Maggie Season 1 Review: Endearing Comedy About a Psychic Leaves Something to Be Desired

While the premise of Maggie is unique, it’s more of a romantic comedy than anything else. 

The series, which was initially supposed to air on ABC and then moved to Hulu, follows the romantic journey of a woman (Maggie, played by Rebecca Rittenhouse) who has very real psychic powers.

The problem is that her ability to see the future also makes her life wildly complicated, and on Maggie Season 1 Episode 1, one simple reading changes everything for her. She meets Ben (David Del Rio) and as she looks into his future, she sees herself in it. 

What’s a shame is that there’s so much potential for great storytelling just in the beginnings of their relationship, yet most of it is rushed in order to get to the next phase of the story — the part where she’s no longer sure where he fits into her future, and where they are now suddenly neighbors.

Still, it’s all entertaining enough to watch. Maggie is cute and endearing, could absolutely serve as comfort TV. It feels fitting that’s airing as a part of summer television. (Maggie also has slight Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist vibes for anyone still heartbroken about that cancellation.)

What the series does best is to treat the fact that Maggie is psychic so casually. Just about everyone in the story fully understands and accepts it, and there’s no big moment where she finds out she has powers and then has to convince everyone — that’s all backstory.

We are instead immersed in this world immediately, and perhaps one of the most intriguing parts of the show is seeing how Maggie’s visions unfold because they aren’t always blatantly obvious. 

Maggie also has certain rules she follows when it comes to her family and friends. She won’t do readings for her friends (typically) and she won’t reveal what she sees for them. Yet when she starts seeing herself in different visions, she makes some poor choices when it comes to those boundaries. 

Maggie boasts a great cast, and there are some solid performances. Nichole Sakura is a standout as Maggie’s friend Louise, bringing a fun energy to the group. Chris Elliot is also a lot of fun to watch as Maggie’s father, and I particularly enjoy Leonard Nam as Dave and Angelique Cabral as Amy.

Adam Korson also plays the instantly likable Daniel, who anyone who’s ever participated in CrossFit or similar types of exercise will relate to immediately. 

And while this is a love story, it’s also a story of family and friendship. In fact, Maggie’s relationship with her parents is probably one of the more interesting dynamics of the show.

On the other hand, Maggie herself isn’t nearly as interesting of a character as she could be, and she lacks some depth. It’s often the case that the other characters outshine her.  

The series is also less funny than one might expect. The jokes often feel too cheesy, and, in general, everything is a bit too saccharine. 

While the first couple of episodes are engaging, especially as we are learning about Maggie’s world, the story quickly starts to feel redundant — which is a major disappointment for a series with such an interesting premise. It fails to dig as deep as it could and winds up feeling like surface-level storytelling. There’s plenty of potential here, but so far, Maggie leaves something to be desired.

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Maggie Season 1 is currently streaming on Hulu.

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