Where to Watch Riches (Season 1)

Find out where to watch Season 1 of Riches, the new drama-filled series about family members battling for control of a powerful haircare and beauty empire.

The central themes of Riches hardly seem unique, especially with popular series like Succession offering a corporate drama filled with power struggles, scandals, deceptions, and plot twists. Still, Riches offers a transcontinental spin on the traditional business-oriented soap opera formula. Nina, played by Deborah Ayorinde, starts the series as a successful businesswoman in the United States at the pinnacle of her career. Suddenly, she receives word that her father, Stephen Richards, who abandoned her family many years ago and had been running a highly profitable cosmetics business in the UK, had passed away. Nina and her brother Simon set off for the UK for the funeral and to meet with their British family members to read the will of Stephen Richards, played by Hugh Quarshie of Star Wars and Highlander fame. When it’s revealed that Stephen has left Flair and Glory to Nina and Simon who have had nothing to do with the company’s running, it sets off a flurry of rage, especially from Claudia, Stephen’s current wife who expected to inherit the fortune along with her children.

To see how the family drama of Riches unfolds, you can watch the first season now on Amazon Prime Video.

Watch Riches (Season 1) on Amazon Prime Video

How Riches Defines Itself Among Boardroom Soap Operas

Many would say the origin of the modern cooperate-oriented family dramas was shows like Dallas and Dynasty which featured super-rich family members never satisfied with their present wealth feuding and engaging in power struggles. Riches, on the other hand, keeps more of the events centered on the everyday operations of the Flair and Glory empire, while still including plenty of romances and contentious confrontations. However, the differences between Riches and similar shows extend beyond how business-oriented they are and instead to how this drama’s premise is set up.

Nina and her brother Simon did not benefit from their estranged father’s wealth in the same way as their family members in the UK who enjoy the best things in life. When they arrive in Great Britain and encounter Stephen Richards’ second family, it’s undoubtedly enough of a culture shock between the Americans and Brits. What takes this family dynamic to a new level is the fact that Nina and her brother had to claw their way to success in America, and now are seen by Stephen’s British family as invading their homes and threatening the wealth resulting from their patriarch’s success in the business world. It soon becomes clear that Stephen made the shocking choice to give his empire to Nina because she is willing to fight for the company’s place in the marketplace for years to come and can also shake things up with her relatives who had become a bit too comfortable with the status quo.

Of course, it also can’t be ignored that Riches features a black family running a very successful business focused on the cosmetic needs of black customers. In recent years, Empire told the story of a powerful black family running a music empire with the patriarch’s health declining and children vying to take over his fortune. Riches is careful not to make race a focus of the series, but viewers witness subtle forms of racism in the treatment of wealthy black people by police officers. The show also celebrates the richness of the Nigerian and Caribbean heritages of the Richards as well as how the UK remains a diverse melting pot of black cultures.

Where to Watch Season 1 of Riches

In Riches, show creator Abby Ajayi who previously wrote How to Get Away With Murder and Inventing Anna, has provided viewers with a riveting tale of corporate greed blended with the relatable family dynamics of jealousy and rivalry. The first season consists of a neat and tidy 6 episodes of around 45 minutes each which is obviously leaving fans anxious to see how things turn out with the Richards clan. While a second season has yet to be confirmed, you can watch season 1 of Riches now on Amazon Prime Video.

Watch Riches (Season 1) on Amazon Prime Video