((L-R) Adeyinka Akinrinade (Alesha), Ola Orebiyi (Gus) and Nneka Okoye (Wanda). Courtesy of David Hindley via Prime Video)
Family secrets, lies and greed are at the forefront of Prime Video’s newest show, “Riches.” It displays the drama of a wealthy family and what’s at stake for their multi-million-pound family empire, making it easily comparable to Fox’s “Empire” and the CW’s “Dynasty.”
“Riches” follows the Richards, who are distraught after the father and head of the family, Stephen Richards, suddenly dies. Stephen leaves his estranged daughter from his first marriage, Nina, to run his cosmetics company, resulting in an unexpected turn of events and leading the two families to fight for control.
As expected, this show is filled with messy drama, making it realistic and worth watching. From the British accents and unexpected twists and turns, there are many layers to this family and the secrets they carry. When one is revealed, another one makes it to the surface. You learn about the one individual who isn’t Stephen’s biological child, the other child outside his two marriages, who’s been cheating, and the person stealing money from the company.
It isn’t easy figuring out which character to like. Initially, you feel sympathy for Nina and her family, but you soon realize the more she gets involved with the Richards, the easier it is to become like them: selfish and doing whatever it takes to gain control. However, there are characters you genuinely wouldn’t like as soon as you’re introduced. Claudia, Stephen’s widow, is full of lies and deceit and will do anything to get a quick payday. Assuming the writers try to get you to feel sorry for her after one of her biggest secrets is close to being revealed to the one person it’ll hurt the most, you remember her actions throughout the season, and that feeling quickly goes away.
Watching episodes, you ask yourself, with all the drama going on and time focused on fixing problems if work is getting done at this company.
This show has a great first season with a great production and deserves another one. The season ended at a great spot with multiple cliffhangers to prepare an audience for a second season. Let’s hope the drama stays realistic and more secrets are exposed.