Comedy
The Miniature Wife
In Peacock’s ‘The Miniature Wife,’ Les and Lindy Littlejohn’s big marriage problems become bigger when Lindy shrinks to be 6 inches small.
Margo is pro-choice.
I’m not speaking in a what-do-you-think-of-Planned-Parenthood pro-choice sort of way (though she may be that, too). Rather, Margo is pro-choice in the way that we all are: Our lives are built on choices, and we all like to make our own. Fish or chicken? Take this job or that one? Tell uncomfortable truths or smile and nod?
And Margo—like most young college students—is faced with a bevy of choices.
Choice One: Should I sleep with my college literature professor who complimented my writing? For Margo, that’s a resounding and oft-repeated yes.
Choice Two: When I discover I’m pregnant, should I keep the baby? Again—against the protestations of her mother, her friends and most especially that lit professor—Margo offers an unqualified, tearful yes.
Choice Three: Should I sell both my body and my writing wit online to pay for my son’s diapers?
Do we really need to tell you Margo’s choice here?
Kids, especially unexpected kids, bring boatloads of chaos to the families in which they arrive. Moms, especially single moms, always have their hands full. And Margo’s own mother, Shyanne—who, it must be noted, was a single mother herself—is not exactly encouraging.
“Life breaks people!” Shyanne shouts. “Nobody tells you that, and you won’t read that in those ‘What to Expect When You’re Expecting’ books. But this will break you.”
“I’m not broken!” Margo hollers back. And she’s not.
Sure, the birth of her son, Bodhi, definitely causes some unexpected cracks in Margo’s life and psyche. But Margo loves him without reserve. She’ll do anything for him—including serving herself up for the ogling subscribers on OnlyFans.
She has a few real-world backers in her corner, too.
Shyanne may mourn the future she might’ve imagined for Margo, but she’s still there for her daughter. In a pinch. (When Margo admits that she might not make it, Shyanne snaps back, “Don’t be ridiculous. You’re a mother. Mothers make it. … You don’t have a choice.”) But Shyanne’s got her own choice to make: Whether to marry Kenny, the responsible, unhip youth-group pastor at the local Episcopal church.
Margo’s roommate, Susie, has been surprisingly supportive. When Margo’s other two roomies bolted in the wake of the baby, Susie stayed put, offering babysitting help and some occasionally good advice.
Oh, and Margo’s father—a former pro wrestler who goes by the name Jinx—is back in the picture, too. He ran out on Shyanne and Margo when Margo was just a baby herself, but he’s here to make amends. And they all hope that Jinx’s history of drug abuse won’t get in the way.
Margo’s Got Money Troubles is simultaneously the best and worst show I’ve seen for a long, long time.
Let’s talk about the show’s positives first, beginning with its A-list cast. Starring Elle Fanning, Margo’s Got Money Troubles also features Michelle Pfeiffer, Nick Offerman, Greg Kinnear and Oscar-winner Nicole Kidman. All shine here—in large part because of the crackling, heartfelt writing at the story’s core.
And it’s the story’s emotional oomph that got me.
The show’s creators would probably argue that it’s not peddling a pro-life message—but it sure does push the notion that choosing life is a hard, beautiful decision. When Margo is presented with the possibility of ending her pregnancy, she says that it would be “terminating a life.” She knows that her own arrival was unplanned as well. And when Margo asks Shyanne whether she ruined her life, Shyanne says tenderly, “You ruined my life so pretty.”
And that gets at the truth of unplanned pregnancies, at least in my experience. When you welcome a new, very unexpected child into your world, all your plans go out the window. You become the subject of sadness and shame as you stare a terrifying future right in the eye.
But none of that sours the beauty and joy that comes with being a parent, that comes with choosing life. Margo gets it, and Margo’s Got Money Troubles is one of the few shows with the guts to say it.
But while the show honors its characters’ laudable choices, Margo’s Got Money Troubles still makes some unfortunate choices of its own.
Even before Margo dives into the world of web-based erotica, her breasts could well argue for their own credits in the cast list. They get far more screen time than many a supporting character. The show contains plenty of sex scenes (many played for laughs) before Bodhi comes into the picture. And as Margo dives into her OnlyFans business, she brings us into a world where she tries to make her fans’ prurient fantasies come to life.
In addition to those R-rated levels of skin, the show is mired in R-rated language, too. F-words are common and sometimes pervasive. Other curse words, ranging from the s-word to misuses of God’s name, can be frequent. Characters drink—sometimes a lot—and while Jinx would very much like to overcome his drug addiction, we’ll have to see if the show lets him.
Another open question: how Margo’s Got Money Troubles will ultimately deal with faith. Kenny says that God and church are an important part of his life—and he’d love to bring Shyanne into his religious orbit. Shyanne seems willing, but she also seems to believe that she must lie about who she is and what she does to fit in. That could form an interesting wrinkle, or it could be just an excuse to dismiss Christ and His followers as a bunch of clueless killjoys. Time will tell.
Not that we should take the time to find out. Margo’s Got Money Troubles has plenty of other troubles, too. Our choices define us—and that includes whether we, even as adults, will choose to watch this show.
(Editor’s Note: Plugged In is rarely able to watch every episode of a given series for review. As such, there’s always a chance that you might see a problem that we didn’t. If you notice content that you feel should be included in our review, send us an email at letters@pluggedin.com, or contact us via Facebook or Instagram, and be sure to let us know the episode number, title and season so that we can check it out.)
Flattered by the attentions of her literature professor, college freshman Margo quickly embarks on a full-blown affair with the guy. It’s not long before she discovers that she’s pregnant. Her prof, Mark, promises he’ll be there for her—as long as she gets an abortion.
When Margo resists the notion, Mark asks her if she’s Catholic. She’s not, but adds, “Terminating a life? That’s something to think about.”
“As is aborting your future, Margo,” Mark tells her.
Margo decides to keep her baby after hearing his heartbeat through an ultrasound. Her roommates feign happiness—though one huffs that “she’s supposedly a feminist. What message is she sending?” Meanwhile, Margo’s mother, Shyanne, mourns the life her daughter could’ve had. Margo was herself the result of an unplanned, out-of-wedlock pregnancy, so Shyanne knows what it’s like to be a very young, very unprepared mom.
“Will I love [my grandson]?” she says to Margo. “Of course. Just as I loved you from the day you were born. But no, I don’t celebrate this tragedy for one second. This life as you know it—no, check that, as you never got to know—is over.”
We see Mark and Margo in bed together, uncovered and fully naked. (Genitals are obscured by other body parts, but Margo’s breasts are fully visible.) We see several short segments illustrating the many, many times that the two had sex together. (Mark’s backside is visible in one such scene.) Later, after Margo becomes pregnant and Mark goes silent, she and Shyanne spot him in a mall parking lot—with his family. Margo had no idea that Mark was married, and she confronts him about this and a great many other things. (As they talk, Mark ogles Shyanne as she walks by.)
When Shyanne takes issue with Margo’s decision to keep her baby, Margo says, “You kept me,” noting that her own father was a guy who picked up Shyanne at Hooters. He was also apparently married, but he remained at least casually involved in Margo’s life as she grew up.
We see Margo frequently in her underwear. She sits on the toilet to take a pregnancy test. When Margo goes into a pregnancy center, the doctor tells her he’ll need to perform a transvaginal ultrasound. She quips back, using crude terminology, that she’s about to have sex with a robot.
A pregnant Margo vomits on a plate of nachos she was preparing to serve. When she gives birth, the camera goes into the delivery room and watches as the baby exits her womb.
Shyanne’s current beau, Kenny, is a pastor, and she wonders how to tell him about Margo’s pregnancy. When Shyanne and Kenny are together, he tells her that church is “obviously an important part of me. As are you. As is God.” And he adds, “I’d like to incorporate God more in the equation of us.” After this talk, Shyanne joins the church choir.
The f-word is used 10 times. We also hear one use of the s-word and about three of “a–.” God’s name is misused eight times, once with the word “d–n.”
Margo struggles to adjust to having a baby. Her son, Bodhi, isn’t eating well. He screams all the time. In the span of one day, Margo gets fired from her job and two of her roommates walk out on her, leaving her in quite the financial pickle. And her own mother offers very little help.
Meanwhile, Margo’s father—who seems to still go by his professional wrestling moniker, Jinx—gets released from rehab and picks up his phone for the first time in months, where he notices a bevy of unanswered texts from Margo. Though he had planned to head back east to live with his wife and other children, Jinx decides to change his plans. He sells his world championship wrestling belt in order to make the trip to California to see Margo.
Margo’s world is consumed with the issues inherent with being a new mother. She ices down her crotch (over her clothes) and asks when the stitches will be removed. She asks when that area of her body will return to normal, and her mother snaps, “Never.”
Breastfeeding is a constant frustration, and Margo tearfully describes how her newborn son treats her milk and what he’s doing to her breasts. We see her breasts on occasion.
But if Margo’s having a hard time with little Bodhi, Shyanne’s in even worse shape. Her attempt at babysitting goes horribly awry, and she worries that she’s an awful, unloving grandmother and wails that “I’m just terrible at everything except being pretty!”
Shyanne invites Margo out to dinner with her and Kenny. But she asks Margo to leave the baby at home, as she’s not told Kenny that Bodhi exists yet. Margo’s furious at the deception. But after Kenny’s told the truth, the three do go to Applebee’s together. When Margo expresses relief that the baby wasn’t an issue for Kenny, Kenny says that he goes to an Episcopal church. “We’re much more liberal than we’re given credit for,” he says, adding that “we’re all fallen creatures. The real test is what we do when those chickens come home to roost.” Kenny then asks for Margo’s blessing before proposing to Shyanne right then and there. “I would be honored if I could be the boring to your beautiful,” he says on bended knee. Shyanne accepts, but she also continues to lie to Kenny about her own less-than-spiritual habits. (She pretends to eschew alcohol, for instance.)
Desperate for money, Margo confronts Mark. “I would rather snorkel in my own vomit than beg you for money,” she begins, “so instead I’ve come to demand it.” She wants $3,000 to help pay the rent and keep Bodhi in diapers. Later, Mark’s mother calls, insinuating that Margo is extorting her son.
While changing Bodhi’s diaper, Margo gets a face full of feces from the little guy (who apparently wasn’t done defecating just yet). Someone drinks a beer. A still-working Margo serves a drink to a pianist. A motorcycle helmet bears the image of a marijuana leaf.
Characters say the f-word 10 times and the s-word about 5 times. We also hear “a–” once and seven misuses of God’s name.
Margo and her lone remaining roommate, Susie, find themselves deciding whether to allow Jinx to live with them.
While watching a female pro wrestling match, Jinx notes that one of the contestants used to be in his wrestling federation—before she was kicked out for also earning money on OnlyFans. Jinx mentions that the woman earned more on OnlyFans in a month than she made wrestling for a year. Susie points out that OnlyFans is “not just porn,” even though most of the self-generated content certainly runs to the ribald.
After this conversation, Margo—still searching for a way to pay the bills and sensing an opportunity with OnlyFans—investigates the site: We see a variety of scantily clad women offering to teach viewers a variety of skills. A couple of women on the site offer to insult a male fan’s genitalia for a $50 tip. (“That’s a whole pack of Huggies right there,” Margo tells Bodhi.) Margo examines her lactating, bare breasts, and she believes people will pay to watch that: She launches her own fan site (offering to tell fans which Pokémon their genitals resemble) and waits for the money to roll in.
When Jinx asks if he might become Margo and Susie’s third roommate, he admits that he doesn’t have a lot of money to pay—but he can cook and clean. Margo is hesitant. “I know the statistics on drug addicts,” she tells her father. “And if you were going to stay here, you’ve got to be clean. If you’re going to be around Bodhi.” Jinx then describes his past addictions (to pain killers and heroin) and says he understands if she says no. “But I am determined—and desperate—not to go back to that place [of addiction],” he says. When Margo agrees to let him stay, Jinx begins sobbing in thanks.
Before turning to OnlyFans, Margo goes to a job interview with Bodhi in tow. She’s willing to do anything, she says. “I’m open to digging ditches even,” she says. “Looks like you’ve already dug one,” the interviewer replies, looking at the child. Shortly thereafter, Margo calls a friend on the phone, and the friend suggests that Margo place Bodhi into temporary foster care, “while you get your life together.” (Margo throws the phone in the toilet and gives it a flush.) Mark’s mother—through a lawyer—offers to start a $50,000 trust fund for Bodhi, which he’ll be able to access when he’s 18, if Margo agrees to quit college and “release all future claims” on their family’s finances. She agrees.
Margo and Shyanne go shopping for Shyanne’s wedding dress (and Margo’s maid-of-honor gown), both of which are a bit revealing. Margo considers a variety of raunchy names for her OnlyFans profile, and she wonders aloud how many people online might want to have sex with her. There’s some conversation about Shyanne’s latest breast implants.
Susie mentions that she heard “sounds” from the apartment’s bathroom. Jinx explains that he meditates. “That would be my mantra,” he says. Shyanne sings an Elvis Presley song with Kenny’s church choir. Jinx sells his motorcycle and gives Margo a check with the proceeds.
Characters say the f-word a dozen times. We also hear God’s name misused five times and Jesus’ name abused twice.
Paul Asay has been part of the Plugged In staff since 2007, watching and reviewing roughly 15 quintillion movies and television shows. He’s written for a number of other publications, too, including Time, The Washington Post and Christianity Today. The author of several books, Paul loves to find spirituality in unexpected places, including popular entertainment, and he loves all things superhero. His vices include James Bond films, Mountain Dew and terrible B-grade movies. He’s married, has two children and a neurotic dog, runs marathons on occasion and hopes to someday own his own tuxedo. Feel free to follow him on Twitter @AsayPaul.
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