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MEMO TO STARZ: PULL 'HEELS' SEASON TWO FROM AIRING

I've had the good fortune of being able to see an advance screening of the second season of STARZ's excellent pro wrestling drama Heels, which tells the tale of the Spade family struggling as they try to keep their independent promotion, The Duffy Wrestling League, alive against financial problems, infighting, a promotional war with a nearby Florida promotion and more. 

It's an excellent series about professional wrestling, but in many ways professional wrestling is just the backdrop of the story of these dreamers, some of whom are trying to process trauma, some of whom are trying to live up to their family legacy, some of whom are trying to keep their marriage together and some of whom just want to find a way to fame, fortune and glory.  If you've been around independent wrestling, we've all met some variation of these characters and Heels captures the good, bad and stupid of professional wrestling in a way that very few series have, to the point that even I sometimes forget these are actors, not actual professional wrestlers on my screen.

After watching the first 30 minutes of the first season, I badly wanted to go and sit in the Duffy Dome, the fictional arena in this fictional Georgia town, because I know all too well what it's like to have a wrestling promotion mean the world to you so much that you just can't miss a show the way that promotion meant something to Duffy.  it was a place for the fans there to escape and live vicariously as they were uplifted, but when you pulled back the curtain, those performing were the ones in need of uplifting the most, trying to get out from in front of themselves and their personal and family strife in order to achieve the impossible in a grueling world.

Heels captures that vibrancy and intimacy perfectly and in its second season, not only expands upon all that is set up during the first season but literally gives every character growth, experiences, triumphs and heartbreaks.  Some are massive.  Some are fleeting.  But all of these characters evolve and change as we witness it, culminating in, of course, a big wrestling show to close the season.  It's glorious and engrossing and hits all the right notes.  I loved it.

It's FN' great, so I implore STARZ, right now, pull it before it airs.

My fear is that due to the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike (which for the record, as someone you used to work in talent management, I absolutely agree with those striking in pursuit of a better contract), Heels will be burnt off, not properly promoted, lost in the tsunami of the current strike (as talents can no longer promote the series) and then, it will be discarded, forgotten and canceled, gone forever, because it didn't bring in the numbers that the bean counters want.  That, my friends, would be absolutely awful.

It wasn't that long ago that Netflix opted to cancel and shut down the fourth and final season of the excellent GLOW, which did such a great job telling the story of so many powerful female performers in the fictionalized version of the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling promotion.  While COVID was the reasoning, even now, I look back and wonder how much of that was just an excuse, especially since as the world has normalized, sports and even pro wrestling has returned, but a hit TV series about pro wrestling isn't worth the investment to resume shooting and finishing?  I digress, but GLOW suffered a fate worse than cancelation in my eyes.  It was discarded without any finality or closure, for the talents, for the writers, for the audience.  It sucked then and it sucks now.

To think of Heels suffering the same fate really, truly bothers me, especially since the final episode excellent cues up the next season/chapter for the Spade Boys and the DWL so perfectly.  Creator Michael Waldron and Showrunner Mike O'Malley have created and tapped into a world that is real, that is gritty, that is honest and hits all the right emotions not just for those of us who reside in the professional wrestling bubble, but for anyone who ever wondered what drives these insane people to give their lives to this askew world they put before everyone else, including themselves.  It's something special and deserves to be treated as such.

While I have zero doubt the second season of Heels will premiere on 7/28 and will be well received by those who watch it, I truly worry that it will be the last swansong for Jack and Ace Spade, Rooster, Diego, Crystal, Ricky Rabies, Wild Bill Hancock and everyone else from this world. 

GLOW was discarded and it wasn't right - and that was a series empowered by Netflix's Liz Flahive and Carly Mensch after the success of Orange is the New Black.  I would truly, absolutely hate to see Heels suffer that same fate, so I am holding out hope that the series will be held back until it can receive the proper promotional love and support from all involved until after the SAG-AFTRA strike is resolved.

I know this isn't a likely outcome, but for the good of the series and as someone who wants to see this thing run 10 seasons, I'm warning everyone now - take care of Heels before it's lost forever.

If you haven't seen Heels, below is the first season's premiere episode.  Give yourselves 30 minutes to watch the first half and see the excellence here for yourself:

 

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