REVIEW! (Welcome to Wrexham)
3/JAN/2024
Welcome to Wrexham: Ryan Reynolds- Deadpool - and Rob McEhenny -It’s Always Sunny guy - buy a soccer team in Wales that is circling the drain, in an attempt to get it moved up from a lower-ranked league to the big time. Yo, Hulu’s video player is freaking terrible, just getting that out of the way.
This is a really compelling, interesting documentary series! I asked my dad why he liked it so much, as it was his recommendation, and he said “It’s just like the Bills!” It truly is. This show mirrors the Big Drought that Bills fans are so familiar with, that grim decade and a half without a playoff showing. I fully admit that I tapped out of being a Bills fan during this time. Dude, if you want me to support the team, you have to put out. I’m not just going to automatically root for my home team if they’re really bad. I made up for this by being a big hockey fan, but it sucked to not have a good football team. THEN CAME THE PERIOD OF OUR LORD AND SAVIOR JOSH ALLEN WOOO!! Anyway, I had this feeling as well, and then in Season 2, the show actually compared Wrexham to the Buffalo Bills, commenting on the Super Bowls that were lost!
Anyway, this really gripped me as a Buffalo Bills fan, with the idea that the fans of Wrexham would absolutely be Bills fans if they were in the US. We were down and out for so long, and now we have a glimmer of hope at greatness, just like Wrexham! There’s even a woman in S2E1 that says “Why do we do this to ourselves?!”, something I’ve heard my Bills friends say many times.
I will say upfront here that I am not the target audience for this as I am not really a soccer fan, despite playing it when I was a kid (not really that well). I’ve been to a few World Cup bars when our teams were playing and I will absolutely say that it is bad ass when we’re good - the Mens team was great recently and of course the Womens team have won a few times. Too bad those hags hate this country though. Anyway, you totally rock it with the Wrexham crowd when the team is winning, it feels like you’re right there with them.
HE WEARS THE RED AND WHITE
HE’S FUCKING DYNAMITE
WE’VE GOT SUPER PAUL MULLINNNNNN!!!!
Although the team leagues is an arcane black magic, I actually quite enjoy the idea of a team being demoted or promoted based on their quality in the season, it really sets a fire under the lower guys to move up. It probably wouldn’t work that well in the US for something like the NFL, but I’m just saying I like the concept.
The games are masterfully shot by the documentary crew. Just amazing shots and fast editing that give a huge adrenaline blast when Wrexham scores and wins, especially the close matches.
It’s not all soccer. What really ups the show’s quality is the focus on the townspeople and team’s supporters. The documentary becomes a real slice-of-life human interest story when it goes into these offshoots. One goalie gets knocked out in a game and we see some of his recovery, along with a team supporter who gets cancer but only wants Wrexham to improve their standing in the league. In season 2 there’s an episode with autistic fans and SUPER PAUL MULLIN whose son shares the disorder. The show has a lot of interviews with Reynolds and McElhenny where they say that they dont want to simply own a successful Welsh football team, but that they really want to see the city of Wrexham and all its bonkers fans really get pumped about having a great club. Also, damn man, Ryan Reynolds is so goddamn funny. He can make any situation hilarious. Dude just has great timing and delivery.
With the sideshow episodes, there are some clear fluff pieces like when they do goofy things like explore Rob & Ryans’ bromance, these easily could have been cut, but I guess they add some flavor. In any case, they’re quickly forgotten for the cocaine rush of when Wrexham is down but comes roaring back. You feel like you’re right there with them, and it especially rings true for a Bills fan. Also quick sidenote: I never really liked It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. I watched a few episodes of that show and it always struck me as being about as funny as a stubbed toe. The jokes just don’t land and everyone in the show is really annoying. Same goes for Community.
The kinetic editing during the matches is masterful. Especially in the last episode of the first season, where at a dramatic moment in the game, they stop and do some character drama. With some minor spoilers - the loss of the last game in the first season, felt exactly like the Bills losing to the Chiefs in the playoffs a few years ago. Yeah, we didn’t win the Super Bowl, and losing hurts, but goddammit, we are a completely different team than we were only a few years ago! I teared up a good amount of times in this show because of its ability to make really special moments. On top of that, most of the episodes are only 25 minutes anyway, except for a few longer ones. Can’t beat it!
Highly recommend.
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