Heels,created byMichael Waldron, premiered with much critical acclaim. The series deftly balances small-town melodrama with a gripping narrative about a struggling local professional wrestling company in the fictional town of Duffy, Georgia. As brothers Jack (Stephen Amell) and Ace (Alexander Ludwig) Spade spar over who should win the Duffy Wrestling League Championship Belt, those around them serve as collateral damage. Ultimately, Jack’s attempts to control the script of the DWL begin to haphazardly cross over into the real-life stories of his crew and loved ones.Heelsalso explores themes on financial instability, marital distrust, and sibling rivalry. The subject matter and small-town setting lend it many characteristics of what might be colloquially referred to as a “Rural Sports Drama,” joining the storied ranks of film and TV likeHoosiers, Field of Dreams,andFriday Night Lights.
The repeated visual motif of Jack typing the match’s script in the opening sequence of Episode 1, “Kayfabe” can be seen as both a literal look behind the scenes and a signifier of what is to come. The accompanying guitar score byJeff Cardoniis warm and inspirational. These two elements, combined with the roar of the crowd and slow-motion shots of Jack and Big Jim Kitchen (Duke Davis Roberts) duking it out in the ring are a beautiful celebration of the unique medium of professional wrestling: part magic, part performance, part physical marvel. Yet in the moments after this scene (the only match in the entire series where everything seems to go according to plan) the viewer is cued into the harsh reality of the DWL’s supposedly scripted storyline.
Jack’s beatdown of Ace serves as the inciting incident for the series. This fateful act is born out of Jack’s need to control his younger brother. Even though there are other moments that seem to steer Jack towards making Ace the “Heel,” what ultimately drives him to this decision is the looming prospect of Wild Bill scheming to recruit Ace to the big leagues of professional wrestling. Ace’s literal powerlessness against Jack in this scene is representative of his place in the overall narrative. His tears are both mourning his shot at the big time and the relationship with his brother. Significantly, Jack’s swift match with Ace is accompanied by the same recurring visual motif of Jack typing away in the dark. The hopeful guitar chords from the first scene are replaced with an atmospheric, foreboding score. The cheers in the crowd are replaced with boos. The magic is broken.
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Perhaps Jack’s most pivotal decision occurs in Episode 3, “Cheap Heat,” when he purchases packs of tissues for audience members to throw at Ace. Jack genuinely believes he is doing what is right for Ace’s story, yet it is merely a self-serving delusion. This greatly differs from Jack’s actions in the previous match, as Ace is unaware of Jack’s involvement. The two continue to drift further and further apart as Ace rebels against the image Jack is trying to create for him as a Heel. This mirrors the saga of Rooster (Allen Maldonado). After Rooster confronts Jack about not being included in the script, Jack claims that he’s “the best. The best guy we have,” and that he’ll be included, “When it makes sense for the storyline.” Yet Jack’s continued negligence of Rooster ultimately leads him to join Charlie Gully (Mike O’Malley) and the Florida Wrestling Dystopia. Jack’s insistence that these decisions are out of his hands in service of “the story” highlights a strong bond to the archetypal, sports drama underdog story that is ever-present in the modern collective conscious.Heelsis just the latest in a trend that merges this narrative with a drama set in a rural setting.
This rural drama genre is typically affixed to stories that follow the everyday struggles of people living in remote and rural communities. Stories such asThe Grapes of Wrathpopularized this concept, and it experienced a resurgence in the early 1980s with the release ofCountry,The River,andPlaces in the Heart. In the late-1980s the rural setting and its associated values were extrapolated to sports dramas, withHoosiersandField of Dreamstaking center stage. This would later find new life in theFriday Night LightsTV show and film.
Heelsdrew more comparisons toFriday Night Lightsthan other wrestling-centric properties. The portrayal of wrestling-obsessed Duffy, Georgia is accompanied by universal themes that go beyond its surface-level subject. The looming presence of a working-class struggle is communicated through the resistance of Jack’s wife Staci (Allison Luff) to Jack’s questionable DWL expenses. Cutaway shots of the Duffy townsfolk show their dedication and reliance on local professional wrestling. However,Heelsstands out by turning a classic sports trope on its head: the heroes/coaches/mentors of these classic underdog stories actually live up to the expectations people put on them. Through his various monologues on story integrity and one-on-one pep talks to DWL wrestlers, Jack makes it apparent that in his story, he is the patriarchal coach figure who knows what’s best for the DWL. However, his manipulative tactics and refusal to take responsibility for his actions suggest otherwise.
As Jack becomes more and more entrenched in the dealings of the DWL, Staci becomes increasingly disillusioned about their marriage. She feels that she has not had enough opportunities to explore her own passions, and this leads to a constant identity crisis. When Staci finds out that the tissue heckling of Ace was all part of Jack’s plan and temporarily moves out of the house, it is the last straw for her perpetually unheard voice. In Jack and Staci’s final exchange before the state fair, Staci offers an indictment of Jack’s sketchy tactics, calling him manipulative. Staci’s subsequent ultimatum, insisting that she won’t discuss their future until Jack tells Ace about the tissues, represents the ultimate blurring of Jack’s personal life and the story he has attempted to craft. As Staci says: “Jack, the true story of who you two can become, as brothers, as friends, as people…it can’t start without honesty.”
The brutal events of the State Fair match that occur after Jack admits to Ace his involvement in the tissue incident blurs this line even further. That this facilitates Crystal (Kelli Berglund)’s stunning ascent to the DWL Championship Belt is representative of a true classic underdog story, just not the one Jack thought he was writing. Though Ace’s relentless assault on Jack is cut short by Crystal, there isan indication of an upcoming season’sworth of psychological unpacking in the last glances from Jack to Ace as Crystal holds the belt. This final scene solidifiesHeels’ place in the upper echelon of rural sports dramas, a modern parable examining the dubious line between fiction and reality.
