Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed: Season 1 - Review

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

EDGY unpredictability became the watch words of almost every episode of Apple TV’s ridiculously enjoyable Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed.

Created by David J Rosen, this 10-part comedy thriller boasted an energy that was undeniably invigorating, tossing viewers into the rollercoaster world of its central protagonist while never losing sight of the complexity of her emotional journey.

The result was an often dizzying experience, amplified by some of the camera techniques employed as well as the souped up soundtrack (best evidenced in the ragged instrumentals that accompanied the opening titles, which exploded into a wall of pulsating sound as each one then got going).

The story focused on newly divorced mother-of-one Paula (a terrifically compelling and chaotically complex Tatiana Maslany), as she found herself (in episode one) scammed by a camboy named Trevor (Brandon Flynn) she had been seeking some companionship from.

The scam in question begins as Paula and Trevor are getting intimate with each other… an interplay interrupted when a masked man pops up on Trevor’s screen and starts beating and strangling him.

Paula films the ‘attack’ and takes the footage to the police, only to be warned by a detective, the seemingly aloof Det Gonzales (Dolly De Leon), that the incident is probably a scam.

And, as predicted, Trevor does indeed call Paula asking for $50,000 to pay a kidnapper’s ransom, or face being killed. But Paula ignores the plea, figuring it to be the scam that it is, only to find herself being blackmailed at work and threatened with the type of exposure that could jeopardise her access to her daughter, Hazel (Nola Wallace), given that her ex-husband (Jake Johnson) and his new girlfriend (Jessy Hodges) are about to move to Idaho and are seeking custody.

So far, so risqué. But when Paula goes to confront Trevor to put an end to the scam, she walks into his actual murder and quickly finds herself at the centre of a much larger criminal enterprise, whose chief protagonist (The White Lotus’ Murray Bartlett) is a particularly ruthless killer.

All of this takes place in the first episode. And things just keep getting crazier and more twisty from there.

Much of the pleasure in watching this series unfold, therefore, lies in trying to pre-empt each plot turn and figure out what’s driving the villains, while also trying to guess how Paula is going to find a way out of her ever-worsening predicament (particularly as she is so prone to bad decision making).

Along the way, Rosen tosses in several inventive deaths and some genuinely edge of your seat scenarios, while also having something relevant to say about the state of modern living - whether in the pressures of parenting or finding your way as a single mother, or with regards to the dangers posed by social media and online scamming (the sharing of intimacy with virtual strangers is a big no-no) as well as toxic office politics and police apathy.

But it simultaneously also delivers a complex set of characters, who feel consistently likeable in spite of their many flaws.

Primary among these is Malsany, who brings tremendous depth to her portrayal of Paula. She’s undoubtedly an emotional and social wreck, living in a kind of hyper emotional state that suggests she’s also ADHD. But she’s also a dedicated mother and a super smart fact checker, who is more than capable of turning the tables on anyone who attempts to exploit her (even though she may seem particularly vulnerable).

There’s a steely element to her that drives her forward, even when she’s circling rock bottom, and Malsany invests her with equal parts courage (to keep going) and vulnerability.

This is never better realised than in the final episode’s courtroom scenes, in which Paula is subjected to a ruthless examination by an arrogant male lawyer, only to deliver a genuinely moving defence of her character and decision making. It’s a tour de force performance from Malsany.

And it’s one of the main reasons the show works as well as it does - boasting a character who, in the wrong hands, could have seemed a hopeless cause. But who has reasons behind her decisions, born from a lifetime of struggle, of being misunderstood, held back, overlooked and taken for granted. These things take their toll - and you see how Paula’s current predicament wears her down, even though she keeps going.

But then as Rosen told The Hollywood Reporter at a press event for the show ahead of its premiere: ““I wanted to write a show about someone who’s going through the seconds in life. Not the firsts. There’s a lot of shows about firsts - first job, first love. But what happens when those things don’t work out, and the existential angst you feel inside? And then try to, you know, dramatize that through a real thriller on the outside. That just was really sort of channelling, like, Hitchcock where a normal person gets pulled in some crazy, abnormal world.”

The same level of quality is delivered by the show’s strong support, too, with eye-catching performances from the likes of Johnson, as her ex (combining moments of being a real jerk with unexpected compassion… and thereby moving away from his usual, post-New Girl style persona), and Bartlett, as the devious killer - someone capable of adapting his persona to any given situation in order to avoid obvious detection.

Kiarra Hamagami Goldberg and Charlie Hall also stood out as two of Paula’s office colleagues who become dubious allies - both prone to as many acts of selfishness as selfless support. The banter between them was particularly sparkling.

And special mention also deserves to go to De Leon’s laidback detective, whose initial scepticism towards Paula eventually gives way to a somewhat instinctual investigator whose ability to deliver a killer line serves as a consistently great foil to those she interacts with (not least her partner). She’s yet another memorable female cop in a year that’s been notable for them (see also Furious and Lucky).

Kudos, too, must go to Rosen and his creative team for the way in which they capably juggle all of the show’s many tones: its by turns highly amusing, frequently tense and exciting yet also extremely character driven - a feat made all the more remarkable given the generally short nature of each episode (none are longer than 40 minutes).

It comes as both a relief, and a real [maximum] pleasure to be able to report that after an initial delay, Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed has secured a second season renewal, especially given the nature of its cliff-hanger ending.

Season one was a wild yet utterly engrossing ride that deserves to be featured among 2026’s best - if overlooked - shows.