In the new Netflix political thriller The Madness, CNN pundit Muncie Daniels (Colman Domingo) is framed for the murder of a white nationalist leader and becomes a pawn in a dangerous game played between the dead man’s followers, a violent colony of gun enthusiasts that’s described as “basically antifa on meth with Uzis,” and multiple billionaires and government agencies. No one ever actually says “This conspiracy goes all the way to the top,” but it’s heavily implied throughout.
Created by playwright Stephen Belber, The Madness has a lot on its mind about race relations, activism, and the dangers of disinformation that allows corporations to, as FBI agent Franco Quinones (John Ortiz) puts it, “play three-card monte with people’s minds.” Maybe it has too much on its mind, or perhaps it’s not quite enough. The show works more in pieces than as a whole,…
