Margo’s Got Money Troubles Recap: Close Encounters of the Online Kind

Margo’s Got Money Troubles
Grudge Match
Season 1 Episode 6
Editor’s Rating ★★★★
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As Margo left Vegas last week, she told her dad that she wanted to sink her teeth into a big art project. And voilà! Here it is! Margo has been dreaming up what she wants her HungryGhost persona to look like, and now the little alien figure in the intro makes oh-so-much sense.

The episode kicks off with Margo’s first concept video. It has the feel of when MTV music videos were actually good (yes, I’m old) as it rapidly sets the stage and then deconstructs that stage just as quickly. As people stream into a theater advertising the world premiere of the HungryGhost, a giant alien begins to wander into the frame. With gentle footsteps, she explores the terrain, poking her head into the theater with an inquisitive tilt. She intones, “I’ve crawled inside your phone. Feed me memes and tinfoil and old-timey film strips. Give me your boredom, your sadness, your anxieties, I will eat it all.” Oh, wow. Do you promise? That whole deal sounds better than Xanax. Sign me up. 

The introduction to Margo’s newly formed persona is striking in how beautiful and simple it is. Margo is technically alien to this new OnlyFans planet, and the idea that her character would be a virgin to everything is not only on brand for the sexy-times content she’s creating, it’s also how she’s approaching her own life. Sure, she’s naïve about the world around her and the situation she’s gotten herself into, but she’s also curious about life and insatiable to learn more. HungryGhost’s story is just beginning, and so is Margo’s. 

Throughout the episode, we see that Margo has a small but fierce team dedicated to bringing her vision to life. Her HungryGhost videos illustrate that she definitely has a knack for nuggetlike, vertical storytelling. KC, Rose, Jinx, and Susie throw themselves with abandon into creating the clips, which all celebrate the same naïve sensibility. In one, she reaches for a bag of cheddar Sun Chips with a shaky silver hand in a move that recalls E.T.’s iconic Reese’s Pieces scene. In another, she discovers music for the first time. This is the video that ends up propelling her to viral fame. But being an online celebrity is not all it’s cracked up to be; it might even put herself and her family in danger. 

Before we get to Margo’s unfortunate (and, let’s face it, inevitable) doxxing, let’s survey her support system. Jinx’s mental health is rapidly devolving, and I continue to be very worried about him. When he has a purpose, like helping Margo with her story line and stunt moves for her videos, he seems happy and light. Yet when he’s confronted with the fact that he cannot protect his daughter against the cruel world, he spirals. 

Jinx is served with a restraining order, and this is the first that Margo learns about his “visit” to Mark. She is appalled, and Jinx is immediately contrite. He realizes that this did not help Margo, and he goes to visit Lace in order to discuss the situation. She can immediately sense that something is going on with him. It feels like Margo should also be clocking that her dad is in distress at this point, but she has a lot going on and, honestly, she doesn’t know him as well as Lace does. That is his fault, and he’s very aware of that. His regrets as to how he treated both Margo and Shyanne are on full display in Lace’s office as he admits that he went to Vegas with the hopes that he could win Shyanne back. Lace, for her part, is a bit sad to hear that because she thought his call meant that she and Jinx were going to revisit the summer of ’99. Scandalous! I’m living for the happy, flirty Nicole Kidman character here, and I’m secretly glad the episode ends with Margo getting in legal hot water, mostly so we can continue to see Lace grace our screen with her effervescent competence. (They’d be fools not to call her to help with that custody order.) 

It seems pretty clear that Jinx is drowning in regrets. When Margo’s identity is eventually revealed online and she and Jinx go to talk to Shyanne, Jinx is fully ready for Kenny to be the bad guy. Instead, Kenny surprises everyone (!) by sweetly comparing Margo to Mary Magdalene — for what it’s worth, I was not as offended by this comparison as Margo was — and then telling her that he will do anything that it takes to help her in her time of need. Shyanne visibly melts a little in the background, and Jinx begins vibrating with rage and self-hatred. It’s clear that he thought this interaction was going to go another way. 

Susie, on the other hand, continues to be a perfect delight. My one qualm with the otherwise fantastic character development on this show is that Susie is getting shortchanged around every corner. I know that the narrative is supposed to focus on Margo, but she’s effectively folded Susie into her found family, and she’s not treating her well at all. The show is also not treating her well. Thaddea Graham is luminous and magnetic as Susie — I sooo want to be her friend! — but we don’t know much about her other than she’s still attending college, she likes wrestling and cosplay, and … that’s pretty much it. It’s clear that Susie is just delighted to be included — her earnest comment that this was the best year of her life kind of broke my heart — but I’m begging the show to give her more of an interior life. This is an ensemble that showcases some of the most fully realized characters on TV in recent memory, so we know they can do it. Also, Margo needs to treat her friend better! Susie is now babysitting for free (and often), and she’s an important part of the creative process in the HungryGhost videos. Margo does mention that she’ll be paying her for the latter, but still. Treat your friends the way you’d like to be treated, Margo.

Speaking of friends, Margo gets into trouble by following her friend Becca to a local New Year’s Eve party. As we recall, Becca is the friend that Margo threw in the toilet (via FaceTime) when she recommended that Margo put Bodhi in a foster home. This was the correct reaction on Margo’s part, but Becca’s reappearance also underscores the fact that Margo isn’t really a great friend. She never asks about others and only wants to talk about herself. Also, once Margo gets outed at the party she and Becca are at, Becca screams after her that Mark targeted her because she “radiates fucking daddy issues.” (Jinx’s response from the driver’s seat of the car, a monotone, “Hi, Becca,” is pretty funny.) Margo certainly needs to work on a lot of things, but Becca definitely doesn’t seem like a friend who is capable of helping her through this time in her life. (See: Susie. See also: Treating Susie better.) 

Margo’s identity reveal triggers a DEFCON 5 situation for Mark’s mother. She goes down to his office, repeatedly calls him a pussy, and then presumably puts the custody paperwork into action. Mark has his hands full with his own kids and a possible divorce from his wife, so this bid for custody is more to punish Margo than it is for him to gain time with Bodhi. Either way, the idea that someone could lose their child for having a relatively tame OnlyFans page seems ridiculous on the surface, but it feels like Margo could lose everything. Let’s hope friend-of-the-family Lace can get down in the courtroom just as well as she can in the ring. 

Tip Menu

• HungryGhost’s assertion that she’d take away all her viewers’ anxieties and sadness reminded me of Kamilah Al-Jamil plucking Chidi’s fears from his aura in The Good Place. It’s a fun thought that someone might have such power!

• When Margo goes out with Becca, she says, “It’s always strange being away from Bodhi.” As a mom of small children, I can definitely agree with this statement. Whenever your children aren’t with you, it’s like a tiny piece of your heart is separated from your body. It’s weird and disconcerting, especially when you have a tiny baby at home.

• There’s a scene where Susie and Jinx are decorating the Christmas tree, and he gets really focused on putting the tinsel on one strand at a time. The camera pauses on him as he grins a spacey grin and stares into the colorful lights. He’s totally high here, right? Has Jinx relapsed in plain sight? Or is he just California sober?