Rotten Tomatoes has had a lukewarm response to a new show featuring one of the stars of Euphoria. The popular HBO teen drama, which was created by Sam Levinson and is based on the 2012 Israeli miniseries of the same name, is set in the fictional East Highland, California and follows the trials and tribulation of teenage addict Rue (Zendaya) as well as the classmates and adults in her orbit. The show debuted with season 1 in 2019, followed by season 2 in 2022. The upcoming season 3 was officially renewed in February 2022.
The Euphoria cast features a robust ensemble bringing the various characters in and around the high school to life. Many of these stars have gone on to other major projects, including Zendaya (Dune: Part Two, Challengers, Malcolm & Marie), Jacob Elordi (Priscilla, Saltburn, Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein), Sydney Sweeney (Anyone But You, Immaculate, Madame Web), and Hunter Schafer (The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, Cuckoo, Kinds of Kindness). However, not all of these projects are well-received on Rotten Tomatoes.
The Madness Has Debuted On Rotten Tomatoes
The New Show Has Had A Mixed Reception
The Madness has not had an outstanding critical response. The new Netflix show, which debuted on U.S. Thanksgiving, stars Colman Domingo (who plays Rue’s sponsor Ali Muhammed in Euphoria) as Muncie Daniels, a man who is suspected of a murder that he did not commit and must fight to clear his name while attempting to rebuild the connection between himself and his family. The Madness cast also includes Marsha Stephanie Blake, Gabrielle Graham, John Ortiz, Tamsin Topolski, and Thaddeus J. Mixson.
The Madness
was created and is co-showrun by playwright and screenwriter Stephen Belber (
The Laramie Project
,
Rescue Me
).
Rotten Tomatoes has now aggregated 12 different critics’ reviews of The Madness, allowing the platform to assign the new show an official score. At the time of writing, it holds a 67% Tomatometer score. While this could fluctuate if more reviews are added, this is just barely over the 60% threshold past which a title can be considered Fresh. While it indicates that the majority of critics had positive responses, the show has not reached the level at which it can be Certified Fresh.
What This Means For The Madness
The Show Might Not Be A Success
While it is a limited series, so there is no concern about it being renewed for another season, these middling The Madness reviews have extended to viewers as well as critics. It holds a 65% audience score at the time of writing. This may not spell good news for the Euphoria star’s latest outing, though it remains to be seen if it ranks high on the weekly Netflix chart despite this lukewarm response. While it may not become a calling card for Colman Domingo’s non-HBO television work, the star’s recent Oscar nomination for Rustin should help buoy him going forward.
Source: Rotten Tomatoes