Margot Cleary-Lopez

**Margot Cleary-Lopez** is a main character in the Amazon Prime series, *The Power*. She is the mayor of Seattle and the mother of three kids.

## Personality

> Collette’s Margot, the mayor of Seattle, is an authentic and genuinely progressive politician fighting hard for change. She has a sharp tongue, a wicked sense of humor and a passion to leave the world better than she found it. She is also a devoted mother to three children, including Jos (Auli’I Cravalho), and wife to her husband of 20 years Rob (John Leguizamo). When the Power emerges, Margot is catapulted into the spotlight, opening the door to unimaginable possibilities — both personal and political.
>
> Deadline

Margot has a sharp tongue and authenticity that have earned her respect by her staff and peers alike. When the Power emerges, Margot is the first politician to publicly acknowledge it and stand up for women bodily autonomy. Catapulted into the spotlight, Margot must play the political game, becoming the face of a movement that threatens her important relationships.

## Biography

### Season One

#### The World Is on Fu\*king Fire

*This section is a detailed plot of this episode and **contains spoilers.** Click to expand.*

Margot wakes her husband on their anniversary, while Jos starts a fire in the microwave, still without a grasp on her newfound strength.

Margot is informed that emergency services have reached their budget ceiling. Fires are going up everywhere, and they are somehow always due to teenage girls.

Margot sees Tunde’s video and the comments from teenage girls claiming it’s happening to them too. She shows the video to Governor Daniel with an opinion that all the recent fires are connected to this event. He doesn’t take it seriously, but says he’ll have a team to look into quietly and divert the funding she needs. But his real advice is for her to calm down and go be with her husband.

At home, Rob and Margot finally sit down to celebrate their anniversary and talk about their days. Rob encourages Margot to let out her anger. She can’t let it brew. As a gift, he gives her a wedding present from his mother and invites her to break it. Letting the rage build over how Danden dismissed her, she throws it on the ground.

In the morning, Helen calls Margot with the news - a plane has crashed in the middle of town.

#### A New Organ

*This section is a detailed plot of this episode and **contains spoilers.** Click to expand.*

Seattle deals with the aftermath of the plane crash. It was caused by an electrical malfunction on board, and Governor Danden tells Margot to step back and let him handle it. Margot has an inkling that teen girls were the cause of the crash, much like in Tunde’s video.

Margot and Helen go talk to the survivors of the plane crash only to find the feds beat them to it. They are holding a 12-year-old girl because some passengers identified her as the cause of the crash. Rob gets Margot in touch with Tash, his ex, for help.

Tash gives Margot a hazmat suit and sneaks her in to see the girl. She says her hands started hurting a few days ago. She didn’t mean to hurt anybody on the plane and doesn’t know what she did.

Margot next talks to the flight attendant. The child jolted her when she tried to put her belt on. At first it hurt, and then it felt amazing. Now, she has the same powers. And she thinks they both brought the plane down.

Rob calls Margot to give her news about Jos. They go to her school to find girls trapped in clear cages at the school. They pick up Jos, who tells them about how her powers work. She can’t control it like other girls. It doesn’t happen when she expects it too. They see this firsthand when, in a fight with her brother over the remote, Jos accidentally sends a shock to Matty’s head.

Matty’s injury will be okay, but will lead to scarring. Margot tries to comfort Jos, but she doesn’t want any of it. She thinks Margot only cares about her family when her job is on the line.

Margot calls Daniel to tell him that girls are developing a new organ. And it could somehow be contagious. But Daniel already knows this from the federal investigation and isn’t sharing it with people. Margot thinks he just doesn’t want to ruin his senate campaign, but she wants to tell people and help prepare them.

Politicians everywhere are calling the power a hoax. But Margot and Helen want to do the right thing. So, Margot holds a press conference. She announces that teen girls’ powers are not a hoax. They need to give information to women and girls about what is happening in their own bodies, so she shares that the electrical condition is not a virus; it’s the presence of a new organ along the collarbone, and it can be transferred to older women as well.

Margot makes quite a splash through her press conference. After her, people everywhere start repeating what she said. The information spreads. But not everyone reacts with understanding. Many call for capital punishment and martial law.

#### Scarlet Minnow

*This section is a detailed plot of this episode and **contains spoilers.** Click to expand.*

Margot adapts to becoming the new face of a movement. Tunde interviews her, but when she gets into the controversial topic of Governor Danden trying to control women’s bodies, Helen cuts the interview short.

Ever since she went public, Margot has been getting threats. An anonymous streaming persona called Urban Dox rallies up men to live up to their calling as “apex predators,” and Margot is one of his new targets. Rob catches their own son watching his videos.

Rob tells Margot about the research, but she already knows. He’s worried that she’s not taking the situation seriously enough. Rob is appalled by the girls’ deaths, but Margot thinks their deaths could at least mean something if they use the research for something good.

Margot attends a party with Rob where he gets drunk and Dandon accuses Margot of having EOD. By the end of the party, Declan has leaked the research to everyone there, crediting his anonymous source as “The Scarlet Minnow.” Margot immediately realizes The Scarlet Minnow is Rob, and she worries that Declan will sell him out. Back at home, Rob claims this is all Margot’s fault. She never even asked him about his day; she hasn’t in years. She’s only concerned with her career, and is only there for the kids on autopilot. She thinks EOD can only be empowering to women and yet doesn’t see how Jos is struggling to control her own body.

Later, Margot checks in on Jos once Rob is sleeping. She apologizes for not being there for her enough. The mother and daughter smoke marijuana outside together, and Margot asks what Jos thinks about her recent decision to go public with information about EOD.

Jos tells Margot that she’s stuck in the mindset she had growing up. She thinks girls need more protection now. But in reality, getting the power means being able to live without constant fear.

Margot asks Jos to give the power to her. When Jos sends an electrical jolt to her, she understands what Jos meant. It feels incredible.

#### Sparklefingers

*This section is a detailed plot of this episode and **contains spoilers.** Click to expand.*

Margot and Rob talk to each other for the first time since their fight, but they can’t get past it. She feels she can’t trust him, and he feels she doesn’t care about doing the right thing. At work, Helen asks Margot to keep her power quiet, as women in their office are getting fired just for having it.

Governor Danden declares a statewide public health emergency, meaning that all women have to test for EOD. Margot has to sit down for the test, which sends a shock through her body, but she manages to pass the test by not showing that she’s feeling pain.

Margot announces to her family that she’s going to run for senate. Matty blows up about how the male voice is being lost. He thinks Margot and Rob are a prime example of how women are emasculating men.

That night, Margot and Jos smoke together again. Jos says she supports her mom. The two of them agree to keep Margot’s EOD a secret, even from Rob, until the election.

Margot’s family stands with her as she announces her campaign for Senate. But something horrifying happens during the announcement. A man (who stood outside her house earlier) sets himself on fire, the words of UrbanDox ringing in his mind.

#### Just a Girl

*This section is a detailed plot of this episode and **contains spoilers.** Click to expand.*

Helen tells Margot that they tracked hostile statements on her social media to Jos. Margot calls Jos out on her posts, and she claims she was just upset at the time since she didn’t choose to be the daughter of a public figure. There were things she asked Margot not to post, and she posted them anyway. Feeling used by her mother, she acted out. Margot hears her out and apologizes.

On a family trip into the woods, Jos tries to lash out at Matty, but Margot stops her with her own power. Seeing that Margot withheld her abilities from him, Rob becomes angry that she shuts him out of everything. He accuses her of only wanting power. But Margot doesn’t apologize for this. She wants power, but she still wants to change lives. Though Rob claims he didn’t sign up for this, she convinces him she can’t pull off the campaign without him. He promises he’ll stay with her through the end, but after the election, he wants a divorce.

#### The Shape of Power

*This section is a detailed plot of this episode and **contains spoilers.** Click to expand.*

Margot’s campaign team works to present Margot as having a pristine image, so Jos dating a guy with a skein threatens that image. Helen later pays a visit to Ryan’s parents to instruct them about a program that will “protect” their child.

During the debate against Daniel, Margot and Daniel focus on the topic EOD. While Daniel wants to outlaw the transfer of EOD, Margot doesn’t support people making that choice for other women who want to feel more protected in the world. Daniel then veers onto another topic, mentioning how Ryan was sent to a camp where kids are forcibly given medication to suppress EOD. Margot can’t process the accusation. Angry, she shocks Daniel on stage. He collapses, and she’s escorted away.

## Powers and abilities

Given by her daughter Jos Cleary-Lopez in episode "Scarlet Minnow".

* Bio-Electrokinesis or EOD/Electric Organ Discharge
	+ Electric Shocks
	+ Electric Blasts
	+ Electrical Item Charging

## Relationships

### Family

* Rob Lopez (husband)
* Jos Cleary-Lopez (daughter)
* Izzy Cleary-Lopez (daughter)
* Matty Cleary-Lopez (son)

## Appearances

### Season 1

* A Better Future Is in Your Hands
* The World Is on Fu\*king Fire
* A New Organ
* Scarlet Minnow
* Sparklefingers
* Just a Girl
* The Shape of Power

## Trivia

* The role of Margot was originally set to be played by Leslie Mann, before being recast in August 2022.

## References

1. ↑ Deadline: ‘The Power’: Toni Collette & Josh Charles Join Amazon Series In Recastings; Raelle Tucker Tapped As Showrunner Under Overall Deal
2. ↑ Prime Video: The Power