The Big Door Prize Season 1 Episode 1-3 Review: Dusty, Cass, Jacob

What if a small blue card is a key to unlocking your life’s potential, and what happens when it’s revealed you are precisely what you’re meant to be? That’s the question that becomes the driving force for an intriguing, heartfelt, and sweet story on The Big Door Prize Season 1 Episodes 1-3, “Dusty,” “Cass,” and “Jacob.”

Following the residents of a small town called Deerfield, the mundanity of daily life is turned on its head with the arrival of the MORPHO Machine. A machine that allegedly reveals the user’s life’s potential in the form of a one or two-word descriptor on a small blue card.

The series kicks off with three characters, Dusty Hubbard (Chris O’Dowd), Cass Hubbard (Gabrielle Dennis), and Jacob Kovac (Sammy Fourlas), and showcases how their little blue cards subtly and not-so-subtly change their lives.

The Big Door Prize delivers the narrative in a way that makes you care about how things turn out for them instead of solely clinging to the plot device—the little blue card.

The first three episodes alone draw you into the events surrounding the residents we meet and almost immediately want to know the cause for the tension that begins to simmer over each new card reveal, and it doesn’t disappoint.

Dusty’s Potential: Teacher/Whistler

O’Dowd brings Dusty to life with his signature earnest comedic deadpan that leads to some great moments, not only with his family but also with his students. We meet Dusty on the morning of his 40^th birthday, getting a glimpse at his seemingly quirky, idyllic family life as his wife gives him his 40 gifts, including a theremin.

The witty back and forth that has become somewhat cliché recently feels natural and fitting for the Hubbard family. One of the best examples is when Dusty and Cass show up at their daughter’s after-school job and do a commendable job of embarrassing her, and it’s cringy and perfect.

I love how warm and genuine the setting and the tone feel leading to the MORPHO Machine’s reveal, making it a stark standout in the town.

This stark difference from Deerfield helps add to Dusty’s arc specifically. His refusal to use the MORPHO slowly begins to wane and eventually breaks by the end.

The moment he finds out he’s exactly what he’s meant to be is equally funny and sad. You can relate to the idea of finding out that there’s no other thing you’re meant to be but who you are.

The reveal leads to one of the more significant overarching questions of the series: Are you happy? And what does happiness look like to you?

Cass’s Potential: Royalty

Meanwhile, Cass’s episode amplifies one aspect of her that we’ve seen bits of during the pilot and brings it to the fore with the help of her revealed life’s potential: royalty.

A sense of stifled desires, dreams, and ambitions comes through in Cass’s daily routine, including visiting her mother, Izzy’s store/office. Izzy, also the mayor, doesn’t have the best relationship with her daughter, opting to tear her down at every turn.

This moment is Cass’s breaking point, deciding to make a change.

And that change is one of the things that made me absolutely love this character and makes it such a relatable story. Cass decides to use the card and make it mean her own thing.

Thanks to a heartwarming conversation with Trina, she’s able to make it her own, finally standing up against her mother when it comes to

Gabrielle Dennis absolutely rocks the scene, confronting her mother and her negative comments, making the moment equally as empowering as it is a hilarious moment.

Jacob’s Potential: Hero

Jacob’s story rounds out the trio of episodes, getting to know more about his home life and getting a better understanding of his perspective. I genuinely appreciate that we are put in his shoes during his panic attack as the mounting pressure from his card and the upcoming dunk contest.

You can’t help but feel for him about losing his mom, then his brother, leaving him alone with a father who cannot really engage with him. It’s most apparent in his scenes with his father and doctor, emphasizing that he carries much weight on him.

Jacob even points out that it’s his brother, Kolton, that was the hero, not him, despite calling for help after finding Principal Pat.

I’m curious to see if we get more insight into what guilt he seems to hold about his brother and if it’s just because of Trina or if there’s more we aren’t seeing.

Though initially confused by the fact that we don’t start the story off with the entirety of the Hubbard family, with Trina’s (Djouliet Amara) story rounding out the first three episodes viewers get to see, it becomes clear part of the way to see how interconnected the town is.

I could go on and on about how this show feels like equal parts a warm blanket and ask something of those watching about their potential. But I won’t…for now.

The Big Door Prize feels like an adventure and story worth following, maybe even leading to some new insights of our own.

Stray Thoughts

• The fact that the episodes range from 30 to 35 minutes while managing to tell an intriguing, funny, earnest story with characters you want to know more about is checking off all the boxes on my must-watch TV checklist.
• I am always happy to see Josh Segarra on my screen, and Giorgio already seems like a solidly comedic character. I can’t wait to see what his blue card says.

What did you think of the first three episodes of The Big Door Prize? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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The Big Door Prize streams Wednesdays on AppleTV+.

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