A Review on Showtime's Black Monday

Warning: Black Monday spoilers ahead!

With streaming services taking over the small screen, Showtime’s Black Monday is a criminally underrated show. Starring a ragtag group of outsiders working at their own stockbroker firm in the 80s, this story focuses on them trying to make it in the “Gentlemen’s Club” known as Wall Street. Season 1 reveals how they eventually caused the Black Monday crash of 1987 (a real stock market crash), while in real life nobody knows how it happened, this show makes up a story on what caused it. The first season ends with the crash, and season 2 has them picking up the pieces. 

The main characters include Mo Maurice (Don Cheadle), the first Black man to own his own stockbroker firm. He has a larger than life attitude, with his Lamborghini Limousine (or as he calls it, his “limbo”) and a strange attachment to his robot butler Kyle. Next is Dawn Towner (Regina Hall), his head stockbroker, a Black woman who essentially created the company with him, but unfortunately never gets the credit she deserves. Not that this discourages her, though, as she’s tough as nails and doesn’t take nonsense from anyone. Lastly, there’s Blair Pfaff, (Andrew Rannells), the new kid on Wall Street, with every firm trying to hire him due to the new program he created that can make more money from stocks than any human can --or so he thinks. 

There’s plenty of funny side characters too, with actual depth! Keith, who later gets bumped up to a main star in season 2, seems like one of the dudebro creepy sexists of the office-- until you learn its all an act to hide the fact that he’s gay. Other side characters include Yassir X and Wayne, who often get themselves stuck in silly situations they have to get out of by the end of the episode. There’s also Mo’s mortal enemies, Lenny and Larry Lehman, eccentric twins and heads of their own stockbroker company, who are... umm.... very weird to say the least.

The show is full of plot twists, with events you think are random but then later find out they were actually orchestrated by one of the characters so they can get their way. It happens often, but always manages to shock me. 

While labeled as a comedy, backstabbing betrayal lives at the heart of this show. With everyone constantly screwing each other over, this show is basically the Gossip Girl of Wall Street. Even though the series has these dark undertones, the cruel duplicity is often softened by the characters personal storylines that make you can’t help but feel for them-- with Mo and Dawn’s obvious love for each other and Blair’s sexuality crisis. 

Senior Jenna Forestiero says, “The writing is incredible, each episode always leaves me shocked and wanting more.” Senior Victoria Bell says, “The performances are amazing , with Cheadle, Hall and Rannells absolutely crushing it. They really make you love the characters despite the morally questionable things they do throughout the show.” Another senior, Isa Mulé, says, “The awkward humor almost reminds me of The Office. It has these random little moments that make you laugh out loud, like when someone sneezed in Blair’s mouth on the subway when he yawned.” 

I personally really enjoyed this show, with the actors and writing being extremely funny, while also using the comedy to give depth to the individual stories. Though I feel like the storyline got a bit convoluted at times, overall the show is fantastic. Season 2 got real dark at the end to be honest-- but it made me excited for what season 3 has in store. 

Season 3 of Black Monday premieres May 23rd at 10pm on Showtime.