Apple TV’s newly released drama series “Loot” is ranked among all the sitcom series in the world with a generic comedy approach. But admirably, the series is trying to provide a social message that catching on isn’t too head-scratching. The third-richest woman, Molly Wells’s (Maya Rudolf) journey of becoming a philanthropist and wanting to live a normal, decent life doesn’t make us reflect that way, but when Maya Rudolph takes over the character, well, we might want to watch the series just for the sake of her charismatic performance.
Spoilers Ahead
How Did Molly Become The Third Richest Woman In The World?
The story begins with Molly’s luxurious life, where we see her husband, the billionaire John Novak, gifting her a boat on her 45th birthday. We are attracted to the character of Molly through her sarcastic speech and sense of humor. But while Molly’s trusted friend-cum-servant Nicholas is busy with her birthday plans, we find John a little different. John’s character gives us a clear idea from the very beginning that this couple is just pretending to be happily married. But Molly is not very dumb, or it can be said that she is stupid in love. Well, who isn’t? While Molly gets dressed for her birthday bash, her face turns sad in front of the mirror, giving a clear hint that something is wrong in her life. Even when Molly expresses her desire to have a private dinner with her husband, John makes excuses to avoid it. Molly reminds him that she was once his work partner, which shows her abilities. But in her face, we only see an adjustment to bear all the ignorance that she’s getting from her love. But the truth comes out naturally when Molly goes to get a fresh new tie for John and finds his assistant, Haley, in their bedroom. Molly finds out that Haley is their home breaker. So, without wasting much time, shouting about her husband’s betrayal in the middle of the crowded party, Molly demands a divorce. Now we are proud of Molly, realizing with her character development that she can go from being a perfect wife to a rebel woman.
The next day, Molly’s win was getting hyped on every media channel for the $87 billion net worth she claimed from her billionaire ex-husband. But heartbroken, Molly now wants to taste freedom. Wanting to do something that would keep her busy, she joined a charity foundation that she and her husband started a few years ago. There she meets a completely workaholic manager, Sofia Salinas, a divorced shy gentleman, Arthur, and her distant racist cousin, Howard. But Molly takes the charity work in a completely wrong way. Despite showing affection to the unsheltered people, she starts showing off her riches. We see her always enjoying giving a high-standard speech to people who don’t even need that. But that makes her Molly, and she ignores others’ approval of it. And we see Sofia, who is not familiar with Molly’s attributes, getting angry. Molly’s home is filled with luxurious interiors, including a world-renowned chef, David Chang, who cooks whatever she wants for her. How rich people can buy even humans to control them is presented satirically. But here, we find Molly bringing about a change in herself while she promises Sofia that she will be more careful with the actual purpose of the Foundation. But Molly’s boundless riches repeatedly make her unable to deliver on her promises. So she decides to go to Miami, getting only one call from her girlfriends, and leaving all the foundation work. Even she finds it to be kind to take her colleagues, but that comes out wrong when her private jet faces multiple turbulences. When her colleagues leave, she catches up with her rich girlfriends alone in Miami, but their disdain for ordinary people and endless showing off of money embarrasses Molly.
We can know that inside Molly’s elite shell, a simple person exists. Realizing the wrong decision to go to Miami, Molly returns to the meeting, and her constantly oiling up the council member makes Sofia’s job easy. As Molly begins to understand the importance of the Foundation, her attachment to her work and co-workers grows. As compensation for screwing up before, she invites everyone to a gathering dinner where all the co-workers finally arrive, and everyone bonds with each other. But Molly’s peace is disturbed when she finds her ex-husband giving an interview with his mistress in which he completely plays the victim card and casts doubt on Molly’s competence to handle the Foundation. She gets an immense urge to prove herself through the interviews, and Sofia helps her through that. She provides Molly with all the records of the Foundation to read. She also comes to Molly’s place and visits her ex-husband’s library.
Although workaholic Sofia has a very strict exterior, she helps Molly in every way, and the two begin to become very good friends. But when, unintentionally, she admires John’s achievements in front of Molly, her lack of self-confidence and inferior complex make her anxious for the interview. So instead of focusing on a serious interview, Molly runs away to give an appearance on the famous YouTube show “Hot Ones” that she finds not so serious. But her assumptions come out wrong as when the brilliant interviewer, Sean Evans, the host of the show, asks her the most serious questions about her Foundation; she finds it way harder to reply. As we all know, the “Hot Ones” are all about making celebs eat the world’s spiciest sauce-dipped chickens. Molly can not resist it like everyone else in the game. But without handling it smartly, she becomes a viral sensation for throwing her tantrums on the show. One of Molly’s major character flaws is that once she gets angry, she doesn’t show it wisely, which makes her regret it later, just like she’s facing it right after the “Hot Ones” show.
The Perfect Team and Molly’s Self-Growth
On the other hand, we see a budding bromance between Howard and Nicholas when Nicholas helps Howard with the perfect relationship advice, which Howard seems to like. But when Howard finds out that Nicholas has a knack for acting in theater, he tries his best to help him out. Although Nicholas doesn’t show his interest in giving his passion a try, with Howard’s enthusiasm, he finds his way to try his luck again. We see the divorced guy, Arthur, a hopeless romantic, feel affectionate toward Molly while she gives him a lift in her private helicopter. Even though we see Molly gifting Arthur a minimalist painting of a bird from an art gallery, So this is very questionable if Molly also feels some connection with him, or if it is just her sweet gesture to give a co-worker. Although the paparazzi want to spread gossip by taking pictures of Molly and Arthur, Molly clears up the confusion about their relationship in front of everyone in her office, nullifying all the rumors. And Arthur realizes he has no chance on this journey. Molly again faces a problem, where some traveler gets stuck on a roller coaster ride at a large amusement park in the Philippines that her ex-husband bought over. Molly has to share all the blame for the dysfunction, although the council members do not find her guilty, but are impressed by her Foundation’s efforts to build a housing complex for the unsheltered.
Meanwhile, at the office, to relieve everyone’s stress, Molly takes her female colleagues to a massage parlor, ‘Halsa,’ with Molly, with whom Molly has prior acquaintance. Molly believes in self-care, and therefore she does not go alone but makes everyone her partner. However, problems arise when Molly meets her closest friends in Halsa and learns that they are going on a “wives’ tour” that will include John’s mistress, Haley. After being tricked by her friends, Molly becomes rowdy again, causing her to be kicked out of Halsa.On the other hand, we see Arthur meeting a Spanish lady at the bar to divert himself from Molly. But we see Molly being slightly put off by the news of Arthur’s dating, which suggests that she may have had little feelings for him.
Molly finally gets happy news when she is selected to receive “The Philanthropic Humanitarian Award.” The commotion begins, and Molly arrives at the award ceremony wearing a gorgeous dress with her wonderful team. As Sofia and Molly look for bartenders at the ceremony, they are served vodka by a gentleman whom Sofia recognizes as Jean Pierre, a famous French billionaire. But the good times in Molly’s life are short-lived when she meets John Novak. When they meet up in a private room, John teases her by saying that he is behind Molly’s being chosen for the award. But we see a strange improvement in Molly here when she no longer throws a tantrum but handles things wisely. Molly receives the award without running away from the problem and offers it to her co-working team. Molly’s development is very commendable. But on the way back, Molly is met by Jean Pierre, who wants to collaborate with her on his upcoming project.
As we continue to see Molly’s growth, she and her Foundation start investing in art centers for children and the LGBTQ community, resulting in blessings for Molly from all over. But on such an occasion, Jean comes to meet Molly to invite her to lunch. Molly gets confused by Jean’s appealing approach. But under pressure from Sofia and the rest of the co-workers, Molly thinks of it as a romantic date. After her divorce, Molly gets appreciation from a like-minded man for the first time, so her expectation of romance leads her to arrive at Jean’s house. However, Jean’s partner, Jaquelin, confuses Molly even more, though she later comes to be recognized as Jean’s business partner. Jean finally romantically approaches Molly, and we see them drowning in love with each other.
In contrast, we see Howard being warned by Nicholas about his girlfriend Tanya, which puts a slight strain on their friendship. However, Howard comes to know his lover’s true nature and finally leaves because of her abusive and controlling behavior. Although we know Howard is slightly stubborn from the beginning, he is the only friend to stand by in danger. Even though Nicholas wants to give up, Howard instigates him to attend theater rehearsals. Even when Molly wants to catch up with her cousins, Howard stands by her side. From this, we learn how weak Molly’s family relationship is. Even her marital relationship with John Novak was so toxic that she could not even attend her cousin Renee’s wedding. But Molly’s sweet gesture of apology melts her angry sister Renee’s heart. On the way back, she finds out that Jean has bought many more expensive gifts for her, but the simplest person inside her is not looking for expenses, but for loyalty.
Then we see Sofia show up with a new surprise. Well, it’s very exciting for her because the Board of Supervisors has accepted the Foundation’s zoning proposal. But Molly gives their team a bigger surprise, which is that she is going to collaborate with Jean to launch a water purifier machine, for which Molly proposes to go to Corsica. But Sofia isn’t too happy about it. Although Molly faces a public attack when she appears at the council meeting about zoning, Arthur protects her like a bodyguard.
‘Loot’ Season 1: Ending Explained – How Did the World’s Third Richest Woman Become a True Philanthropist?
Molly resumes living with Jean the same way she did with her ex-husband John. She can’t even appear in Nicholas’s play even if she wants to because of her engagement to Jean. She feels sad but begins to adjust again. When in Corsica, Sofia warns her about the situation. Molly, in denial, chooses to stay with Jean for her happiness. Sofia wants to return home, but she can’t even leave Molly. On the other hand, Arthur, moved by Corsica’s natural romance, confesses to Howard and Nicholas that he loves Molly.
But trouble is impending in Molly’s life. When Molly inaugurates Jean’s filter in front of a packed hall, she drinks the muddy water from the filter as a sample. But here, Molly doesn’t need to do all these things. Above all, she was going to do herself and everyone else a great disservice just for the marketing of the faulty filter. But even if Molly drinks this water like a fool, the consumer doesn’t seem so stupid. So this incident of hers starts going viral all around the world in no time. Which again brings all of her levels down to zero. But kudos go to Sofia and her team, who don’t leave Molly behind either. Jean suggests that Molly break up with him to escape the compensation for the dysfunction of his filter and to avoid the face loss, but Molly finally breaks up with him.
As we see Sofia standing by Molly, she regains her courage and goes back to the Silver Moon summit, where the two famous billionaire figures are already in discussion. Molly comes out in public, admitting her mistake in front of everyone. She bravely takes an important decision that may not keep her in the limelight forever. She may not be able to live her aristocratic life, but she will be able to live with her head held high without any trolls behind her. So she decides to donate all her earned money in the name of her Foundation. The spotlight shifted from Molly’s viral idiocy to her silver summit speech that made her famous overnight. But finding Molly alone when Arthur comes to tell her his mind, we don’t see what happens next, but what we do see can be identified as the most confusing and interesting cliffhanger. We find Molly’s ex-husband, John, waking up after spending the night in the same bed as Molly in her luxurious mansion.
What To Expect From ‘Loot’ Season 2?
We have already seen Molly getting texts from John during her public appearance at Silver Summit, but we never expected that to happen, so why does this become an option for Molly? It might be that Molly could be too drunk to make another mistake at the moment of her vulnerability, or it might be some kind of giving another chance to her beloved ex-husband. The biggest shocker the episode finale gave us is what keeps us excited for “Loot” Season 2. However, viewers will not want Molly to rebound with a toxic personality like John, so we are more interested in seeing Arthur and Molly’s chemistry in the next season. Let’s hope that the little cryptic hint about Sofia’s relationship that we got before will be revealed more clearly. Molly’s luxury empire deserves never to be seen again as she contributed all her net worth. Will Nicholas really be able to shine as an actor, or will Howard need to boost him up again? We can expect many more such possibilities to be revealed in “Loot” Season 2.
Conclusive Criticism
“Loot” challenges the elite sitting on the pile of money to do real public service in the name of philanthropy and not just maintain public relations. But then the show’s ten episodes themselves focus on showing the upper aesthetics of this elite class. “Loot” is a roller coaster in Molly’s life, which may not seem the right approach to the general audience. Although this series wanted to express Molly’s story vividly, there was nothing in this to expand in ten episodes. Some episodes are so weak that it does not have any long-term impact on the audience. To be honest, no one is interested in the struggle of the world’s richest woman in the first place. Only the glitter of a royal life can draw your attention. However, this series gives you some dark humor beyond its base storyline. For instance, it gives us some dark, witty dialogues from the character named Howard, which makes us think.
Molly’s character transformation from being a snarky, smart woman to giving a sudden heart-touching monologue brings out the best in Maya’s performance. She fits into the character that gives off the vibe of a wannabe cool boomer who is stuck among a bunch of millennials. However, this three-and-a-half-hour-long series induces happy hormones through these extraordinary performances, which you, as a comedy-drama fan, do not want to miss at all.
“Loot” is a 2022 Drama Comedy series created by Matt Hubbard and Alan Yang.
