Heels Review: The Big Bad Fish Man (Season 1 Episode 7)

On Heels Season 1 Episode 7, “The Big Bad Fish Man,” the upcoming state fair show puts stress on everyone’s fractured personal relationships.

As the last episode before the finale, this is Heels’ go home show, which gives the audience one last push, so they’re excited for the big event. This means we finally get a showdown between the DWL and Florida Dystopia Wrestling.

At the state fair, everything is on the line for the DWL, and the tension in this episode does a great job of never letting us forget that. Beginning with the flashback of Jack and Tom, the layers of emotion deliver one Heels’ best outings of the season.

Our dislike and frustration with Ace is no secret, so we can’t pretend to be surprised when Jack once again saves him from himself, in a very badass way. Jack shows up to a Dystopia show and beats up Gully in the middle of the ring, delivering a callback line he got from his father.

The one good thing that comes from Ace’s trip to Florida is that he learns Jack actually does know what he’s doing, and cares a lot more about his wrestlers than Gully ever will.

Like any good big brother, Jack has spent his whole life protecting Ace. Sometimes it’s saved him from making monumentally bad decisions, like it does with Gully, other times it’s prevented Ace from taking responsibility for his choices.

Unfortunately for Heels, it’s led to some rough character development for Jack and Ace. They’re so trapped in the cycle of their dysfunctional family, they can’t see the damage it’s doing to the rest of their relationships.

In Jack’s case that means his marriage. Staci has made her feelings about the DWL clear. However, for someone so concerned with how scripted life is taking over her real one, it seems weird that she cares that Jack facilitated Ace’s heel turn.

It’s the one time all season Staci’s feelings don’t make sense. The show is obviously using a small plot device to drum up drama between the couple. An unappreciated move that makes it feel like Heels is underestimating the audience’s intelligence.

Jack and Staci have plenty of real issues, most of which the series has covered beautifully throughout the season, so this just comes off as silly.

In the middle of all the Spade family drama, the league needs to hold open tryouts for the state fair. This finally gives Crystal a chance to show what she can do in the ring.

If we take nothing else from “The Big Bad Fish Man,” it’s that Kelli Berglund has done a fantastic job with Crystal’s arc this season.

From her emotional apology to Jack to her awesome tryout with Bill to her letting Jack know Ace is in trouble, there are no wasted moments in Berglund’s performance.

Typically, a go home show provides fans one last big moment to get fully on board with the good guy defeating the bad guy at the big event. This episode is that moment for Crystal.

Heading into the season finale, we want Crystal to get her big win and have her arm raised.

From the minute Bill came back into her life on a more regular basis, we’ve seen the cracks forming in Willie. She believes in the DWL, wants it and Jack to succeed, but she can’t deal with all the old crap Bill’s proximity is bringing up.

When she blows up at her daughter over dirty dishes, her caring and supportive husband tries to talk to her, but it’s too much. Mary McCormack is unsurprisingly amazing as she slowly builds to the eruption we’ve seen her holding back for weeks.

“The Big Bad Fish Man” expertly grabs all the storylines and weaves them together in one thread that we can see will end the season in a big tangled, entertaining mess.

What did you think of this episode of Heels? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Heels is streaming on STARZ, with new episodes every Sunday.

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