Warning: This review of episode 5 of Margo’s Got Money Troubles will contain spoilers.

It makes perfect sense that a Vegas matinee magic show would expose all the flaws within Kenny (Greg Kinnear) and Shyanne’s (Michelle Pfeiffer) relationship. Margo’s Got Money Troubles episode 5 is the longest of season 1 so far, and it gives Pfeiffer more opportunities to show why she’s such an integral part of the show. I was initially concerned that the show was burning through its plot too quickly, given the looming “will-they-won’t-they” nature of Jinx (Nick Offerman) re-entering Shyanne and Margo’s (Elle Fanning) lives, but based on this week’s entry, it seems that we’re far from done with this storyline in the grand scheme of the series.

The aforementioned magic show comes early on through episode 5, when the foursome travels to Vegas for Kenny and Shyanne’s wedding. The magician brings them on stage and, from Kenny’s milquetoast perspective, embarrasses them by being lewd. It could be so easy for Margo’s Got Money Troubles to lean into Kenny as a wet dishrag of a man, but Kinnear, who’s made a career out of playing similar schmucks, humanizes him and all his quirks. More importantly, episode 5 of season 1 shows how Kenny is who Shyanne needs at this stage in her life. His fretting over needing a tie initially feels like a cheap way for him and Margo to share a scene together, but it becomes a lovely moment for someone else to see the good in him.

All of this sets the stage for the remaining two thirds of episode 5, which kicks off with Shyanne, Margo, Jinx, and Bodhi sneaking off for her best chance at a bachelorette party. Pfeiffer is never afraid to show Shyanne’s wild side (more on that in a moment) which really comes out when she’s playing pool with Jinx. I don’t know if it’s wise, in the long term of Margo’s Got Money Troubles, for me to be more invested in Shyanne than the titular character, but if the material continues to be on the same level as season 1 episode 5, I won’t complain.

I suppose it all speaks to the theme of the show overall so far, of not being afraid to keep your true self hidden. Margo refuses to do so, which has led to her OnlyFans career. Shyanne essentially admits that Jinx was her one, true love, but his absence made their relationship untenable. Kenny, for as safe as he is, will always be there for her when she needs him, and that’s what she needs in this stage of her life. There comes a time when we have to grow up, and though Shyanne hates to admit it, that time has come and gone. Perhaps that’s why, after more drunken debauchery on the Vegas strip with Margo sans Jinx and Bodhi, Shyanne flips out at Margo’s OnlyFans revelation. She’s lived the life of a sex-forward worker as a Hooters waitress, and she wants her daughter to be seen as more than a pretty face or a naked body for men to objectify. Maybe this scene would’ve landed harder if we’d had more context of Shyanne’s Hooters days and what she faced, but Pfeiffer’s lived-in performance makes up for it in her conviction and determination.

I had griped last week that Margo’s Got Money Troubles was worryingly sluggish in its plot developments. Episode 5 slows down considerably, in spite of its longer runtime – so much so that the OnlyFans plot almost becomes an afterthought. If I was in a grumpier mood, perhaps I’d also gripe about Jinx traveling to Las Vegas, and nary a word is mentioned about his recovery from addiction. Surely something could have been made of his temptation, as he’s surrounded by alcohol and sin at every turn. Perhaps that could have fed into Shyanne’s trepidation around getting back together with him. It should be mentioned, of course, that Offerman continues to be great in showing Jinx’s regrets at what could have been. Regardless, as it stands, episode 5 feels like a high watermark for the show, and renews my enthusiasm for the back half of season 1.