like Lucie and Quiñones, are themselves worried they can't trust him, or they don't agree to help him until he can provide some more information for them. The eeriness of the city and the people around him start to come alive in this episode, setting the audience on edge about what might happen if Muncie sticks around. From the run in with the woman leaning on his car who tries to instigate him, to the group of boys trying to draw him out of the house he's in at the end of the episode, "Djibouti" expertly portrays the feeling that the people of Philadelphia want Muncie held accountable.
6 "Icarus"
Episode 5
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The already-high stakes are increased even more as the threads in this web of the framing of Muncie are exposed. Lucie visits Stu Magnusson after telling Muncie she doesn't know him, and he asks for her help discarding evidence of his connection to Mark Simon, which can be found on Simon's hard drive. Lucie returns to her and her ex-husband's former white supremacist group, The Forge, just to retrieve this hard drive. Meanwhile, Muncie is released from police custody by Quiñones to get Stu to admit to his connection to Mark Simon. During the wire, Muncie gets desperate, ditches his recording device and the FBI, and is taken by Stu's men.
Magnusson is believed to be the one to have ordered the murder of Simon, due to Simon's refusal to continue pushing political candidates to his extensive audience for him. And the woman that Lucie mentioned had impersonated an FBI agent, Julia Jayne (Alison Wright), is discovered to be working for Magnusson. But by the end of the episode, her loyalties are proven to be elsewhere as she kills everyone at this meeting, including Magnusson and his security, showing that she is not working for whom the audience thinks she is, and the web of deception continues to grow. Muncie cannot catch a break, and as his paranoia increases, the audience's intrigue as to what could possibly happen next increases as well.
5 "DNA"
Episode 7
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Muncie is finally accepting the help and protection of his family, who are more than equipped to handle those who are trying to frame him. When Julia Jayne finds Elena at her house, Elena holds her own and doesn't share any information. When Elena warns Muncie and their son Demetrius (Thaddeus J. Mixson) that Julia's coming after them, Demetrius helps them get away. Kallie even helps Muncie by stealing Julia's laptop while Muncie meets with her at a Chili's. Julia starts to think she can't finish the job, and even calls her boss, who is revealed to actually be Rodney Kraintz (Neal Huff), the head of Revitalize, to extract her, but he refuses. As her time starts to run out, Julia gets antsy and starts to make mistakes.
It's exciting to watch Muncie's family go to bat for him and succeed against a career criminal like Julia Jayne, but it exacerbates the frustration that Demetrius feels when Muncie leaves him and Elena behind as he continues to try to do things himself. The resentment that Muncie's family feels toward him regarding his tendency to run and to leave them out of things adds an interpersonal layer to this life or death story, giving the audience another reason to care about Muncie and his family's survival. So, when Julia Jayne goes after Muncie's family and his good friend Isiah (Stephen McKinley Henderson) at the end of the episode, fans really care.
4 "Pilot"
Episode 1
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When Muncie Daniels visits a remote cabin in the Poconos to write his book, his only neighbor tells him to let him know if he needs anything, so when the power goes out, Muncie takes him up on the offer, but stumbles upon his chopped up body instead. After barely escaping the killers, he finds the police and tells them what he saw. Unfortunately, the only suspect the police have is Muncie, and as Muncie starts looking for information about the man who was killed to try and find another suspect, he begins to realize how twisted this situation really is.
It turns out the victim is not just anyone, but Mark Simon, a powerful alt-right influencer known as Brother14, and Muncie's opposing political views do not paint the picture of a sympathetic bystander. It seems a few people may believe Muncie didn't murder Simon, including the online journalist Laura Jennings (Bri Neal) and FBI agent Franco Quiñones. But Jennings soon ends up in the hospital, and Quiñones is a little evasive. What audiences start out thinking is a regular murder becomes more complicated as the political stakes come to light, and the added layers make for a very gripping introduction to the series.
3 "No More Madness"
Episode 8
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After Julia Jayne infiltrates Isiah's cigar shop, she shoots a security man, Isiah and Elena, but Elena is able to fight back, and kills her. While Elena is in the hospital, the FBI visits Muncie and tells him that they believe he is innocent and that Julia Jayne is responsible for the murder of Mark Simon. But Muncie isn't satisfied, knowing that Kraintz is the one who set everything in motion. Demetrius, still angry that Muncie has run away from him and their family several times, is upset that Muncie won't go to Kraintz and get justice himself, and even travels to Kraintz's private office to do so, but is stopped by Muncie before he can do anything.
Muncie learns that getting revenge on Kraintz by killing him won't do him any good, and starts to focus more on what he can control. Lucie gives The Forge the name of the real killer of Mark Simon, and one of their members kills Kraintz instead. The Forge is raided by the FBI after Agent Khalil (Ennis Esmer) and Lucie share the relevant information, making up a little for Khalil not standing up for Quiñones when he needed it. Demetrius and Muncie are able to make up, and Muncie starts to spend some real time with his kids as he works through his paranoia. And even Elena looked like she might give him another chance. The series finale ties things up nicely, and gives audiences a feeling of justice as Muncie's name is cleared, his old job comes crawling back and Kraintz gets his comeuppance.
2 "Radioactive"
Episode 4
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The heat on Muncie and the people helping him is increasing. Lucie no longer wants to help him as she is getting harassed, and Muncie moves into one of his daughter Kallie's properties. Kallie and Kwesi, two of the people closest to Muncie, tell him that he has a tendency to run in life, and maybe he should stop and try to fight this the legal way. He finally takes their advice moments before he is about to board a plane out of the country. Though his contentment with his choice to stay starts to waver when he finds himself in a police interrogation room, faced with evidence that paints a very strong picture of him as Simon's murderer.
Muncie's decision to stop running because he doesn't want to leave his family halts the manhunt aspect of The Madness, a welcome change halfway through the series. Muncie is starting to see how running is a common reaction for him, and he decides to take a different route, but when the evidence against him is laid out in front of him by the police, not only does it make it clear that whoever is framing Muncie is incredibly good, but it makes the audience, and Muncie, question his decision not to take the out that was given to him. Now fans are on the edge of their seats, wondering how on Earth Muncie can get out of this one.
1 "Loco"
Episode 6
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In the aftermath of Julia Jayne's murder of Stu Magnusson, the FBI arrives on the scene, and she tells Quiñones her theory that Muncie committed the murders, but Quiñones knows not to believe her. Muncie escaped Julia's gunfire the night before, and finds his way to a hospital, but rightfully fears that Julia is on her way to finish the job. Just as Julia is about to find Muncie, Quiñones shows up and a gunfight ensues. After escaping, Quiñones takes Muncie to a safe house where he shares that, thanks to Lucie, he has proof that Simon and Magnusson were in cahoots, but the real power is in a company called Revitalize, and Simon and Jennings were killed because they were going to expose Revitalize for their election interference.
Quiñones' interest in this case is derived from a personal stake. His brother was killed after he fell into a similar disinformation wormhole to the one that Revitalize creates, and he feels this case is a way to save others from falling into the same trap. Unfortunately, when Quiñones and Khalil have a meeting with their bosses to tell them about this case and request a task force to finish it up, they are denied. And what's worse is that Khalil doesn't stand up for the project, hanging Quiñones out to dry. This breaks Quiñones, who seems fine, if a little sad, during a work event, but then shoots himself in his parked car afterward. The hope that Quiñones felt about making this case buoyed him and fans, but when it all crumpled because the people in power decided against it, he lost hope. This tragic twist mirrors the power dynamics within the entire show and the result hit home for the audience.
The Madness can be streamed on Netflix in the U.S.
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English (US) ·