Transcript
Sarah-Daye McDougall: On this 50th page-to-screen episode of Bookwatch, we are watching Margo's Got Money Troubles by Rufy Thorpe, published in 2024 in its 2026 adaptation. The Apple TV show was directed by David E. Kelly, and Rufy Thorpe served as an executive producer.
Sarah-Daye McDougall: Four episodes were directed by Durbla Walsh, and two each were directed by Kate Herron and Alice Sebright. The audio book is narrated by Elle Fanning, who also stars as the titular character.
Sarah-Daye McDougall: I'm Sarah Daye.
Chris: And I'm Chris.
Jordyn: And I'm Jordan.
Sarah-Daye McDougall: And we will get started after these messages.
Sarah-Daye McDougall: Margot's Got Money Troubles follows Margot Millett, a young single mother struggling to make ends meet after becoming pregnant by her English professor. Desperate to provide for her son, she launches an OnlyFans account using unexpected marketing advice from her estranged father, formal professional wrestler known as Jinx. He moves in to help care for the baby.
Sarah-Daye McDougall: As her online success grows, Margot partners with other OnlyFans creators to expand her reach while relying on the support of her quirky roommate Susie, whose friendship brings much-needed stability and humor.
Sarah-Daye McDougall: But as the money and attention increase, Margot is forced to confront the complicated trade-offs between internet fame, fictional financial security, family, and her own sense of self.
Sarah-Daye McDougall: As a fairly recent novel and show, the cultural impact is more about the conversations that this novel and the show spark, which does overlap with the key themes, which I would say is...
Sarah-Daye McDougall: stigmatizing, destigmatizing sex work and online adult content, highlighting economic precarity, exploring internet fame and personal branding, challenging traditional family dynamics and motherhood, and contemporary feminist conversations like Margo isn't a victim.
Sarah-Daye McDougall: But what were your initial thoughts on this adaptation, this book, and these kind of conversations?
Chris: To me, the book felt like a masterclass in marketing. I mean, you see just how good she gets at, know, the product is, yes, her OnlyFans profile and how to market herself in that space. And honestly, the adult content wasn't her focus at first. It was you know, she was using that to promote her writing. She's a writer. She likes you know, she tells people funny things in the comments as part of her, you know, rating and, uh, you the parts of the thing that allow her to grow her influence were done through her writing. And so, I really liked the, the fact that book dove so much into how she was managing to get that, uh, following and start building the money. And then the way she combines with other, other,
Chris: creators to build up that market even more and figure out how to provide for family. It was a really interesting story. I think that all of the culture impact features you, the things you talked about there definitely makes sense with the story.
Chris: And I think that's important too. But I think that was portrayed well, not as much of that marketing focus, but I think that they did a good job in the film of adapting enough of it to keep it consistent.
Jordyn: I think it was really interesting. I ended up liking it a lot more than I thought I was going to, like reading the summary and like the basics of the plot. I was like, oh my god, this isn't so not me, not my style. Like I don't support this. I'm not into this. Like I just was very hesitant. And by the end of it, I think still like don't I question like the promotion of these things or like it's still it's very real, but it's still like a little bit romanticizing, you know, OnlyFans and sex work and that kind of thing. And like on the one hand, yeah, like in this, you know, contemporary feminist like interpretation, like she's not a victim. She's choosing this. It's supporting her family. That's awesome. but there are women who victimized by that industry and who are taken advantage of and harmed in that space. So it walked a very fine line. I think it did a good job of walking that line. And so I came out the backside of it with a deeper, what I feel is like a deeper understanding of why people voluntarily choose to do OnlyFans and that sort of thing and like a deeper respect for like single mothers who like, you know, she and she says like in the book, like I didn't want to do this. Like this wasn't my goal to be like an OnlyFans model, but like I can't afford child care without a job. I can't get a job if I have nobody to watch my kid. So I have to do something from home.
Jordyn: I was forced to not finish college and get a degree. So like what options are there for me? And so that's where, know, a lot of people, especially single mothers, young single mothers find themselves as like, what other options do I have in this world?
Jordyn: Other than to do something that, you know, she makes the point that I, you know, you have to agree with, like, it's safe. She it's all behind camera. She's alone in her room, like nobody's going to harm her, nobody's going to harm her kid, like, you know,
Jordyn: there are certainly worse ways, you know, worse versions of this that, you know, women, choices that women have to make. And so I think it really did a great job of walking that line of showing the real hardship and the real hard and, you know, kind of uncomfortable choices that this young single mother has to make while still, you know, showing in a way that for a modern feminist sensibility is like girl powery and like empowering and like good for her in a way too.
Chris: That is my favorite thing about books is seeing the world through the eyes of someone I would not have experienced otherwise. And so I really loved that part of this that we got to see the world through the eyes of a single mother, through the eyes of someone who did this out of desperation.
Jordyn: Mm-hmm.
Chris: So I'm, I'm excited to hear that being the perspective you took out of it in the end is that you saw more of that perspective and growth grew from it a little bit.
Jordyn: Mm-hmm.
Chris: I mean, yes, I understand the way it affects each of us differently the way we, See that industry, see people, and that's fine. But to get to at least get a glimpse into people's perspective and how they handle things is really cool.
Jordyn: Mm-hmm.
Sarah-Daye McDougall: What did you guys think of the the show as an adaptation. i know we'll get into the plot next week a little bit but. Do you think it did the book justice or do you think you know, like did it need to be a TV show could have been a film they added a lot they changed a lot.
Chris: the fact that they've already renewed it for season two, it gives me hope for it. because they did leave out decent amount of the actual, like there's whole plot plot line that got left out entirely that I think have,
Sarah-Daye McDougall: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Chris: have potential to move into the next season and still come true. But I feel like they did take out, know, pick and choose some of the stuff they thought was important to the visual storytelling in the, in the TV show.
Chris: I think it could have been a film just fine and could have got, probably got the whole book into a film and had a good story still in two and a half hours or whatever.
Chris: But I think that doing TV show gave us a little more time to live with these characters, time to understand these characters and all the, you know, the stuff with the son, know, the custody battle slash, you with the...
Chris: that whole part of the story was what they kind of focused on here in a lot of ways is showing her desperation to keep her kid and figure out how to prove that she is a safe person for this and that everybody that was coming after her was attacking her out of greed, out of jealousy and out of just a misunderstanding of everything.
Chris: So, yeah.
Jordyn: Thank you.
Sarah-Daye McDougall: I, oh shit, I lost it.
Sarah-Daye McDougall: Oh, you talking about major plot point that was left out. And I think you're talking about a character that was also left out. And it's funny because was kind of waiting the whole time for this character to be introduced. And I wanted to see who was cast. And I looked up the cast and I was like,
Sarah-Daye McDougall: Maybe like I could not find that character and I'm like, okay, well, maybe the name is wrong. And I almost spoiled myself on like other aspects because I was, because I was actually reading this and watching this a lot at the same time, which was very difficult to do because the show jumps around lot more quickly.
Sarah-Daye McDougall: Certain things are, the timeline is jumbled. The book's timeline is jumbled up in the show. And things are happening at different times and things are changing. But yeah, I was pretty disappointed. don't know if we'll get into that in next week's discussion when we talk about the plot.
Sarah-Daye McDougall: But yeah, I do think that season two is going to be more about that character and the future of Margot's entrepreneurship.
Jordyn: Yeah, I think you kind of, assuming we're all talking about the same character, I think you kind of had to remove that character. Like if you had any aspirations of doing a season two, what is the plot of season two going to be? And so I think they made the right choice of having that character's removal serve as the crux of what season two is going to be about. So that didn't bother me. Most of the other changes that they made as far as like the characters and like their personalities and like actions they take, I liked. I thought that
Sarah-Daye McDougall: Yeah. Yeah.
Jordyn: both of you guys were like, don't worry, the show version's better. And she is, truly. I like the show version of Cheyenne a lot. Michelle Pfeiffer's great in the role. And even Cheyenne's religious husband, Kenny, like the show version is a lot more complex and a lot deeper.
Jordyn: And I like that as a practicing Christian. like that. interpretation, that version of him more. It's not so stereotypical as I felt like the book was. So most of the changes that they made as far as characters, I liked. And we'll get into more of that a little bit later. But as far as the plot changes, They didn't bother me too much.
Jordyn: I was wondering about that character and like, why isn't that plot line here? But then finding out that they announced season two and seeing like that, that like, it was not an end credit scene, but like that last scene of the show where she's messaging with this person.
Sarah-Daye McDougall: Mm-hmm.
Jordyn: was like, okay, so that's what season two is going to be about then is that character and that plot line got it. So there were definitely changes, but there was nothing that I was like, that I thought was egregious that I was like, I can't believe they did this.
Sarah-Daye McDougall: Yeah, it's just going to be interesting how they do season two because she's already been doxxed in this season. And that relationship is just so intertwined with what happens in season one.
Jordyn: Right.
Sarah-Daye McDougall: So it will be very interesting to see what else do they include from the book in season two besides that relationship.
Jordyn: yeah yeah well and with the doxing like she still like a fairly small creator on only fans so i wonder how much of a impact the doxing is going to have beyond just like like obviously like the custody battle and then like the people in her like actual geographical community, like from high school and stuff who know her personally, you know, and all of the judgment that comes with that.
Sarah-Daye McDougall: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Jordyn: And like, you know, screw Becca, just getting ahead of it a little bit. But like, other than that, like, I don't know, like this, this person that we're alluding to,
Jordyn: Like they live on the other side of the country and they don't know her personally. They only know her as the hungry ghost. And so like, just because she got doxxed in this area, because they made it seem in the show that he's a new subscriber to her OnlyFans, not that he was an existing one.
Sarah-Daye McDougall: Yeah.
Jordyn: think they can still do it, but it is going to be a little bit weird since she's already been doxxed.
Sarah-Daye McDougall: Yeah.
Sarah-Daye McDougall: Yeah. It was just like their emotional turning point.
Sarah-Daye McDougall: in the story so it's just kind of like what is what's going to be that for the tv show but time will tell i like this show just fine so i'm i'm on board
Jordyn: For sure.
Jordyn: Yeah.
Jordyn: Yeah.
Chris: So if it were me going to do the season two and try to bring in that character, I think how I would do it would be to let the stuff, let his conversation with her happen in the time frame that it was supposed to happen in and do kind of flashback things as she's working on this thing. So have their conversations happening, have the doxing happen.
Chris: But just have it be a part of the story we didn't see because it wasn't the focus of the time. But we can flash back to some of the stuff that's happening in her personal self, like her conversations with him are happening throughout all that. And we see the aftermath of it and we go forward with him and their meeting and all that or something. It still has some, it would definitely still require some attention.
Chris: some storytelling gymnastics, but I think that they can, they could make it work that way where you just literally snip it out pieces like that and put them into the, into whatever is happening in the current timeframe.
Sarah-Daye McDougall: All
Jordyn: Yeah.
Sarah-Daye McDougall: right, we're going to jump into the cast. Again, part one of our episodes, listeners, we cover the cast. And then in part two, which will come out next week, we will cover the plot.
Sarah-Daye McDougall: We of course will start with Marco. And as I said earlier, she is played by Elle Fanning.
Jordyn: I thought she was great. She, you know, really the scenes where she like has like her emotional breakdowns and she's like the scene in one of the last episodes with Michelle Pfeiffer. She's like, mama, I'm scared. Like that really like tugged on the heartstrings and really got to me. think they made, they took her character and like,
Jordyn: did a little bit like bigger caricature, if that makes sense.
Sarah-Daye McDougall: Yeah.
Jordyn: Like her anger and her sadness, like got amplified in the show. I think that makes sense because you don't get like the inner monologue as much to explain like how deep her emotions are.
Jordyn: So you have to, you know, you have to show you cause you can't tell. So all of that was great. She, I think she delivered really, really well.
Chris: Yeah, and I think she spent so much time with this character the narrator of the book and stuff that I think she really understood who she was playing here. And I think she portrayed her great.
Jordyn: Mm-hmm.
Chris: Definitely almost no notes. I think that, yeah, the interpretation for film had a few changes, but I thought she was wonderful in the role.
Sarah-Daye McDougall: Yeah, I agree. She is a star for a reason. Speaking of Cheyenne, Margo's mother played by Michelle Pfeiffer.
Chris: Love Michelle Pfeiffer. So it was definitely, yeah, like said, the book version of her was a little more, little different and definitely had her, you know, she basically just seemed like a very selfish person that very much only out for herself.
Jordyn: Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Sarah-Daye McDougall: Very much.
Chris: And she's trying to set up her life, not worry about her daughter. So, but I thought Michelle Pfeiffer brought a, humanity to that character a little bit. She still had a lot of those characteristics, but I think she just performed it really well of like, oh, this was, I am this person that is selfish, but also loves my daughter. And how can I balance those things in life and show that?
Jordyn: Yeah, think Cheyenne is really, really complex character the book and the show. And definitely like Michelle Pfeiffer's interpretation of her more than the book.
Jordyn: Like, like I said earlier in the book, I was like, screw Cheyenne. We hate Cheyenne. Like she's the worst. She's terrible. And in the show, like there were still moments that I was like, oh my God, I can't believe she's doing or saying this thing.
Jordyn: But then she would always like come back around and like redeem herself by the end of it. And so by the end, you know, that courtroom scene in the show that didn't happen in the book and she's holding Bodhi and he's not crying.
Jordyn: Like that really like,
Sarah-Daye McDougall: Yeah.
Jordyn: you are like really happy for them. And you know, the judge is like, what's with all the tears? And she's like, it's hay fever. it's like, no, it's actually just like a really magical moment. Cause she's finally accepting that Bodhi is her grandchild. Like it's like, and she really like sells all of, all of the ups and downs of who Cheyenne is and her relationship with Margot and with Jinx. And like, she just, she's great throughout the show. So, and of course she is, it's Michelle Pfeiffer.
Chris: Her gambling addiction is toned down in the film, which was fine, but definitely was a part of the story that hiding her gambling addiction from her husband, her new husband.
Jordyn: well and and her drinking and her like general yeah
Chris: Yeah. The fake persona that she created.
Sarah-Daye McDougall: I had met
Jordyn: But that, sorry, that like that speaks to like the broader like theme of the story. Like as a woman, like you, you do what you have to do to survive.
Jordyn: And so like what Cheyenne feels like, she feels like she has to be that in order to have husband to take care of her as she continues to get older. And like she needs somebody to help, you know.
Jordyn: help her not just be living hand to mouth for the rest of her life. And so like that mirror of like, that's her version of doing what she has to do for, to provide for herself and her family versus Margo's version, know, doing only fans of what she has to do to provide for herself and her family is a nice mirror that I just thought of.
Jordyn: So sorry to cut you off.
Chris: Yeah, definitely.
Sarah-Daye McDougall: no I was just gonna mention that had texted you guys this but Michelle Pfeiffer is upper 60s and the character is supposed to be also a young mom so she should only be like in her 30s because she was a teen mom and now Margot is a teen mom so she's actually like Michelle Pfeiffer is a normal grandparent age but in the book Cheyenne was much like half her age basically
Jordyn: Yeah, I think she's supposed be like late 30s, like early 40s maybe because Margo's 19. And yeah, Cheyenne was probably 18 or 19 when she had her. So yeah, 40-ish.
Sarah-Daye McDougall: Yeah. And they don't really make a comment.
Chris: And yet Michelle Fiverr pulls it off.
Jordyn: She looks fabulous.
Sarah-Daye McDougall: Yeah.
Sarah-Daye McDougall: And they don't really mention her age or anything. They don't even think they said, you know, she had her young in the show, but it was just interesting that I wonder why Michelle Pfeiffer got the role over a younger actress.
Jordyn: Yeah. I wonder which came first, Michelle Pfeiffer or Nick Offerman? Because if Nick Offerman is the dad, you kind of have to have him and, you know, whoever's, Jinx and whoever's playing Cheyenne kind of be similar age.
Sarah-Daye McDougall: True.
Jordyn: And so, like, did they really, really want Michelle Pfeiffer or did they really, really want Nick Offerman and then have to, like, find somebody to match?
Sarah-Daye McDougall: If I had to guess, it's Nick Offerman first.
Jordyn: Yeah.
Sarah-Daye McDougall: And he is a great, okay, so next character, Jinx, Margo's father, played by Nick Offerman.
Jordyn: Yeah.
Chris: I would love to see the chemistry tests, like the casting chemistry tests between each these characters too. I mean, we saw it on screen, but it would have been cool to get a little behind the scenes and see how that all went in a casting room. Because I'm guessing the fact that Elle was narrator and she's been so attached this book, I'm guessing she's been...
Chris: a big part of all this so I'm sure there was chemistry tests between every character and her but yeah Jinx was great he was a standout in the show a standout in the book I thought this character was so well written with his complexities I think that Nick Offerman can pull off that you know Both the fatherly figure, the drug addict, the wrestling, you know, fame, but he, he manages to bring all these things together so well.
Chris: And I love him. Like everything he does, I'm, I'm excited about.
Sarah-Daye McDougall: Yeah, he's a phenomenal actor.
Chris: So.
Sarah-Daye McDougall: Yeah.
Jordyn: yeah and again like taking complex character who like does bad things but showing the humanity of them like you don't he you know the big scene is like he's od'd on heroin in the bathtub it's like you don't start with heroin, like you start with a back injury from being a pro wrestler and being given.
Sarah-Daye McDougall: Right.
Jordyn: Drugs by a doctor to manage your pain. And then you just keep going down that slippery slope until that's where you end up. And like taking something again, like so stigmatized, like drug addiction, like, you they're terrible people, they're this, they're that, like all these assumptions and showing like, no, like this was a guy who just was He just loved wrestling and he was just trying to do his job.
Jordyn: And he's just here trying to help his daughter that he, you know, abandoned for most of her life because he had quote unquote real family, know?
Sarah-Daye McDougall: Right. Yeah,
Jordyn: And so like, he's trying to fix things. He's trying to make things right. He's trying to be a good father, a good grandfather and take care of Bodhi. And he's so great with Bodhi. And there's also this, you know, darkness about him.
Jordyn: And so again, Nick Offerman, like really taking all of the,
Jordyn: epic highs and lows of humanity and bringing it into this one person, this one character, like he absolutely crushed it.
Chris: Honestly, when he showed up with the check and just no questions asked, here's, you as much as I can give you, can try to get more, but I'm here. Here's the money. You asked for it. Here it Was like, okay, I'm sold on you.
Chris: You are a great dad. You've been gone, but you're here for her.
Jordyn: Mm-hmm.
Chris: You're giving her the money that nobody else would give her.
Jordyn: Mm-hmm.
Chris: I'm here. I'm in it. I'm into it.
Jordyn: Yeah.
Sarah-Daye McDougall: One thing I noticed is, and correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't remember this in the book, but the relationship between Cheyenne and Jinx, he did want to rekindle something in the book and the show. But in the show, it seemed like Michelle was questioning, mean, sorry, Cheyenne was questioning her relationship.
Sarah-Daye McDougall: decisions and her relationship with Kenneth, you know, and like could still see some love that she had for Jinx. But I don't remember it being that strong in the book. And like she was very determined in her relationship with Kenneth in the book.
Jordyn: Yeah.
Chris: The way I read it was that she, have loved to get, like, if he'd shown up just before the engagement instead of right afterwards, she would have went with him right away. He was, he's like her, you know, will always come back to that, relationship sort person, but because she has the financial stability she's getting with this, uh, with, Kenny, uh, it's, uh,
Chris: made it a hard decision for her to choose to leave that because she's finally getting what she needs out of life. Jinx was the fun, the excitement, the person she wants to be with, and Kenny's the safe choice.
Sarah-Daye McDougall: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Chris: So that's how I read that part at least.
Jordyn: Yeah, I think with the changes they made to Kenny and the show and like some of the actions that were taken that got swapped between him and Cheyenne, it definitely makes more sense in the show that she's questioning a lot more if she made the right choice. But like book version of Cheyenne, yeah, like based on what she does and her owning this particular action that I'm referring to, that version of Cheyenne it doesn't question she's for sure with Kenny she's like turned that corner she's not thinking about Jinx anymore but because that I think that action is fundamental to her character in the book in the show and because that action is taken from her and given to Kenny in the show like that that creates a lot of the like uncertainty and so I'm interested in season two
Sarah-Daye McDougall: Sure.
Jordyn: what they do with Cheyenne and Kenny's relationship and if it basically if it lasts because of that change that was made.
Sarah-Daye McDougall: We can skip down to Kenny since we're talking about him. So this is Cheyenne's fiance and he is played by Greg Kinnear.
Jordyn: I thought
Chris: Boring.
Sarah-Daye McDougall: Boring.
Jordyn: A little bit. I thought show version of Kenny, again, was a lot more complex and deep. And like there was moments where like in the book, I was like, yeah, this is such a stereotype of what a non-churchgoing non-Christian person thinks a church-going Christian is like.
Jordyn: And so I was like trying to like not be offended by it, but I was like, that's so like reductive of like what it means to be a Christian and like go to church and like participate in that, in that, you know, space.
Chris: But in a lot of ways, I think that was the point is he actually was that person.
Jordyn: Yes.
Chris: He was, he wasn't, they weren't trying to portray him that way.
Jordyn: Right.
Sarah-Daye McDougall: Yeah.
Chris: He was actually that acting that way. And that's what in the book and the thing.
Jordyn: Totally.
Chris: So I agree with you though.
Jordyn: Totally. Totally.
Chris: Yeah, it was meant to be very much that appearance of that person. And yeah, that's, it worked in that way for me.
Jordyn: Yeah. So I really, yeah. So I really struggled in the book because was like annoyed at him. I'm like, that's not how like Christians are supposed to act. Like that's not very Christ-like of you, bro.
Jordyn: Like what are you doing? And then in the show, like there were so many scenes that I was like impressed. I was like, my gosh, look at Kenny. Like look at that. That's Christ-like love. That's Christ-like forgiveness.
Jordyn: believed that version more. The book felt like there's no way. I didn't like how it went down in the book as much as the show, so I actually really liked that change.
Sarah-Daye McDougall: But I do think the book is very believable. Like I'm sure that there's mothers that have done that to their children their grandchildren, you know, and that's what makes it so emotional and like why you get so mad at her when you find out she's the one that did it.
Jordyn: Yeah. Oh, absolutely.
Chris: Absolutely.
Jordyn: Yeah. Yeah. I guess it's, it's unbelievable. It's really, it was really hard for me to get into it. And it's unbelievable to me personally, because like my mommy would never, and like, I, I, am so blessed that I am not in the position that Margo is in.
Sarah-Daye McDougall: Right. Right.
Jordyn: I haven't had the struggles of, you know, single parent and like, you know, being close to poverty my whole life. Like I, that's not been my experience. So I can never like fully understand what it's like for Margo, for Cheyenne, for Jinx, like to be in the situations that they're in.
Jordyn: Cause that's just not my life. So all that being said though, like I said, you at the beginning, like I came out of it with, you know, a, a deeper understanding and deeper respect for people who do have to, like where this is their life and you're right there are probably you know just to stop beating around the bush there probably mothers who have called cps on their own kids because their kids they believe that their kids are irresponsible parents to their grandkids and so you know book cheyenne it makes sense for her character, like we said, like I said, and I still hated it.
Jordyn: I didn't like because I'm like, as a mother, like, how could you ever do that?
Sarah-Daye McDougall: Of course not. Yeah. Mm-hmm.
Jordyn: You know, but then in the show, them giving that to Kenny and having Kenny be the one to call, it's like, still disappointing and frustrating because you want to you're as a viewer you're supporting Margo you're on Margo's side but at least like well you know her mother didn't do that to her it was somebody else and so that like it was that was a lot more comfortable for me I think
Sarah-Daye McDougall: Okay, moving on to the catalyst of this whole story, Mark Gable played by Michael Angarno and this is the professor that has the affair with Marco and knocks her up.
Jordyn: hate this guy in both versions.
Sarah-Daye McDougall: Agreed.
Chris: I think the performance was really well done. think that the movie version of him, just this quiet, mousy, you know, slimy guy that takes advantage of students.
Jordyn: Yes.
Sarah-Daye McDougall: Yeah.
Chris: I think he gained a little perspective through the whole thing. And by the end, I'm like, okay, maybe this guy's not the worst person in the world, but definitely made some bad calls.
Chris: I think he came from that, you just thought he could get away with anything because he came from money. He came from, he thought that mommy will fix whatever I have going So I think that he could be a really interesting character in a season two.
Chris: If he sticks around, if he, you know, how is that, how that relationship is going to go going forward with him being Bodhi's life. and maybe that's the way they'll go with it is a little more of that, uh, actual, uh, their story instead.
Sarah-Daye McDougall: Co-parenting, yeah.
Chris: Parenting, co-parenting, uh, that all shakes out.
Jordyn: Yeah.
Chris: So I'm interested. I think the guy, the actor did fine and, uh, could really move forward as a good, good character in the ensemble.
Jordyn: Yeah. His mother, Mark's mother was played, Elizabeth Gable, she was played by Marcia Gay Harden. She gave a great performance as well. I hated her.
Sarah-Daye McDougall: Yeah.
Chris: And you're as you're supposed to.
Sarah-Daye McDougall: Yeah.
Jordyn: But I think like, as you're supposed to, she like, she got a lot more personality and a lot more like time in the show than she did in the book.
Chris: Yep.
Jordyn: And so I think like a lot of the ire that I had at Mark from, the book like went to her instead.
Jordyn: he like, he's such like you said, he's mousy.
Jordyn: He's like, he's a coward. He's just such a wiener. And he also a predator mind you, like I know she was 19, but like he's a predator.
Jordyn: yeah,
Jordyn: a great performance because I hated him. So that's always when you know that it's a great performance, you're like, I hated that guy.
Chris: Exactly.
Jordyn: And it's like, because the actor did a great job of making me hate that guy. So yeah. That's all.
Sarah-Daye McDougall: Yeah, you mentioned Marsha Gayhardy Harden and her role was a lot bigger in the show than it was in the book, but still just as gross.
Sarah-Daye McDougall: The whole family.
Sarah-Daye McDougall: Okay, Susie, her roommate and best friend is played by Thaddea Graham.
Chris: I loved this performance. She did so good, both in the book and the film. She was a great character, but I loved seeing all the cosplay, all the way she just jumps in to support her friend or roommate and wants to be a part of, you know, helping her in any way she can.
Sarah-Daye McDougall: Yeah.
Chris: The way she loves Jinx as just wrestling fan. I think the book did a better job of showing that, but the fact that she just gets along with Jinx in the film works fine. And that's just, you know, they're buddies.
Chris: They, until, you know, he, relapse and then she has that fear moment that she has to kind of contend with and I think that worked well too but yeah loved this performance
Jordyn: Yeah, I think Susie is a great character. And like, that's the type of friend that I think we should all try to be is like, your your friend is going through the ringer and she's get life is just knocking her out left and right.
Sarah-Daye McDougall: Mm-hmm.
Jordyn: And you're just right there by her side. Like, yep, I'll babysit the baby. I'll, you know, help drag your OD dad out of the bathtub. And like, like she's, she's a true like ride or die friend.
Jordyn: And I think, you know, because the show gets to explore more of like her site, her point of view of things, her and Jinx have a really relationship. you know, it's a very brief interaction, but it's a really meaningful interaction, at the, towards the end of the show.
Jordyn: And he like apologizes to her and she's like, do you really scared me? Like they have like a love where like, you know, she's kind of another daughter for him. he's a father figure to her too.
Jordyn: And so I really, I really love the Susie character. and Thaddea did a great job playing her.
Sarah-Daye McDougall: Yeah, I think across the board, the show characters are just
Jordyn: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Sarah-Daye McDougall: characters like Susie like they made her they you know especially changing Cheyenne's character to be a little bit more supportive and well-rounded you know balances the everything that like they that whole family unit balances the mark unit that is you know the antagonist of the story Except Becca, not a fan.
Jordyn: Frick Becca.
Sarah-Daye McDougall: Yeah. The long distance bestie, but not really bestie because she sucks, played by Sasha Diamond.
Jordyn: it's a very minor role in the show and the book. So it's whatever, but think they changed it where like she actually, she actively tells people that Margo does only fans right at that party.
Sarah-Daye McDougall: Mm hmm.
Sarah-Daye McDougall: I don't remember that. I felt like she was still doxxed and she just didn't like hide it.
Jordyn: Well, she was doxxed. I thought that they went to the party with their old friends from high school and Becca was telling people, because it's somebody that Margot knew personally who was the one who doxxed her.
Sarah-Daye McDougall: Oh, maybe.
Jordyn: So it has been a while since I saw that episode and even longer since I read the book.
Sarah-Daye McDougall: It's been a while for me.
Jordyn: But... Going along this thought, assuming I'm right and Becca did actively tell somebody that Margot does OnlyFans, screw Becca. Because if you...
Jordyn: You can be judgmental, I suppose, like if you really feel that in your heart that that's an appropriate thing to But there's a big difference between like you personally not supporting a choice that somebody makes and you putting their choices on blast for everybody to judge. And especially something like OnlyFans, which is so heavily stigmatized and like looked down upon by society for her to do that. Like to me, like that is like a truly thing.
Jordyn: act and like you gain nothing by it there's nobody that like even like Kenny calling CPS or in the book Cheyenne calling CPS like they can at least kind of justify it by saying that they're worried about Bodhi's safety which like still feels like a cop out but like I can rationalize with that.
Jordyn: I can't rationalize with giving somebody's true identity out to the evilness of the internet, especially again, like doing something like OnlyFans. So like Becca to me, like is the least redeemable person.
Jordyn: And I'm really glad that they kind of wrote her out. And Margot was like, screw you, I'm not going to have you in my life after what you did. And I don't think Margot should ever forgive her, to be honest, because that's not like you can forgive.
Sarah-Daye McDougall: Agreed.
Jordyn: I lied. You should forgive people, but you should never let her back into your life if you're Margot. So.
Chris: it definitely actively put her and her child in danger. And that is definitely not okay. Although, know, a resumption arc there could be an interesting season two thing where that person comes back actually, uh, well, you remorseful and knowing what they did. And you, you could do that one and you could have this character learn and, you know, figure things out. I don't think that's the way you should go, but I think that, could be a way you keep the story going too is that she has to learn to let these things go and move forward with people in her lives and she you know can make those decisions but yes Becca was a very small part of the story so it didn't really matter but other than that one moment where she causes this big rift in the story.
Sarah-Daye McDougall: So now we're on our first gender swap and big character change. Larry is the lawyer in the book, but in the show we have Lace, who is another ex-pro wrestler that Jinx knows. And Lace is played by Nicole Kinman.
Jordyn: I think Nicole Kidman just wanted a role in the show that she was producing. Which is fine because, like, it doesn't really matter if the lawyer is a man or a woman.
Chris: Justify it.
Jordyn: I kind of like her having a personal connection to Margot and, like, wanting to help her as a person because she's friends with Jinx and, like, she knew Margot, you know, a little bit when she was a kid.
Jordyn: So I like that extra layer of, like, why she's so invested in helping. But yeah, I think Nicole Kidman just really wanted to be part of this cast. And so if you're the producer, can do whatever you want.
Sarah-Daye McDougall: course.
Jordyn: So good for you.
Chris: I kind of liked the pro wrestler turned lawyer, know, movement versus, you know, you see that transition versus Jinx just, know, kind of struggling after his time as a wrestler to figure out he's aimless, whereas she went and got a, you know, new job, new career, and became this powerful person in the world of law instead of just being stagnant. So,
Jordyn: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Chris: I think it shows a good character. And yeah, I think Nicole Kidman did a great job with it. I think she's a fun person to put on the other side of Elle Fanning. And I think that they had a lot of fun with it. So I'm happy with it.
Sarah-Daye McDougall: it was funny because of course I had seen trailers for this before I had started or finished the book and like I said earlier I was reading the book while I'm watching the show and like I the scene where it's Michelle Pfeiffer Elle Fanning and Nicole Kidman to get into the elevator together I don't think it's I think it's when they're meeting with Elizabeth Gable I can't quite remember but the whole time I'm reading the book I'm waiting for this character I'm like I wonder who Nicole Kidman's playing oh I wonder who Nicole Kidman's playing and then finally like I get through the show and like okay so she was just the lawyer that Larry
Jordyn: Mm-hmm.
Sarah-Daye McDougall: But yeah, enjoyed her as the lawyer. I think you guys are right. Like making it another female character that does have that connection to her was a good call.
Chris: And in a book with a lot of female power, you know, the empowerment and all that stuff, I think it made for a good, another good element of that.
Sarah-Daye McDougall: Right.
Sarah-Daye McDougall: Sure. Okay, the last two characters are Casey, known Wang Mangler, and Rose, known as Sucklint Rose. These are the other OnlyFan creators that Margo teams up with and they create, you know, the Hungry Ghost videos together. These girls are played by Rico Nasty and Lindsay Normington.
Chris: Honestly, I liked the book versions better. I thought that they had more, a more interesting dynamic, but it was fine for the screen. you know, it brought, uh, what she was trying to do to life and definitely gave her, some act against there and to work with, meant that they were fine.
Chris: They actually, they, they, the actresses didn't give me any, I didn't not like them, but, uh, they were just characters that were there. So.
Sarah-Daye McDougall: Right.
Jordyn: Yeah, same. They were pretty minor roles. I did like how they had a Legally Blonde moment where they got to come into the courthouse to support her at the end.
Sarah-Daye McDougall: Yes.
Chris: That was fun.
Sarah-Daye McDougall: hmm.
Jordyn: don't think that is in line with... book version of the characters but I like that change that they you know again like kind of rounding out the rough edges of the characters the way that the show did with most of the of them like that they got to have that little moment like oh my gosh there's Elle she's doing it like know go to go you go girl and being supportive like i thought and again like in this story of like women and like the struggles that women go through but also like the support that they offer like susie being a friend and like cheyenne's character and lace like you know just showing that like women supporting women like that aspect of it
Sarah-Daye McDougall: Yeah.
Sarah-Daye McDougall: Any other final thoughts on our characters or their character arcs?
Chris: Not at this point.
Sarah-Daye McDougall: All right. Well, that wraps up part one of our Margo's Got Money Troubles discussion next week. We'll come back and talk about the plot. So stay tuned. If you haven't read or watched, go do that in the next week and we'll see you next week.
Jordyn: Bye.
