I've let "Black Monday" pileup on my planner for the last few months and finally, on as sick day from work, sat down and ploughed through it in a single sitting. Whilst I would say that I enjoyed it overall, I did find it tonally uneven and am not sure it'll stretch to the promised second season.
"Black Monday" offers a suggestion for the reasons behind the Wall Street Crash of 1987. It revolves around the office of Mo Munroe (Don Cheadle) as he attempts to win control of a legendary company that makes Jeans, but has a Manhattan warehouse which makes it valuable to asset strippers. To assist with this, he engineers a meeting with Blair (Andrew Rannells), a new trader with an algorithm to sell, whose about to marry into the family that own the company.
"Black Monday" is a comedy series, but it's never quite sure what sort of comedy it is. At times broad, and others subtle. Occasionally it's all about the 80's, period jokes and excess, occasionally it's almost a drama, even a melodrama, with the lives and backstories of the characters. I can understand the people that enjoyed that aspect of it, but to me it made the series feel disjointed. Performances are generally pretty good though, but again, sometimes Cheadle and Regina Hall are in a different show to Paul Sheer and Andrew Rannells, as the latter two usually play much broader than the former.
I did stick with it though and overall the plot and intrigue was enough to keep me entertained, even if the actually ending what a little underwhelming. I'm concerned about what plot is left for a second season, as this worked tightly to a climax that each episode pushed us a little bit towards - but in fairness I'll probably watch it.
"Black Monday" offers a suggestion for the reasons behind the Wall Street Crash of 1987. It revolves around the office of Mo Munroe (Don Cheadle) as he attempts to win control of a legendary company that makes Jeans, but has a Manhattan warehouse which makes it valuable to asset strippers. To assist with this, he engineers a meeting with Blair (Andrew Rannells), a new trader with an algorithm to sell, whose about to marry into the family that own the company.
"Black Monday" is a comedy series, but it's never quite sure what sort of comedy it is. At times broad, and others subtle. Occasionally it's all about the 80's, period jokes and excess, occasionally it's almost a drama, even a melodrama, with the lives and backstories of the characters. I can understand the people that enjoyed that aspect of it, but to me it made the series feel disjointed. Performances are generally pretty good though, but again, sometimes Cheadle and Regina Hall are in a different show to Paul Sheer and Andrew Rannells, as the latter two usually play much broader than the former.
I did stick with it though and overall the plot and intrigue was enough to keep me entertained, even if the actually ending what a little underwhelming. I'm concerned about what plot is left for a second season, as this worked tightly to a climax that each episode pushed us a little bit towards - but in fairness I'll probably watch it.
