A solid thriller with contemporary political themes that benefits from a fantastic lead performance.
Plot: Muncie Daniels is a respected media pundit who thinks he has it all. When he’s framed for the murder of a white supremacist, he must clear his name, protect his family, and unravel a high-level conspiracy before time runs out.
Review: The concept for the hit 1960s series The Fugitive spawned an award-winning box office hit in 1993 starring Harrison Ford and Tommy Lee Jones but failed to ignite much buzz when it was rebooted on the small screen twice, in 2000 and 2020. While it does not share any official connections with the story of Dr. Richard Kimble and his search for a one-armed man who killed his wife, the new Netflix series The Madness may be the closest anyone has gotten to capturing the paranoia and tension that made The Fugitive so good. Led by Oscar-nominee Colman Domingo in one of his best performances to date, The Madness is an intricate cat-and-mouse mystery that takes the idea of a man on the run from sinister forces as he tries to clear his own name and thrusts it into a politically-relevant narrative.
The eight-episode limited series opens with Muncie Daniels (Colman Domingo) waking in the middle of a forest with an injured leg and a memory of witnessing a murder the previous day. Flashing back, we learn that Daniels is famous for appearing on CNN as a political commentator on race and related topics. Separated from his wife, Elena (Marsha Stephanie Blake), and their son, Demetrius (Thaddeus J. Mixson), Daniels takes a weekend trip to the Poconos, where he becomes embroiled in the murder of Mark Simon, a known white supremacist. As Muncie tries to figure out who killed Simon, he quickly becomes the prime suspect in the investigation. He must go on the run with his family as they dodge the military racist group The Forge and an even bigger adversary lurking behind the scenes. This draws the attention of FBI agent Franco Quinones (John Ortiz) and others as the truth behind the murder transforms The Madness from a mystery to a paranoid political thriller.
The Madness takes advantage of plot elements and modern contrivances that did not exist for The Fugitive. Technology plays a key role in what happens to Muncie Daniels, both in service of the crime he becomes a suspect in and the entire machinations of the series. Popularity on social media and the extreme cultures of the internet play directly into the plot. There are also themes from Black Lives Matter and other current social movements that drive the narrative in ways you may not expect. Muncie Daniels’ character has connections to social movements, past and present, as did his father, which offers an additional wrinkle to the story that complicates it from a simple plot to a relevant and complicated one. As each episode unfolds, more clues present themselves, as do new roadblocks, sometimes pushing Muncie Daniels to the brink of going crazy as he feels the weight and pressure of always looking over his shoulder.
Despite the intriguing premise and solid tone, The Madness does begin to spin its wheels about two-thirds of the way through the series, with the final reveal of the villains and their plan feeling somewhat anticlimactic, with the finale prolonging the tension an episode too long. Despite that, the series is greatly boosted by a fantastic performance by star Colman Domingo. The Oscar-nominated star of Rustin has been in dozens of films since the early 2000s but broke out with roles in Selma and The Birth of a Nation before his charismatic turn in Fear the Walking Dead. Since then, his trademark voice and stature have longed for a turn like he has here. Half of his screen time in The Madness showcases Domingo looking cool regardless of the stakes his character finds himself in. Domingo’s performance is elevated by a solid ensemble, including turns from Deon Cole, Alison Wright, Bradley Whitford, and Stephen McKinley Henderson.
Created by Stephen Belber (Rescue Me), The Madness is co-showrun with VJ Boyd with episodes written by Belber, Jeanine Daniels, Liz Ellis, Maurice Williams, Katie Swain, Felicia Hilario, and Dana Kitchens. Director Clement Virgo (The Wire) helmed four episodes along with Jessica Lowrey and Quyen Tran each helming two each, giving the series a crisp, cool visual look that elevates the landscape of Philadelphia and the surrounding Pennsylvania geography. There is a solid soundtrack that is as cool as the characters, and the series never feels like a niche series but rather a solid attempt at a bold thriller for all audiences. There is no doubt that this series has a message it wants to impart, but it manages to do so without seeming preachy or overly political. Nevertheless, the eight-episode length still feels about two episodes longer than it should have been.
The Madness takes the paranoia and mystery of The Fugitive to new levels with a timely and relevant story that takes contemporary issues of race, technology, information, and social media to craft a frightening look at what could happen if racial tensions continue to cross dangerous thresholds of intolerance. Despite that crucial conflict at the core of this series, The Madness waffles a bit by over-complicating some plot elements and underselling others. Thankfully, with Colman Domingo in the lead, this series is far stronger than it could have been with a less impressive actor at the forefront. Domingo continues to prove he can play everything from dramatic to heroic, and this series proves he has the charisma to be a leading man in any number of projects moving forward. You will likely find a lot to enjoy in The Madness, even if it is slightly overlong.
The Madness premieres on November 28th on Netflix.
