It Took Just Two Episodes Of 'Welcome to Wrexham' To Exceed The Hype And Be One Of The Best Shows On Television
Last night was the premier of 'Welcome to Wrexham' the docu-series following Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney buying Wrexham. I went in with a ton of hype. The trailer looked awesome. The story is awesome. Let me tell you something. In just 2 episodes it already exceeded the hype. It's being called 'real life Ted Lasso', which I understand. But it's better.
It's, you know, real.
They show the background of Mac and Ryan Reynolds meeting - they didn't meet until after they bought a team together.
Shit, even the way the show started pulled a little on your heartstrings. It's Mac going to his childhood home with his son and his father. To call it a small house was an understatement. I honestly had no idea how he grew up outside of being a guy from Philly, so it's cool seeing that. Call me soft or a dad or whatever but there's something special that gets me now seeing dad and sons doing some reflecting together.
Then there's the purchasing of the team:
But what makes it a great show? They don't just focus on Reynolds and Mac, something that could easily be done. The entire second episode is dedicated to start learning about some of the players. You learn about the history of the club - the 3rd oldest club in the world. You learn about the city of Wrexham even a little bit.
It feels like a TV show. That's why people call it Ted Lasso - especially with the American/Canadian tie-in. It feels like you're watching characters until you realize, nope, these are guys fighting for their professional soccer careers. There's a scene in the second episode about how all these guys are basically on one-year deals and Mac's partner/advisor telling him about it all. That's when it really looks like Mac is an owner. When it clicks that he's going to have to cut people, etc.
It truly is an awesome show and one of the better starts to a docu-series I've seen. It's a great look at lower tier soccer. You get insight and views that we never would have without the purchase. After watching the first two episodes I think I have 2 goals. 1) Hang out with Mac, dude lives and dies with sports and I can get along with him. 2) Go to Wrexham.