Wild Cards Season 3 Episode 2 Review: Quit Playing Games (With My Life)

Wild Cards Season 3 Episode 2, “Quit Playing Games (With My Life),” legitimizes boy bands while Ellis and Max try to move forward. What’s not to love?

This episode, written by K. Slaney and directed by Andy Mikita, is a dream come true for anyone who’s ever loved a boy band. It’s also a great episode for the season’s serialized arcs, particularly those for Ellis and Max.

“Quit Playing Games (With My Life)” starts on such a good note with Ricky.

At risk of sounding like a broken record, Fletcher Donovan is underrated in this role. His wit is so smart and sharp in that French Toast Friday scene. 

That scene is also a fantastic narrative tool to set up how Viv is living in the nostalgia of the past. Moreover, the script sets up an arc for Max, in that she has to choose whether to live in that or address how all of this makes her feel.

The case of the week with Too Good 2B True, Max’s favorite boy band from the ’90s and early 2000s, is an exciting device to keep that question in Max’s mind.

As a fan of early 2000s nostalgia and boy bands, “Quit Playing Games (With My Life)” delivers on every literal note. 

The entire aesthetic of the episode calls to me. Casting Clifton Murray, who appeared in 2006’s She’s the Man, as the band’s frontman makes it even better.

Wild Cards could have done nothing but poke fun at the band and the impact of their stardom. Instead, the episode positions Max — and, later, Simmons — in defense of Too Good 2B True. 

Moreover, “Quit Playing Games (With My Life)” doesn’t talk down to the band members. In fact, the main person who does — Axon — is the one who kills Buzz at a desperate attempt to climb his own professional ladder. 

The episode gives them much-appreciated depth. Rusty is coping with his voice changing; Theo is insecure after only knowing success; Noah feels overlooked by guys whom he considers brothers; Kaleb struggles to navigate fame and sobriety simultaneously. 

It’s particularly effective with Kaleb that Simmons says, “Just because he’s a recovery addict doesn’t mean he relapsed.”

There’s a sensitivity to see these band members as people rather than the versions of themselves that they’ve publicly appeared as for nearly two decades.

Surprisingly, Wild Cards uses the fandom that the band inspires to peel back more about Simmons. Michael Xavier plays that scene in the car so well. 

That scene also produces a great line from Yates: “I know you better than you know yourself, Simmons.” Hopefully, Wild Cards reflects that sentiment more in the season because their partnership is as good as Ellis and Max’s.

Really, Simmons’ and Max’s love for Too Good 2B True facilitates some of the best moments. Yates spends hours finding all the merchandise to put on Simmons’ desk; Max’s excitement to learn that Simmons is also a fan; Simmons inquires about Kody, for Chief Li to ask Yates, “Is he okay?” 

Then, Wild Cards uses the band and their fandom to go to some really emotional places. Some are more successful than others.

For instance, the band’s agreement to move forward, rather than being trapped in their past, inspires Ellis to take the next step with Jessica.

That progression works to a certain point, and then it finds drawbacks.

Wild Cards supports Ellis’s hesitancy to trust a woman in a romantic context after putting himself out there with Max and being rejected. (Little does he know, it’s because her mother came back from the dead.) What the show doesn’t support is the belief that Jessica is the person with whom Ellis should move forward.

The show only introduces Jessica at the end of Wild Cards Season 3 Episode 1, “Rack ‘Em Up.” Their scenes always catch Jessica coming or going from the boathouse, never sticking around much longer than that.

This relationship needs to stand apart and, perhaps, be even stronger than what Ellis has with Max to give reason for Ellis wanting to move forward with Jessica. “Quit Playing Games (With My Life)” isn’t all that convincing in that sense.

There is a silver lining in Ellis extending a toothbrush-shaped olive branch. That feels like a good place for the relationship to develop.

Plus, Wild Cards needs to characterize Jessica more so that Ellis putting his trust in her makes sense from a viewer’s perspective.

Meanwhile, Viv has been in as many episodes as Jessica, and Wild Cards really succeeds at exploring Viv and Max’s relationship. 

The band’s title finds its sharpest double meaning with that dynamic. It plays out particularly well in Max’s expression when Viv mentions going to Too Good 2B True’s concert. Every scene of theirs naturally leads up to their Act 5 conversation.

Understandably, it’s taking everyone time, but they’re gradually coming around to being honest with one another. That’s a productive path to move forward.

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Wild Cards airs Mondays at 8/7c on The CW.

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