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Shows about pro wrestling work because wrestling itself is about building characters and storylines. So when writers explore the lives of the wrestlers outside the ring, like in GLOW or Young Rock. there is generally a lot of personality to mine. Heels, a Starz original that originally debuted in 2021 but has recently landed on Netflix, is no exception, but it has a sibling conflict at its center, and one that’s about as epic as it gets. Read on for more…
HEELS: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?
Opening Shot: “In the world of professional wrestling, the heroes are known as Faces. The villains are Heels.” Then we see closeups of fingers tapping on a laptop intercut with a pro wrestling match.
The Gist: Jack Spade (Stephen Amell) was put in control of the Duffy Wrestling League by his father Tom, right before his father died. Tom had built the league from the ground up, but it had been suffering from poor attendance, even in the wrestling-mad town of Duffy, Georgia. But the crowds have been coming back lately thanks to his younger brother Ace (Alexander Ludwig), who has become the biggest Face in DWL. Jack, on the other hand, has written himself as the biggest Heel, and after Jack’s latest victory, Ace runs out and confronts him, setting the stage for a brother vs. brother match the next weekend.
One problem: Jack has no idea how to write this match. He and Ace may be brothers, but they don’t exactly get along. Jack’s the family man, though his wife Staci (Alison Luff) keeps getting on him for buying fog machines and not seeing her sing in church. Ace, on the other hand, takes a piss on a tree behind the church and is currently shtupping Crystal Tyler (Kelli Berglund), who acts as Ace’s valet on match nights.
Jack’s conflicted: Does he let Ace win and gain the championship belt or does he have Ace lose and keep the story going? It doesn’t help that Ace and Crystal have figured out a sequence that will make Ace the victor. Jack’s business partner, Willie Day (Mary McCormack), doesn’t hate it, but Jack has made up his mind: Ace is going down, to keep fans’ interest.
Then Wild Bill Hancock (Chris Bauer), a former DWL champion that made it big “up north” (read: WWE, even if the letters can’t be mentioned) comes to Duffy, scouting for new talent. Even though Ace’s ability is raw, Wild Bill knows the guy can attract a crowd. He pumps up Ace to act like the star he is. But Jack is the one who is in charge, and he’s not going to let his Face, and his little brother, go so easily.
What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Heels has a lot of elements of other wrestling dramedies, like GLOW and Young Rock, but it really plays out more like a family drama, a la Sons Of Anarchy.
Our Take: We were a bit surprised at how serious Heels was, given that it’s about low-level professional wrestling and it’s written and produced by Michael Waldron, who is one of the showrunners for Loki. Sure, it has its moments when it’s not treating its world with the utmost of seriousness. But when it comes to the Spade brothers and the tension between them, the show is pretty damn serious. And we enjoyed the hell out of that.
Sure, the stakes seem low; after all, it’s a third-tier wrestling league that plays in a leaky, rusty old factory building that is ironically named “The Dome.” But to Jack, they’re as high as they can be. The DWL is his father’s legacy, and he wants to grow it in ways that Tom Spade never did. But it is also how he keeps a roof over his family’s head and puts food on the table, so its success is crucial. He doesn’t care if his son Thomas (Roxton Garcia) roots for his Uncle Ace and boos him on match nights; whatever keeps the lights on and the wrestlers (minimally) paid is what he’s interested in.
When that butts up against Ace’s ambition and his desire to be more than just the Face of the DWL, that’s when the fireworks start. Sure, there are other stories that Waldron could follow, given we have interesting characters like Apocalypse (James Harrison), a journeyman who’s seen it all, and Rooster Robbins (Allen Maldonado), who is a bit less jaded than Apocalypse, but not much. But where this show is going to throw off sparks, especially at first, is the rivalry between Ace and Jack, especially the way it was left at the end of the first episode.
Sex and Skin: Ace and Crystal have sex in the bathroom next to the locker room, and they’re surprised when one of the wrestlers busts out and says “Let me know when you’re done so I can finish my shit.”
Parting Shot: After Ace says something to Jack right before they come out for their match, Jack makes a shocking improvisation that changes everything, both in the ring and out of it.
Sleeper Star: McCormack is one of our favorites, mainly because she brings humanity and toughness to every role she plays. We hope she’s given more to do as Willie, because she’s barely present in the first episode.
Most Pilot-y Line: Wild Bill gives Ace a piece of lumber with the words “Long Live the King” scrawled in it. Ace brings it into the match, but we’re not sure if anyone can read it, and it’s not like he’s using it to beat the heck out of Jack.
Our Call: STREAM IT. While Heels has the potential to build a deep world full of rich, interesting characters, the central conflict between the brothers is the reason we’re interested in this story.
Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.
