Netflix's The Madness features some twists and turns that will leave audiences' jaws on the floor.
Starring Colman Domingo as Muncie Daniels, the series (which was filmed largely in Canada) centers on Domingo's central CNN pundit who is put at the center of a murderous plot after being framed for the death of a famous white supremacist.
Steaming now on Netflix, the series is eight episodes long and has no confirmation of any sort of follow-up on the horizon despite hopes from its stars pointing to the contrary.
The Biggest Plot Points from The Madness
The Madness on Netflix puts Colman Domingo's Muncie Daniels in the spotlight as a CNN pundit who, after stumbling upon a dead body in the Poconos, becomes the primary suspect in a crime that he did not commit.
The series is kept afloat by its incredible twists and turns, all of which culminate in a shocking Season 1 ending.
Mark Simon Is Murdered
The Madness does not take long to get going as Colman Domingo's Muncie Daniels is quickly implicated in the murder of one Mark Simon.
In Episode 1, Muncie is quickly introduced to Mark as the leader of a prominent white supremacist group who he crosses paths with while in the Poconos. What is notable is that Muncie, a black man, has been seen in the past speaking on racial issues in America and even has ties to the civil rights group Black Lives Matter.
Things quickly go awry though as Mark Simon is murdered early in the series, with Muncie being the one to report finding the body of his neighbor in the Pocanos chopped into pieces during a power outage.
Seeing as Muncie was the one to find Mark's body, suspicions are pinned on him by authorities, as some believe he may have been the one behind the killing.
Mark's death pushes Muncie into further investigating the now-dead man, where he discovers that he was tied to a white supremacist movement known as The Forge.
While this starts a feeling of constantly being cornered for Muncie seen throughout the series, it also introduces one of his biggest supporters. A journalist and social commentator named Laura Jennings (played by Bri Neal) is one of the first to speak out and claim Muncie is innocent, believing Mark suffered a heart attack.
However, despite Laura's best efforts, Muncie is far from being in the clear. Evidence begins to mount implicating him in Mark Simon's death, including Mark's watch being found in Muncie's car and blood splatter on the vehicle.
Muncie Is Forced To Go on the Run
Being seen as a suspect in Mark Simon's death sends Muncie on the run. Shortly after he is first implicated in Simon's death, fabricated news is published publicly, saying that Simon's body had been found in Muncie's apartment.
This puts Muncie's face all over the news and takes this from something that was happening behind the scenes to a nationwide story.
As a result of this spotlight, Muncie is from his home and sent on the road. The former CNN commentator considers fleeing the country but ultimately decides it best to stay in the U.S.
He, of all things, hands himself over to the police, telling them he is willing to work with them if it means bringing Mark's real killer to justice in the process.
Things do not look good though, as a man Muncie was forced to stab in self-defense in Episode 1 is revealed to have been a part of Simon's security detail At the same time police discover Muncie had been looking into Mark's Forge pseudo name, Brother14, several months earlier.
While Muncie is now in the hands of the authorities and wants to help, these new facts potentially give the powers more evidence pointing to him being the murderer everyone says he is.
Revitalize Is at the Center of the Murder
Coming in Episode 5, it is revealed that the mysterious Stu Magnusson is attached to Mark Simon's murder, and Muncie may even think he is behind everything.
It turns out that Magnusson was the owner of the cabin where Mark was eventually found dead, but a specific case for why/how he would kill the Forge leader could not be made by anyone who tried.
In trying to use Magnusson to rope in the true killer Muncie discovers that Stu had been making unlisted payments to Mark for months before his murder, with his exact intention being kept a mystery.
This eventually leads Muncie to meet with Magnusson wearing a wire to potentially bring Magnusson down. While Muncie has convinced himself that Stu is the one behind this conspiracy to frame the CNN pundit, that does not seem to be the case.
Magunssion is revealed to have had some nefarious dealings with Mark Simon in the past but is nowhere near the top of this food chain.
The team cannot get much more out of Magnusson though, as another of Mark's associates, Don Sloss, arrives shooting up the meeting and killing Magnusson in the process.
Rodney Kraintz Is the True Culprit
It does not take long for the true culprit behind this conspiracy to show his face though.
Throughout the series to this point a mysterious group known as Revitalize had been mentioned several times, with a woman named Linda (eventually revealed to actually be named Julia) calling at least some of the shots into what happened to Mark Simon.
Revitalize is a powerful American group of businessmen and women seeking to control environmental deregulation and using powerful right-leaning contingents like The Forge to do so.
As Stu got caught up in the murder of Mark Simon, Julia ordered him dead, but she was clearly not the one calling the shots. Sitting above her as one of the majority shareholders behind Revitalize is Rodney Kraintz.
Rodney was behind Mark's death the whole time. The powerful business magnate has been using Revitalize to fund disinformation campaigns to influence American politics; however, Mark Simon was seemingly going to expose this, so Revitalize had to order him killed, with Muncie simply being collateral damage to that.
Muncie Refuses To Kill Kraintz, But He Dies Anyway
After learning Rodney Kraintz was the one to put Muncie through this, Colman Domingo's leading man does eventually come face to face with the dastardly kingpin.
Muncie is given the chance to kill Rodney in a final confrontation, but he refuses to sink to the level of his fiendish foe. Instead, he leaves firing a show at one of Kraintz's data servers, asking that he just be left out of whatever game of politico Kraintz and The Forge have been playing.
However, Kraintz ends up dead nonetheless. After their meeting, Muncie tells one of the women who has been trying to help him crack the case, Lucie (played by Tasmin Topolski) everything he has learned.
Thinking this will mean Kraintz will be brought to justice, Muncie goes on with his life. Lucie, though, passes this information on to The Forge, which puts one of its high-ranking members, Bobby, onto the case, killing Kraintz as a result.
The Madness is now streaming on Netflix.
