New Prime Video series Riches is taking the streamer by storm, with critics comparing the drama to Succession and Empire. The show begins with the death of Stephen Richards (Hugh Quarshie), family patriarch and CEO of a UK-based and Black-owned cosmetics brand, which throws his surviving family into chaos.
Stephen's two children from his first marriage come over to London from their home in the US and come face-to-face with their three British half-siblings as a fight for the top job at the family business ensues. The series was created and written by Abby Ajayi, who has previously scripted shows like How to Get Away With Murder and Inventing Anna.
According to Paste Magazine's Katherine Smith, "Riches largely operates as a fizzy workplace drama that spills outside the boardroom, centering high stakes Black capitalism at the core of its identity."
Variety's Daniel D'Addario writes: "As on Empire, or for that matter, Succession, the family’s fortune, in the form of a booming cosmetics business floridly named Flair and Glory, is the engine both of money and of sibling rivalry. When the American-raised children whom Stephen neglected their whole lives show up in the United Kingdom to see what might have been left to them, enmity and rage bloom even before the will is read."
However, for all its overlap with Succession, writes IndieWire's Steve Greene, "Riches is notable for the ways it’s different. Some of it is inescapable – no one from the Roy family is getting extra glances from police officers or jewelry store security guards. But there’s also an overriding difference to the atmosphere this family business generates. It’s not that power isn’t at play here, yet Riches creates a battleground where the people who control it can at least retain their dignity."
Prime Video subscribers are enjoying the series, too. "Now THIS is the kind of fun Black drama I enjoy," said one Twitter user. "I was already excited because I saw Deborah Ayorinde and Sarah Niles on the cast but after episode one? Yeah, I’m onboard."
"If you’re looking for a fun Black family soap, go ahead [and] give Riches a whirl," wrote another. "Interesting world. Good twists. Nice dose of mess. The cast is fine! And Sarah Niles is hilarious as the conniving matriarch. Quick binge. Six episodes."
