It is always painful to watch a story beaming with possibilities not live up to its full potential. Apple TV’s Margo's Got Money Troubles made me feel the same kind of pain as season 1 of the David E. Kelly production came to an end. Although the series was packaged as a comedy-drama, the subject chosen indicated that E. Kelly is about to serve something similar to his gripping psychological dark-comedy drama, Big Little Lies.

A teenage single mother fighting to raise her baby while dealing with some family drama of her own suggested a deep dive into the struggles of a single mother and a thorough investigation of complicated familial bonds. On top of that, you have the main lead turning to the dark alleys of OnlyFans, which presented another avenue warranting extensive examination. Instead, we got a hunky-dory narrative trying to cover all of these serious subject matters by barely scraping off the surface.

While the show delivers on the comedy part, the drama part leaves you wanting more, and it is largely because of the writing.

While the show is effectively written for a cozy, fun watch, with every episode having the safety net of “everything will be alright at the end,” it simply takes away from the effectiveness of the themes the story is trying to explore. Being a single mother in itself is a Herculean task, and to show it in an eight-episode setting is another one. But the writers could have at least tried to venture a little more into the horrors, the despair, and the challenges of the job.

The only time the show appeared to even slightly justify its central theme was during the first three episodes, which were dropped simultaneously as a big pilot to set the story up. Believe it or not, these three episodes are the only ones that contain some of the best emotional scenes of the series. The whole series after that is just walking in the garden with some calculated punches planted in the way, but never coming close to a knockout.

Another gripe I have with the writing is that the main character, Margo, seemed one-dimensional after the initial three episodes, kind of becoming a side character in her own show. Whatever intense moments of struggles and hopelessness she goes through, they happen during these three episodes. Once she becomes an OnlyFans model, it is like the problem of single motherhood magically vanishes, and the fight now becomes about her choices and individuality.

Also, what, in my opinion, demanded more inclination on the drama aspect of the show was the side characters, especially that of Shyanne (Margo’s mother) and Jinx (Margo’s father), who the writers accidentally gave more depth than the main character. Both characters felt like they had a lot more going on emotionally and psychologically than Margo herself, and she often felt like just an accessory to their journeys.

Shyanne, as a single mother herself, presented a paradox where she acted as both the obstacle and the supporter of Margo’s journey. Her grief at seeing Margo sacrifice her future for her unborn child made her heart fall to pieces, but she still somehow stayed by her side, which is just the type of complexity that gives a character the nuances to become bigger than the story.

Then, along a similar line, we have Jinx, Margo’s estranged father, who has been in and out of her life and feels like a Pandora’s box of trauma and bad life choices. The source of this trauma is his drug addiction and a stint at the rehabilitation center. However, the character seems to have been concealing far more than that, like the horrors of his tragic spinal injury from his pro wrestling career and his unresolved feelings for Shyanne, which the story never fully explores.

There were times in the show that it felt like he was the central character simply because his journey was far more intriguing than Margo’s. The emotional weight and depth of these characters seemed to be underutilized by the guarded approach of the story, and hence, the desire for something more than just touching upon the ideas and moving on without giving them a serious thought.

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While the writing is a mixed bag, the acting performances in the show are surely not.

The tumultuous writing of Margo’s Got Money Troubles is luckily saved by the star-studded cast, mostly featuring heavy-hitters like Michelle Pfeiffer, Nick Offerman, Elle Fanning, and Greg Kinnear. Talking about the main character first, Elle Fanning is just great as Margo, championing every wavelength on the emotional spectrum of a young single mother. She is bogged down by depression, self-doubt, mounting bills, and the general sense of failing in life, but the courage and determination displayed by the character and the conviction with which Fanning encapsulates all of it are commendable.

While Elle Fanning is great, Michelle Pfeiffer as her mother, Shyanne, is a force to be reckoned with. Being a single mother herself and having traversed the path her daughter is about to embark upon is naturally terrifying to her, and the same is expressed when she says, “Will I love him? Of course. Just as I loved you from the moment you were born … But this life as you know it – this life that you never got to know – is over. I can’t rejoice in that.”

Her words not only represent the death of the life she dreamed for her daughter, but also subtly hint at the perils of the life she has chosen for herself, and that is exactly why she cannot be happy for her pregnant teenage daughter. This turmoil continues right till the end of the season, represented by the complex relationship she shares with her grandson, Bodhi. Pfeiffer excels in those moments, relaying the disappointment she feels with herself perfectly mixed with guilt for not being the mother Margo deserved.

But even Michelle Pfeiffer’s heartfelt but powerhouse performance was surpassed by the magical performance of Nick Offerman, who plays Jinx, Margo’s father, in the show. A former pro wrestler turned drug addict turned recovering drug addict turned relapsing drug addict, Jinx has more layers than your favorite lasagna. And all these layers, all these nuances are just effortlessly conveyed by his eyes only. Those eyes, Chico, they do not really lie. They hide immense emotions, and in the moments of catharsis, these pent-up emotions ooz out, almost hitting you without any notice.

The additional cast, including Greg Kinnear as Margo’s stepfather, Kenny, and Thaddea Graham as Margo’s supportive roommate, Susie, are also spot on with their performances. They provide the necessary impact in the passing moments as well as when everything is in disarray. Therefore, we can say that the ensemble is one of the saving graces of the show.

Since the ensemble is one of the highlights of the show, this means that there are others that need discussing.

Even though it is a small thing, the impact it had at the end makes it worth raving about. It is also one of the accomplishments of the writing of the show that somehow redeems the surface-level treatment it gives to its central themes. In the show, Greg Kinnear’s character, Kenny, is introduced as this uptight, goody-two-shoes Episcopalian minister. But as the show progresses, the writers slowly and steadily change the audience’s perception of Kenny by giving him a positive character arc where he emerges as more understanding, open-minded, and supportive than Shyanne and Margo, and even the viewers had thought him to be.

But this is just until the climax, where it was revealed that all of the positive changes were a clever decoy put in place by the writers to lead everyone astray from seeing his ultimate betrayal of trust. In the end, it was revealed that he was the one who tipped off Child Protective Services against Margo, which almost caused her to lose Bodhi’s custody.

The shrewd writing let everyone forget that, at the end of the day, Kenny is the same uptight, goody-two-shoes church-goer that we first met at the beginning of the show. It was kind of like a sucker punch ( a good one) that no one saw coming. This was also an effective way to set up a potential breaking point in his and Shyanne’s relationship in the next season (if the show gets renewed).

Ultimately, the show is a breezy and fun watch for those who, unlike me, want a slice-of-life kind of experience without going deep into the dark and uncomfortable parts of the subject matter chosen. While I hoped for something more serious and more gut-wrenching for a show that dealt with a college-dropout single mother who takes to OnlyFans to support her newborn, it does not take away from the fact that David E. Kelly at least tries to talk about the challenges involved. The show entertains, charms, tickles, and even comforts you at moments while extracting a tear or two along the way.

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What do you think of Margo’s Got Money Troubles? Did you like the lighthearted approach, or were you left wanting more? Share your thoughts