Colman Domingo Drives Phenomenally Entertaining ‘The Madness’ | TV/Streaming

Netflix waited until Thanksgiving to release its best original series since “Ripley” earlier this year, a thriller of a very different kind with another riveting performance from the incredible Colman Domingo. A deftly modern take on The Fugitive, The Madness is a show about a television journalist who was part of our increasingly mad discourse before finding himself caught up in an increasingly dangerous nightmare. Domingo is joined by a phenomenal ensemble that includes one of the best performances by the timeless John Ortiz, a great Deon Cole, a captivating Alison Wright, a sharp Bradley Whitford and numerous excellent character actors such as Stephen McKinley Henderson (also excellent in the others). End of 24 Netflix original “A Man on the Inside”). The cast was drawn to a propulsive thriller that fits the binge model perfectly, as each episode ends with another twist/cliffhanger. It will be difficult to turn it off in the right way.

The premiere of “The Madness,” directed by the great Clement Virgo (“Brother”), who also directs the second and final episodes, introduces us to Domingo’s Muncie Daniels, a CNN anchor with an ex-wife (Marsha Stephanie Blake). ) and relatively estranged children named Kallie (Gabrielle Graham) and Demetrius (Thaddeus J. Mixson). To get away from it all, he rents a cabin in the Poconos where he works on his book and can relax. Not far from the forest he notices a neighbor who says to come over if he needs anything.

One day his power goes out, so he accepts his neighbor’s offer and finds his mutilated body. Daniels is attacked by the person who beat up the guy next door and has to fight for his life, but things get even worse when he comes home and finds he’s been framed for the crime. You see, the victim was a leader of a Proud Boys-style white power movement, and the police assume Daniels was playing his racist ass. Can Muncie clear his name and find out who actually committed the crime?

Muncie initially tries to find out more about the victim, bringing his ex-wife Lucie (an excellent Tamsin Topolski) into the mix. The investigation leads him to uncover connections between the racist organization and the power centers in Philly and DC. It becomes pretty clear that Muncie is dealing with something much bigger than a single crime, and that the people who want to frame him have the overwhelming power to do anything, even manipulate the media institutions that made him famous. When Whitford appears as a slimy power player, the waters Muncie tries to swim in become even more choppy, but it’s the arrival of Alison Wright from “The Americans” that really takes “The Madness” to another level. She’s one of the scariest villains on a show in years.

Everyone in The Madness is solid, especially great character actors like Ortiz and Henderson, but the show really belongs to Domingo, who is so remarkably good at being in the moment. We believe in his increasing fear and his counteracting determination to protect himself and his family. The plot, by Stephen Belber, a playwright who wrote the original stage version of Richard Linklater’s excellent “Tape,” is crisp for nearly eight hours. (The final hour falters a bit when it comes to “what it all means” in relation to our current state of media and political manipulation, but that’s just a minor criticism.) One of the many commendable things about this excellent thriller is his ruthlessness, reflected in his willingness to kill characters unexpectedly sooner than the audience would expect. It’s a series about dangerous people who go to great lengths to keep their corpses hidden, and the writers don’t sugarcoat the danger like many streaming thrillers do.

Courtesy of Virgo and the other directors, it’s also a sharply made show, even if it sometimes succumbs to the underlighting that has become a Netflix epidemic. That’s forgivable, because the plot is so breakneck and the editing is so precise that you don’t get as much out of it as the typically bloated Netflix production.

Above all, “The Madness” is another reminder of the range and power of Colman Domingo, who was nominated for an Oscar last year for “Rustin” and hopefully again this year for “Sing Sing.” A thriller like The Madness only works if we believe in its protagonist’s journey, and Domingo completely sells it. We’re not just rooting for him to succeed, we’re on this ride with him, strapped into the roller coaster, just as terrified as he is by each subsequent twist and turn.

The holidays can be a stressful time that can drive anyone crazy. Watch a different kind of “Madness” this year and maybe Netflix will make more shows like this, a thriller that’s actually gripping, and a program that treats its audience like intelligent adults and not just escape seekers on the Looking for something to put in the theaters are background as they scroll to doom. It’s sad to say, but this statement will make you put down the phone and pay attention. Madness, indeed.

Full season screened for review. Now on Netflix.