Line #3 Series/BlackMonday


1	[[quoteright:183:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/black_monday.jpg]]
2
3	''Black Monday'' is a Creator/{{Showtime}} comedy series that premiered in January of 2019. It stars Creator/DonCheadle, Creator/AndrewRannells, Creator/ReginaHall, and Creator/PaulScheer.
4
5	Set in the year running up to October 19, 1987 (aka "[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Monday_(1987) Black Monday]]"), the series ostensibly tells the story of how the worst market crash in the history of Wall Street occurred[[note]]the real cause of which is still not fully known[[/note]]. It follows the exploits of Maurice "Mo" Monroe and his brokerage firm as they try to claw their way past the established players all the way to the top. Joining the firm is Blair Pfaff, a young upstart who wants to try and revolutionize the way stocks are traded through the use of computer algorithms.
6
7	The show ran for three season before being cancelled in February of 2022.
8
9	!!This series provides examples of:
10
11	* AwesomeButImpractical: The Limbo, Mo's Lamborghini limousine, which he owns simply because it's so expensive.
12	-->'''Blair:''' So you get none of the speed of a Lamborghini and none of the comfort of a limousine?\
13	'''Mo:''' Yeah, but it costs twice as much as both, obvi- This guy's not a car guy!
14	* ConspicuousConsumption: Mo lives as ostentatiously as possible with all the latest toys and gadgets for 1986.
15	-->'''Mo:''' I woke up in a fifteen-hundred-dollar-a-night fuck pad after having a five thousand dollar Park Avenue fuck-a-thon.
16	* CreepyTwins: The Lehman brothers try to invoke this but it ends up being comical and Lenny isn't all that enthusiastic about putting in the effort.
17	-->'''Larry:''' You call yourself a twin?\
18	'''Lenny:''' This is your thing. I don't want to do the talking at the same time.
19	* DidntThinkThisThrough: Mo says this is why Blair's entire plan ended in crashing the stock market. He failed to realize how "men make trades, not machines" and when traders saw two big houses seeming to fall, they would panic, majorly sell and set off the entire crash.
20	* DoorstopBaby: Mo says that he was found as an infant at a Church's Fried Chicken restaurant.
21	* TheEighties: The series is very explicitly set in the 80's, with brick cell phones and copious amounts of cocaine.
22	* EveryEpisodeEnding: Each episode ends with a countdown marking how many days left before the titular event.
23	* ForegoneConclusion: The titular event will happen no matter what the characters do as it is a historical inevitability.
24	* HiddenDisdainReveal: When Jammer shows up in the finale, Mo figures he's just there to wish him a Happy Birthday. As it turns out, Jammer had no idea it was his birthday, he wants what he thinks is "my piece" of the deal he assumes Mo pulled off. Over the argument, Jammer makes it clear that while Mo saw him as a father figure, Jammer never saw Mo as more than just a "long-term investment" and couldn't care less the guy is almost ruined himself as long as Jammer get his cash.
25	** At one point, Mo brings up how much Jammer cared to the point of giving his "lucky watch" to Mo...and Jammer just shows he has the same watch and "I buy them for $60 bucks in Chinatown."
26	* InstantlyProvenWrong: Mo warns Blair that his plan is going to cause a major crash and ruin countless lives. Blair scoffs that "I think you're overreacting." At which point, a man plummets to his death outside the window, the first of several suicides happening all over New York.
27	* ItWillNeverCatchOn: Mo is disparaging of Blair's algorithm, saying that it's humans who make trades not computers. Blair is only a few years ahead of his time.

Context Series / BlackMonday