WARNING: SPOILERS ahead for The Madness.
A mysterious figure under the online alias Brother 14 is a crucial character in Colman Domingo’s Netflix conspiracy thriller seriesThe Madness. Created by playwright Stephen Belber ofThe Laramie ProjectandTapeacclaim,The Madnessfollows Muncie Daniels' rapidly unraveling life after discovering a dead body in a remote cabin neighboring his wooded rental home.Muncie is a CNN contributor who believes he’s being set up for murder. He must rely on support from his family and a few helpful sources to clear his name.
The Madnessarrives months afterDomingo’s Oscar-buzzy prison dramaSing Singamidst a swell of new A-lister-led thriller series like Michael Fassbender’sThe Agencyand Eddie Redmayne’sThe Day of the Jackal.Domingo is best known for his inspired work in films likeRustinand his Emmy-winning performance inEuphoria.Hislead role as Victor Strand in the dystopian sci-fi seriesFear the Walking Deadoffered an initial glimpse of his less-utilized skills as a physical actor, which are also put on display inThe Madness.
Mark Simon Is Brother 14 In The Madness
Simon is introduced in one of the opening scenes
Mark Simon, who is introduced in one of the opening scenes ofThe Madness, is a white supremacist who goes by “Brother 14” to his online followers.Simon was the seemingly friendly neighbor driving the truck who encountered Munciein the first episode ofThe Madness. Muncie discovers that Simon was actually a notorious white supremacist who had a following of over 5 million people online and was the leader behind the domestic terrorist group known as The Forge.
Simon was paid by Stu Magnusson and Revitalize to push politicians to vote a certain way, influence elections, and sway public consensus for profit. Because of his massive online community,Simon was a valuable tool used by Revitalize and Brother14 is his online anonymous aliaswho developed a large following and fandom before his untimely death. Muncie was finally able to exonerate himself at theend ofThe Madnessfrom the murder of Mark Simon after finding his dismembered body at the beginning of the series.
What Happens To Mark Simon In The Madness
Big tech investor Rodney Kraintz ordered a hit on Simon
Mark Simon was killed by Ant, a member of Profane Discord, and Don Sloss Jr, a former military serviceman. Revitalize hired them to kill Mark after Mark backed out of a business deal. Ant and Don were the two men who were wearing ski masks at the beginning ofThe Madnessand attempted to kill Muncie in the woods.Muncie was able to get away but was relentlessly pursued by a covert fixer named Julia Jayne.
Jayne was also a silent investor in Revitalize working forRodney Kraintz, the shadowy majority investor in Revitalize who ordered the hit on Simon. Muncie wrestles with the decision of whether to go after Kraintz in the final episode of the series but cannot bring himself to take his life after going so far as to point a gun to his head. Kraintz ends up getting murdered anyway by a rogue member of The Forge. If it weren’t for Kraintz, however, Mark Simon would not have been killed and Muncie would not have been framed inThe Madness.
The Madness
Cast
Muncie Daniels is a political consultant-turned-TV pundit who may have lost his way in life. While on a work sabbatical in the Poconos to write the great American novel, Muncie finds himself the only witness to the murder of a well-known white supremacist, and now he’s being framed for the crime. Muncie is forced to go on the run in a desperate fight to clear his name and unravel a global conspiracy before time runs out. Along the way he’ll reconnect with his family, find unlikely allies, and fight against disinformation in a post-truth age.
