Political thrillers and crime dramas are making a strong comeback, with Prime Video’s Cross and Netflix’s The Diplomat as standouts. The Madness can be added to that list but with a twist. Instead of an entrenched politician or detective, it’s a CNN news anchor at the centre of the winding crime web.

 

With a stellar cast led by Colman Domingo, The Madness was created and written by Stephen Belber. The series is also written by Katie Swain and VJ Boyd, with Boyd serving as the series showrunner. The kinetic series is directed by Clement Virgo, with each of the seven episodes named after a different character in the series. At its core, The Madness is a boisterous take on political conspiracy, but put simply; it’s one big game of gaslighting.

 

In The Madness, consultant-turned-media pundit Muncie Daniels (Colman Domingo) must fight for his innocence and his life after he stumbles upon a murder deep in the Poconos woods. Having retreated to a cabin in the wilderness for a much-needed capital that will hopefully help him write the next great American novel, nothing goes as planned. Instead of sitting in the woods, finding inspiration and writing, Muncie finds a dismembered body.

Scared that he’ll be next when the men who did the deed round the corner, Muncie does what he can to stay alive. But the body in the woods isn’t just anyone. Instead, he is the only witness to the murder of a well-known white supremacist, which leaves Muncie as the prime suspect. With his career and life on the line, Muncie Daniels is framed for the murder, which leads him to be chased by both police and the white supremacist’s racist cabal of followers.

 

Across each of the seven episodes, Domingo brings another layer to Muncie as a father, a husband, and a fugitive. The chase to clear his name is just one aspect. While Muncie pushes to clear his name, he begins to pull at threads that start to unravel a global conspiracy as the clock ticks away on his life.

 

The ensemble cast that makes up Muncie’s family is utterly fantastic. The Daniels’ children, Demetrius (Thaddeus J. Mixson) and Kallie (Gabrielle Graham), each help their father in ways that expose Muncie’s faults and strengths and how his career has ultimately pushed him to release the ideals of his past.

 

The way that Muncie argues with his children and how they are constantly there for him speaks more largely about the importance of family bonds in an unexpected way for the genre. Additionally, Elena (Marsha Stephanie Blake), Muncie’s wife, is a force of good in his life and his reason for continually moving forward even as the world tries to convince him that he’s wrong.

Muncie’s relationship with Elena is thoughtful, intimate, and filled with love. Their mutual respect and dedication to each other are the foundation of one of the best TV relationships I’ve seen on screen this year. Elena and Muncie aren’t perfect. They aren’t happy all the time, but they are there for each other. While Muncie is terrified for himself, it’s his family that keeps him going, and when they come into the line of fire, something different takes hold of him.

 

The Madness, as a title, is best explained by how the series showcases disinformation, the vehicle for the deep danger that Muncie finds himself in. While Muncie does everything right, he can’t seem to outrun the trail of lies behind him. The core of the series is the way that disinformation is used to try and convince Muncie that he is crazy at best and homicidal at worst.

 

Muncie has to push past the lies, rely on allies that he genuinely hates -like the wife of the white supremacist (Tamsin Topolski) who started all of this – and somehow take on white supremacist propaganda and law enforcement and keep his family safe, too.

 

The critique of disinformation isn’t necessarily spot-on or the best. But Colman Domingo’s performance as Muncie makes any quibble that I have with the series’ throughline execution fall to the wayside. As usual, Domingo brings charisma to his role.

 

Still, he captures vulnerability and fear as well. Muncie is a dynamic character that never stops developing. While a political thriller and global conspiracy is fun enough, Domingo’s ability always captures Muncie’s humanity, which makes The Madness simply good television.

 

Propelled by Colman Domingo, The Madness is a series that makes me want to see more of the actors on television. Having discovered Domingo’s work through Fear The Walking Dead, seeing him back on the small screen and playing a character vastly different than he does on that show is excellent. The Madness is good TV in the way that old network series are. It’s because of its lead.

 

Boluwatife Adesina
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Boluwatife Adesina is a media writer and the helmer of the Downtown Review page. He’s probably in a cinema near you.