McMillions (TV Mini-Series 2020)

McMillions, the documentary series, tells the story of the McDonald’s Monopoly game fraud of 1989-2001. The Mark Wahlberg production explores the scam through the eyes of the FBI during their investigation, and we meet the most wonderful array of kooky people along the way. Most of the content is interview-based, and makes for an intriguing insight into crime and character even beyond the scam.

The series kicks off on an extremely high note. The first two episodes are gripping, well-paced, and clearly focused. Likewise, it finishes well with a strong final episode. However, the series loses its way during the middle episodes. The majority of the content feels unstructured and sometimes hard to follow, and often involves retellings of the same events from different eyes. The six-part series could easily fit into three or four episodes without losing any important content or great interview pieces, but it’s understandable that production wanted to include as much content as possible given the craziness of the events.

Luckily, the production is carried by the cast of wonderfully wacky characters that happen to be involved in the scam. The star of the show is Doug Mathews, a fresh young FBI agent at the time of the scam. A natural storyteller who loses himself in his tales and clearly loves the process of reliving the process on camera, Doug is the unofficial main character of the series. Fresh on the job, he saw a hint of the untouched case on a Post-it note in the office. After some petitioning, he was let on the case, and then chaos ensued.

The true story is fantastically bizarre, but loses itself when left to its own devices. Time-frames get confused and facts get lost during the retellings, and the viewer could have benefited from a more constant narrator (I’m sure Doug would have been happy to take the part). There are some questionably cheesy recreation scenes, but generally the series is well worth a watch. It’s rare to watch a crime-based documentary series and genuinely have no idea about how the case may be resolved, and that was my experience for the first two episodes at least. The writers do a fantastic job at trickling out clues, just enough to keep you informed but never enough to spoil the resolution. Additionally, the interview segments are great: they’re natural, funny, and compelling.

Overall, the series is funny, riveting, and oddly touching. Due to some convoluted storytelling, it does require some concentration, but it’s worth the watch even for the first two episodes alone.
I, for one, will remember the scam and the series every time the McLottery pops up, and that’s a testament to a brilliant story and great film-making.