Note: This story contains spoilers from “Margo’s Got Money Troubles” Episode 8.
“Margo’s Got Money Troubles” wrapped up its first season with a victory for Elle Fanning’s Margo as she secured sole custody of her son, Bodhi. But it isn’t too long before the other shoe drops in a baffling realization to Margo that changes the events in Rufi Thorpe’s novel.
As Margo and her family leave the courthouse, Mark (Michael Angarano) — who was granted custody for two weekends a month — tells Margo that he wasn’t the one who called Child Protective Services on her. It’s Kenny (Greg Kinnear) who owns up to calling CPS, claiming he did so “as a precaution” and shocking both Margo and his now wife Shyanne (Michelle Pfeiffer). That marks a pivotal shift from the book that inspired the series, which saw both Shyanne and Kenny involved in the anonymous complaint.
“The way that Shyanne is in the show, she’s much more likable and integrated with Margo’s daily life, and isn’t really able to be suspicious of Margo because she knows what Margo’s life is like a little bit more. So she never would call CPS on her,” Thorpe told TheWrap. “It makes way more sense with the way that the characters’ relationships play out in the show for Shyanne to not have been part of that decision.”
The shift also reflects the fact that Kenny is one of the only characters in the series who hasn’t been betrayed by traditional and governmental systems, according to EP Eva Anderson. “In his mind, if you call the cops or you call CPS or
ICE, they’re going to show up and do the right thing and help you,” she said.
Anderson also noted the CPS call came after Jinx’s overdose, rather than Margo’s doxxing in the book, saying “There’s an argument to be made that Kenny is not completely wrong in thinking that no one else is going to take care of the situation, especially if Jinx hadn’t yet moved out of the house and … into Shyanne’s house.”
The move most certainly puts him in the “dog house” with Shyanne, but doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the end of the road for the couple. “Shyanne’s sense of self and her situation is a little precarious … I think it’d be very difficult for her to throw away a secure marriage,” Anderson said.
What the reveal means for Shyanne and Kenny’s marriage will be revealed in Season 2, thanks to a green light from Apple TV, which Anderson assured will have plenty of “troubles” coming for its characters — despite the central custody battle being won. “This is a show about people with money troubles, so it’s not going to be a total hangout show,” Anderson said.
With the custody battle over, Anderson did not confirm whether or not Nicole Kidman, who played Lace, Jinx’s former wrestling colleague and Margo’s lawyer, would be returning on screen.
Anderson will take the Season 2 helm alongside David E. Kelley after being upped to co-showrunner, with Thorpe continuing to be heavily involved.
“It’s going to be really fun experiment in, first of all, having to create a lot of new story, because we used up a lot of Rufi’s awesome book, but also just the joy of getting to play in this world, and to work with David E. Kelley,” Anderson said. “Hopefully, we can find magic in a new way.”
Below, Anderson and Thorpe unpack what’s to come in Season 2 and if Thorpe plans to write a companion book. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
TheWrap: Congrats on the Season 2 renewal! When did you know this was a series that could have life beyond that first season?
Thorpe: When I first started writing this, I wanted it to be a series, and my agent was like “no” at the time … she was like, “You just don’t have the sales numbers to write a series,” because the second book always sells less than the first book. And I was like, “OK, I only get one book to tell this story.” I had, in my head, dancing around all sorts of ideas of where Margo goes from here … I don’t feel attached to them pursuing any of those specific things that were in my head, but I always felt like there was so much potential for Margo to go on in her adventures.
Anderson: That’s so cool about the fact that you imagine the book as a series, and when you told me that, I was like, “Oh, this is so good.” Storylines have been planted that can continue that are secretly in the book … I always felt like there was an ongoing story just because you wanted to be with these people, and then also there’s some stuff that’s in the book that we didn’t touch on, so we have some stuff that we saved.
Rufi, will you be writing another book alongside Season 2?
Thorpe: Oh, I’d never be able to finish it in time. We’d wind up having two diverging realities … I also have another book that I’m working on right now that’s totally different. So to weigh in and get to be part of the brainstorming of where it’s going go, but not have to do the heavy lifting of actually writing the whole novel is sort of a dream scenario for me. I wouldn’t change a thing about the situation.
I have heard lots of writers have very different experiences than I have had — they … wind up getting locked out or excluded from the process, and that just has not been my experience with David and Eva and all the writers, and really everyone who’s worked on the show has been so open-handed and generous and thoughtful with me and let me be as involved as I wanted and taken seriously.
Novelists are so alone – you go in a room by yourself and you do it, and so to get to be part of something collaborative is just such a gift.
Anderson: Rufi, we all have the same affection and love for you. You made the whole process very easy from our end too by being so generous, so it goes both ways.
How many seasons have you mapped out? What would be ideal?
Anderson: David always says he wants it to be a three-season show, and I think that could be a perfect little arc for all these characters. But who knows … the wind blows wherever they blow in TV land, but I can picture three really nice seasons.
One thing we hadn’t seen from the book is Margo’s relationship, which the end of the series sets up a bit. Will that be explored more?
Anderson: Now that she has a little bit of free time, and she’s not … in danger of losing her kid, it would be prudent now for Margo to explore a little bit of her own loves and desires and needs, and maybe even … see her get out there and date, who knows. It’s definitely on the table.
You’ve gotten good feedback about portraying the world of OnlyFans. What have you thought of that response and what do you want to dive into more?
Thorpe: I’ve just been so heartened. You try to do something justice, and you try and do a responsible and intellectually rigorous job, and an honest job of just presenting people as people and sex workers’ work, but you’re always going to get something wrong. So the fact that sex workers have been so positive and supportive about the show has been really wonderful.
In so many ways right now, OnlyFans is the answer to Margo’s prayers, and the ability to make money is everything that she needs. But then there’s an opportunity to talk about what gets complicated about OnlyFans, what parts of this job suck, and not in this big moralizing way either, but literally, what parts of this job are difficult.
Anderson: In the way that OnlyFans is a job, no job is entirely perfect … you can get burnt out on it, like you do waiting tables or teaching, or anything.
So many of these characters are so fleshed out. What are you still hoping to explore?
Anderson: Jinx is going to have to be sober now if he’s going to be part of everybody’s life, and we’ve never seen Jinx really working on sobriety in a serious way … so seeing the way Jinx adapts to life, where it has to be a lot simpler for him, I think, could be really interesting. The wrestler that Jinx is based on was also a manager of wrestlers, and that’s a part of Jinx’s career that we haven’t explored either.
Thorpe: I also think that there’s these open questions about how is Shyanne going to self-actualize in this marriage — what are the choices that she’s made that she feels like she kind of has to make … she has this understanding of what her constraints are under the patriarchy and has made her decisions accordingly, and then is she going to be able to be happy?
Anderson: One more person that we really are excited to dig into a lot this season is Susie. Susie became such a loyal friend to both Jinx and Margo, and a creative partner and a babysitter, but there’s a lot going on with Susie that hasn’t been tapped, so we’re going to really look under the hood of what makes Susie tick.
“Margo’s Got Money Troubles” Season 1 is now streaming on Apple TV.
