Warning: This article contains spoilers for The Madness
This article includes mentions of suicide and murder.
Netflix’s drama seriesThe Madnessfollows news pundit Muncie Daniels (Colman Domingo) as he is framed for the murder of a white supremacist. After being in the wrong place at the wrong time, Muncie is forced to go on the run and prove his innocence, ultimately leading toThe Madness’s shocking ending. DespiteThe Madness’s lukewarm reviews and middling 56% critical score onRotten Tomatoes, the drama series is thrilling and creates several twists that will keep audiences guessing, especially surrounding the deaths of major characters.
FromThe Madness' first trailer, the Colman Domingo-led series keeps audiences on the edge of their seats to find out what happens next, with episodes often ending in cliffhangers or shocking reveals. However, because Muncie himself often does not know who the different players are, it can be difficult for viewers to figure outwho each character inThe Madnessisas well. This means that for each character that dies inThe Madness, it is worth looking a little deeper to learn exactly who they were and why they were targeted in the murder/framing plot.
1Mark Simon
Mark Is The First Person To Die Mysteriously
Mark Simon is the first person who dies inThe Madness, beginning the events that cause Muncie Daniels’s life to fall apart. When Muncie goes to a remote cabin in the Poconos to work on his book, he meets his new neighbor, Mark, while out for a run. Later, after Muncie’s power goes out, he walks over to Mark’s house to ask for propane but finds Mark’s body being cut up and disposed of. When the killers see that Muncie has found Mark’s body, they chase him into the woods, and they dispose of the body while he is hiding out.
Throughout the show, there are several groups that could have wanted Mark dead, but he was ultimately killed because of his attempt to back out of a business deal involving the mysterious shell company Revitalize, which had political ties.
All the events inThe Madnessstem from Mark’s death and Muncie’s accidental encounter with his body. Muncie did not know Mark’s name at all until doing research on him after returning home. After reaching out to his widow and being approached by the FBI agent, Quinones,Muncie learns that Mark Simon was a militant white supremacist. Throughout the show, there are several groups that could have wanted Mark dead, but he was ultimately killed because of his attempt to back out of a business deal involving the mysterious shell company Revitalize, which had political ties.
2Ant
Ant Was A Member Of A Left-Wing Gun Commune
When Muncie runs into the woods after finding Mark’s body, Ant is one of the masked assailants who chase after him. Muncie hides in a swamp while Ant looks around, and, when Ant is facing the other direction,Muncie comes out of the swamp and kills him by stabbing him with a pen. Importantly, Muncie stabs Ant once, then drops the pen on the ground and runs away. Ant’s death is the only one inThe Madnessthat occurs purely out of self-defense with no prior interaction with Ant, since, at that point in the show, Muncie does not know why anyone is after him at all and is just scared for his life.
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Though Mark was the first person killed, Ant’s is the first body found as he is being used to frame Muncie. Muncie’s pen is found as the murder weapon, andAnt’s body has multiple stab wounds to make it look like Muncie went crazy and attacked him rather than killing him in self-defense.As the show continues, Muncie comes to learn that Ant and the other man with him, later identified as Don Sloss Jr., were members of a far left-wing radical anti-fascist gun commune, so it makes sense that they had targeted a fascist like Mark Simon.
3Laura Jennings
She Knew Too Much About Revitalize
After Muncie learns that he is being framed and realizes there is more to the story than he knows, he is approached by Laura Jennings, who says she can help. Laura Jennings was an internet personality and a commentator who was later revealed by Mark’s ex-wife to have been working with Mark Simon. Before Muncie can arrange a meeting with Laura, he learns that she had a heart attack and died, but he knows thatthe heart attack was just a cover for her murder.
Though it is not clearly stated who exactly killed Laura Jennings,it is safe to assume that it was Julia Jayne or another killer working for Revitalize. Laura and Mark were planning to expose how Revitalize was tampering with elections across the country and had killed people who disagreed with them. When Mark’s ex-wife Lucie hands over the information to Agent Quinones, he and Muncie finally put the full picture of Laura’s death together. Later, with the help of Laura’s widow, Muncie is able to continue Laura’s plan.
4Stu Magnusson & His Bodyguard Raul
Deaths Four And Five Occurred In Episode 5
Stu Magnusson gets shot in episode 5 during a meeting with Muncie. Muncie initially thinks Stu is behind everything, but realizes only moments before that Stu is being played as well.Both Stu Magnusson and his bodyguard, Raul Diaz, are shot by Don Sloss Jr. on the orders of Julia Jayne. Muncie witnesses the murders and is able to escape the scene without being shot, but he ends up looking guilty since he had previously accused Stu of being involved in framing him.
For the first half ofThe Madness, Stu Magnusson is a fairly mysterious character, whose motives remain unclear. He meets with Lucie and also had clear ties to Mark Simon before his death.Stu was involved in intervening in elections across the country to further his own agenda. When he starts to question whether he knows the full story during his meeting with Muncie and Julia Jayne, it becomes clear that he was never the mastermind, he only thought he was. He was ultimately killed because he knew too much and began to question his authority in the situation.
5Don Sloss Jr
He Is Killed After Killing Stu
Immediately after shooting Stu and his bodyguard, Don Sloss Jr. attempts to inject Muncie with a drug, and they get into a fight. During their fight, Julia enters the room and shoots and kills Sloss while Muncie flees.Don Sloss had been involved in Mark Simon’s murder from the beginning, but only Muncie was aware of his involvement until his meeting with Stu Magnusson.
As with several of the other murders throughoutThe Madness, the primary reason that Don Sloss Jr. was killed is that it was convenient for Julia Jayne and Rodney Kraintz. Julia had hired Don Sloss Jr. for Mark Simon’s murder as well as for Stu and his bodyguard. While Don Sloss Jr. was on her side, he could ultimately have come forward and betrayed her, meaning it was in her best interest to get rid of him.
6Agent Franco Quinones
Quinones Dies Shockingly At The End Of Episode 6
Agent Franco Quinones’s death is the most shocking and tragic in the entire show because he chooses to end his own life. After working on his investigation of Stu Magnusson for five years and finally figuring out who the guilty parties are,Quinones is devastated when the FBI does not take his work seriously. In the meeting he intended to use to prove Muncie’s innocence, his theories were completely shut down, and it is clear that his superiors in the FBI did not intend to pursue the real criminal, Rodney Kraintz.
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After learning that he was supposed to return Muncie to police custody and that all his work was for nothing, Agent Quinones takes his own life, leaving the other characters to mourn him and try to solve the case without him. During Quinones’s wake, his FBI partner gives Muncie Quinones’s journal, which he later uses to finally prove that Rodney Kraintz was behind everything. This means that even though Quinones did not get to finish his work himself,his notes did allow Muncie to finally solve the crime and prove his innocence.
7Noah Park
Noah Is Targeted By Julia
After meeting with Laura Jennings’s widow, Muncie gets some information about one of her sources, Noah. Noah gives Muncie the name Rodney Kraintz, the majority investor in Revitalize, as the man who has secretly been behind the plot all along. Noah only became involved in the conspiracy becausehis brother was one of the previous victims of Rodney’s plan.
Since Noah is not around for most of the series, his murder happens largely because it is helpful for Julia. While he does have information that points to Rodney Kraintz, he was not being targeted specifically.Julia murdered Noah Park because it allowed her to get his phone and try to lure Muncie into a trap. However, he does not go when she invites him to talk using Noah’s phone, and Muncie later figures out that she has the phone. This allows Muncie to turn the tables on her and set his own trap.
8Julia Jayne
Elena Kills Julia After Being Shot
In the opening minutes of the season finale, Julia Jayne breaks into Isiah’s home to attack Muncie and his family, not knowing that Muncie is not there. On the way in, Julia shoots one of Isiah’s friends who had been standing guard outside, and his fate is left unclear. Once inside, Julia shoots Isiah in the shoulder and continues searching the house.She then shoots Elena twice, but Elena manages to kill Julia by hitting her with a heavy object.
Julia had been working for Rodney Kraintz from the beginning and was responsible for the deaths of Laura Jennings, Stu Magnusson, Stu’s bodyguard Raul, Don Sloss Jr., and Noah Park.
As one of the biggest villains of the series, it makes sense that Julia would go out with a bang. Julia had been working for Rodney Kraintz from the beginning and was responsible for the deaths of Laura Jennings, Stu Magnusson, Stu’s bodyguard Raul, Don Sloss Jr., and Noah Park. Like Muncie’s attack on Ant, Elena kills Julia in self-defense, but, unlike Muncie and Ant, Elena knows perfectly well that Julia has been out to hurt them the whole time, as she had previously threatened Elena and her family.While Julia dies at the beginning ofThe Madnessepisode 8, luckily Elena survives.
9Rodney Kraintz
Rodney Is Killed In The Series Finale
In the thrilling final minutes ofThe Madness, Muncie Daniels has to make a choice about whether he will kill Rodney Kraintz for everything that Rodney put him through. Muncie becomes so angry and even pictures shooting Rodney Kraintz, but ultimately Muncie does not kill Rodney.Muncie realizes inThe Madnessthat, unlike his dad, he wants to effect change through peace and be a positive role model for his son. Instead,The Madnessshows that Rodney Kraintz was murdered by another white supremacistfrom the same group as Mark Simon.
Since Rodney had secretly been pulling the strings all along, everything that occurs throughoutThe Madnessis because of him. However, he did not foresee the reaction that would happen when Muncie exposed his name and plan on television. In retribution for what happened to Mark, Rodney and his bodyguards were killed, but because he had changed through the events ofThe Madness, Muncie no longer cares about Rodney and is shown happy to have reunited with his family.
The Madness
Cast
Muncie Daniels is a political consultant-turned-TV pundit who may have lost his way in life. While on a work sabbatical in the Poconos to write the great American novel, Muncie finds himself the only witness to the murder of a well-known white supremacist, and now he’s being framed for the crime. Muncie is forced to go on the run in a desperate fight to clear his name and unravel a global conspiracy before time runs out. Along the way he’ll reconnect with his family, find unlikely allies, and fight against disinformation in a post-truth age.
