Why there likely won’t be The Madness season 2, explained

The Madness is an American thriller series created by Stephen Belber, which released on November 28, 2024, on Netflix. With Belber and V.J. Boyd serving as showrunners, the series embellishes a cast of talented actors including Colman Domingo, Marsha Stephanie, Tamsin Topolski, Gabrielle Graham, Thaddeus J. Mison, and Gabrielle Graham.

The set of eight episodes of the series is directed by filmmakers including Clément Virgo, Jessica Lowrey, and Quyen Tran. The story of The Madness revolves around Muncie Daniels, a journalist-activist and author who mistakenly falls under the trap of a national bureaucratic conspiracy.

Spoiler Alert: This article contains spoilers on the series.

The Madness is a limited miniseries that ended without any cliffhangers, providing justice to Muncie by proving him innocent of the murder of Mark Simon. Rodney Kraintz, the prime antagonist in the series, is killed by one of the members of The Forge named Bobby Woods, who had escaped the FBI raid.

The story ends on a happy note, with Muncie finally reuniting with his family. Hence, The Madness is not likely to get renewed for season 2.

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What is the story of The Madness?

Muncie is fabricated on a crime he did not commit (Image via Netflix)

The Madness revolves around Muncie Daniels, a racial activist and successful news broadcaster who takes a break from his job at a cabin in the Poconos mountains. But his seemingly happy life deviates into chaos when the white man staying near his cabin is brutally killed and Daniels is chased by their assassins.

The dead man, Mark Simon, was a known white supremacist, a blogger going by the pseudonym Brother 14, who was known for spreading neo-Nazi ideologies. Soon, Muncie comes under the radar of the FBI and investigators, and he finds himself falsely fabricated behind the murder of Simon.

Muncie comes in contact with an FBI Agent named Franco Quiñones, who informs him that Simon is connected to The Forge. The tattoos found on the assassin's bodies reveal that they are connected to a notorious extremist gang called the Profane Discord, who were known for their grudge against The Forge.

Simon was connected to a criminal business mogul known as Stu Magnusson, who had been paying him to influence his readers to vote in favor of three Senate candidates for the mega tech firm called Revitalize. Muncie discovers that Simon turned on Magnusson a month before he was killed and suspects that the crime lord had ordered to eliminate Simon.

However, this theory completely turns upside down when Magnusson is killed by Julia Jayne, a security consultant for Revitalize, ordered by a secret owner of the company. Rodney Kraintz, a corrupt energy billionaire, turns out to be the mind behind all the web of crimes.

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The Madness ends its story in the eighth episode

Muncie exposes Kraintz in The Madness (Image via Netflix)

Julia tries to kill Muncie in order to wipe up all the evidence of Rodney being involved in all the crimes. Frustrated in failing to do so, she plots to torture Muncie's family to get information out of them. However, she is killed by Muncie's wife, Elena, who is also gravely injured in that fight.

The police retrieve Julia's car and consider her as the prime suspect behind the murders. Muncie is given a clean card by the authorities and an opportunity to walk away from this crime conspiracy. Additionally, he is offered a sum of $5 million to sign a Non-Disclosure Document by Kraintz's lawyer to keep everything a secret.

However, he vows to expose Kraintz and when he is called back into CNN, he publicly unravels the crimes of the corrupt business mogul, and the fact that he is behind all the deaths.

Then he announces that he is leaving the world of news, an indication that Muncie is disillusioned with the politics lying behind the media. But Kraintz comes to the press, commenting on Muncie's claims to be completely fabricated.

Muncie receives a letter with the address of Kraintz's warehouse, and Muncie's son Demetrius steals his father's gun with the intent to avenge his mother's harm.

But he is stopped by his father, who sets up a final face-off with the person responsible for all his struggles. He manages to get Kraintz under the radar of his gun, but at the last moment decides to not kill him and walks away.

But Simon's ex-wife Lucie had earlier informed Bobby Woods, a member of The Forge about Kraintz's whereabouts. He manages to escape the FBI, reach the scene, and shoot Kraintz, killing him finally.

Muncie is finally avenged, without him being the murderer. The final episode of The Madness titled No More Madness, stays true to its namesake, ending the story. In the end, viewers can see Muncie leaving his news career, becoming a history teacher, and finally reuniting with his family.

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