Icarus – As the fifth episode of The Madness begins, Lucie Simon (Tamsin Topolski) visits Stu Magnusson (Bradley Whitford). Muncie Daniels (Colman Domingo) is shocked when Detective Johnson takes him outside and removes his cuffs. Stu speaks to Lucie about Mark’s death. She asks if he killed Mark and whether he’s going to kill her. Stu asks if she needs money. He is worried that Mark may have kept evidence of their association such as emails or texts. Stu needs to get rid of that evidence. Lucie asks him about Agent Linda Pfaelzner with the Trenton Office of the FBI. She says the FBI has no agent by the name. The agent came looking for Mark just before he got killed. Stu promises he had nothing to do with Mark’s death. He gives her money. Stu can give her whatever she needs as long as she cooperates with him.

Emmett (Stephen McHattie) serves Agent Franco Quinones (John Ortiz) who is with Muncie. When Agent Khalil (Ennis Esmer) joins them, Muncie asks what he’s doing there. Franco explains Muncie is in his custody. He explains that Stu will unframe him and Muncie won’t disclose his connection to Brother14. Muncie worries that Stu won’t make a deal. Franco tells Muncie how Mark and Stu were working together before it stopped and Mark was killed. Muncie is told about Revitalize which is a big tech company. The company needs to control the narrative. Khalil says they believe Stu was authorizing the payment to Mark since he’s on the board of Revitalize. The same holding company that was paying Mark Simon just sent 30 grand to Don Sloss. Franco talks about being paid off and the revolving door of American power. Lucie locks her kids in the car before going into the furniture shop.

She briefly speaks to Roger (Murray Furrow) on her way inside. Roger admits he removed everything because he was following Mark’s wishes. Mark made his friend, Bobby Woods, a minority owner of the store so Roger didn’t have a choice. Lucie learns that Bobby picked up everything yesterday. Once Lucie returns to her car, she finds out that her bank account is empty. She calls someone to ask them to watch the boys for a while. Franco gets Muncie to speak to Stu on the phone. Muncie sets up a meeting with Stu. Lucie gets a woman, who is possibly her sister, to watch the kids. Franco helps Muncie get ready for the meeting with Stu. Lucie speaks to Bobby Woods (Steve Byers) about getting the hard drive back. She claims she’s serious about coming back in. Bobby reminds her that consensus makes the call. She goes inside where she speaks to Candace (Madison Cipparone) and Levi (Chris Owens). Lucie explains that Muncie is the fall guy.

She goes on to say this is not the time for backsliding. The group begins talking about finding new leadership with Lucie’s assistance. Muncie waits for Stu to arrive. He calls Stu’s guard who knows he has two FBI guys following him. Franco gets upset when Muncie drops the wire. Muncie loses them and gets into a vehicle with Raul (Angelo Grey) who agrees to take him to Stu. On the way there, Raul injects Muncie who falls asleep. Bobby gives Lucie the drive she’s been looking for. He also asks for a favor. Bobby suggests there are more than just photos on the hard drive. Bobby makes her sit down before he begins combing her hair. He says his sister used to let him brush her hair and he should’ve done more to protect her. Lucie gets home and checks the hard drive. She finds files about Revitalize and audio recordings of Stu. In one recording, they argue about killing Americans.

Lucie also finds a picture of Julia Jayne (Alison Wright). She remembers her because she was pretending to be an FBI agent. It appears Lucie told her information about The Forge. When Muncie wakes up, he is approached by Stu and Julia. Stu asks what Laura Jennings told him. Julia says he’ll get top representation and a PR campaign that will restore his reputation. Muncie tells them what he knows about how they use disinformation to mess with people’s lives. Stu denies harming Mark because they were friends. He claims Stu is obsessed with bringing him down. Muncie mentions Don Sloss. Stu claims he’s never heard of that name before. Muncie argues that someone at Revitalize knows who Don is. Don has been cashing checks from the same account Stu used to pay Mark Simon. Stu asks if he’s getting screwed here. Julia and Stu talk about it in private. When Muncie tries to speak up, Raul stops him.

Muncie tells Stu that Don Sloss is real and Revitalize got him to kill Mark Simon. He believes they’re on the same side if Stu doesn’t know that. Stu believes Muncie is lying although Muncie says he’s getting screwed. Don Sloss Jr. (Dru Viergever) enters and shoots Raul. He shoots Stu too. Julia says she wants to take Stu with them. When Don tries to inject him, Muncie injects him and they begin fighting. Julia deletes the hard drive on a nearby computer. Julia shoots Don and tries to shoot Muncie who manages to jump into the water outside.

 

The Madness Review

The most interesting thing about this episode of The Madness is Bradley Whitford and the pool at the beginning of the episode. Whitford has been here before since it’s where a scene in Billy Madison was filmed. Of course, the Parkwood Estate is not in New York City or Philadelphia. It’s actually in Canada where most of The Madness was filmed.

The bulk of the series is filmed in Toronto, Hamilton, and Oshawa. For instance, there was the Pocono Mountain Regional Police Station which was actually East Hamilton’s Cotton Factory. Besides that, the story is grinding to a screeching halt. After the first few episodes, very little has happened. It’s also taking completely unrealistic turns such as killing a billionaire and expecting viewers to believe no one would seriously investigate his death.

The series has no authenticity making it impossible to care about anyone, including Muncie who often behaves like an idiot. The scenes drag on for far too long. The episode was filled with boring dialogue because the show just needed to have eight episodes. Then, we have the stupid hair brushing scene for whatever reason. Ultimately, this is typical Netflix slop that does nothing for anyone.

It’s a typical crime drama with outlandish movements and the same agendas. With the addition of Julia, it appears the writers just threw this together on a whim with no real plan. Therefore, it’s almost guaranteed that the finale will be a lackluster mess. The episode scores a 4 out of 10. Recaps of The Madness can be found here.

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