WARNING: SPOILERS ahead for The Madness.
The ending of Colman Domingo’s Netflix conspiracy thriller series The Madness features Muncie Daniels finally proving his innocence. Created by playwright Stephen Belber, The Madness follows Muncie’s rapidly unraveling life after discovering a dead body in a remote cabin neighboring his wooded rental home. Muncie was set up for the murder of a man named Mark Simon, a prominent online figure and spearhead of a rogue white supremacy group called The Forge. The Madness arrives months after Domingo’s Oscar-buzzy prison drama Sing Sing. Domingo is best known for his inspired work in films like Rustin and his Emmy-winning performance in Euphoria.
Through the eight episodes of The Madness, Muncie must avoid being framed for the murder of Simon and navigate a dark web of powerful figures who wish to silence him. Muncie seeks the help of his family to take shelter from the relentless fixer, Julia Jayne. After Muncie successfully gets Jayne off of his back, he is left to deal with Rodney Kraintz, a silent investor in the company Revitalize. He also tries to patch up his family issues with his son Demetrius and ex-wife Elena, who was nearly killed by Julia trying to protect Muncie. In the end, Muncie comes face to face with the man who tried to silence him and has a crucial choice to make: to let him live or die.
Who Was Mark Simon AKA Brother14?
Mark Simon was the seemingly friendly neighbor driving the truck who encountered Muncie in the first episode of The Madness. Muncie discovers that Simon was a notorious white supremacist who had a following of over 5 million people online and was the leader behind the domestic terrorist group known as The Forge. He was paid by Stu Magnusson and Revitalize to push politicians to vote a certain way, influence elections, and sway public consensus for profit. In short, Simon was a valuable tool used by Revitalize and Brother14 is his online anonymous alias who developed a following and fandom before his death.
Who Killed Mark Simon
Mark Simon was killed by Ant, a member of Profane Discord, and Don Sloss Jr, a former military servicemen who was hired by Revitalize to kill Mark. These were the two men who were wearing ski masks at the beginning of The Madness and attempted to kill Muncie in the woods. Muncie stabbed one of them in the neck with his pen before being framed for the murder after reporting it to the local police, who grew instantly suspicious of him. Despite the various efforts to frame Muncie for the brutal murder of Mark Simon, the identities of the two masked killers were eventually exposed.
Who Framed Muncie Daniels For Mark Simon’s Murder
Julia Jayne was a fixer working for Rodney Kraintz, who is revealed to be a silent investor in the company Revitalize. Julia hired Don and Ant to kill Mark on behalf of Rodney Kraintz. Because Muncie was at the wrong place at the wrong time, they framed him for it out of convenience. This is explained to Muncie during his final confrontation with Kraintz, who calls himself a “cog in the machine” and easily expendable. Muncie initially believed that he was targeted to be framed because of his role as an activist and CNN contributor and for being the son of an infamous activist. Ultimately, Muncie was framed by circumstance.
How Muncie Daniels Cleared His Name & Became Exonerated
Muncie was finally able to exonerate himself from the murder of Mark Simon and was rightfully able to clear his name. He goads Julia into making a mistake after Julia repeatedly tries to kill him and nearly kills important members of his family. By finally besting Julia at her own game, Muncie was able to set up a series of events that ended in her death. Coupling this with the evidence found in her car and on her laptop that Muncie is able to expose, Muncie exonerates himself and proves his innocence to the public after a long and arduous fight.
Rodney Kraintz’s Death Explained
Towards the end of The Madness, Muncie finally makes his way up to the person responsible for framing him for Mark Simon’s murder in the first place: Rodney Kraintz. Muncie wrestles with the decision of whether or not to go after Kraintz once he discovers his location. His son, Demetrius, pushes Muncie to resort to violence as a way to end this nightmare situation once and for all and to enact revenge on Kraintz for threatening his life and his family. A pivotal scene shows Muncie pointing a gun at Kraintz’s head but ultimately Muncie is unable to pull the trigger, choosing the higher road, unlike his father.
Muncie knew he wouldn’t be able to kill Rodney Kraintz without running the risk of dying in the process. Muncie had tried everything to stop his situation from going any further and chose to end things on his own terms without having to have his mark defined by an arguably righteous yet disastrous murder. As a result, Muncie told Lucie (Mark Simon’s ex-wife) about the truth surrounding Kraintz, who then told members of The Forge. One particular member of The Forge took revenge into their own hands and killed Rodney Kraintz himself even after the DA dismissed the charges.
What Is The Real Meaning Of The Madness?
The central themes in The Madness are summed up quite neatly in the final scenes of the series. Muncie explains in his statement to the world on CNN before stepping away from his media-focused life for good. Muncie calls the entire media circuit, both internet-based and mainstream broadcast networks, one big circus. He calls out the madness of the system and how everyone is a victim of it and seemingly can’t escape it now that the world is in too deep. Muncie steps away from “the madness” and chooses to refocus his energy and valuable time on what he’s neglected the most: his family.
As evidenced by the series finale’s title, “No More Madness,”, Muncie is not only putting an end to the maddening conspiracy he has found himself at the center of but also the madness of his small role in the dangerous and “wild west” world of media and politics. Muncie is ultimately hanging up his media credentials for good and aiming to repair his strained relationships with his family, which appears to be fixing the mistakes that his father made years before. The high-stakes inner world that Mucnie found himself involved in required Muncie to sacrifice too much of his true self, which is why he puts it all behind him at the end of The Madness.
