"Heels" has found a new streaming home on Netflix, and now is the perfect time to stream the Starz wrestling drama.
Last month, we reported that the celebrated sports drama had landed a Netflix streaming date; now that September 15 has rolled around, you can finally find both seasons of "Heels" on one of the best streaming services in the business.
The Starz series is a deep dive into the lives of two brothers attached to a small-town American wrestling league. "Heels" comes highly recommended by many viewers, and for good reason: It's an entertaining sports show that comes armed with plenty of interpersonal drama and exciting in-ring action.
So why is now the best time to dive in? Well, "Heels" showrunner Mike O'Malley has made it clear several times over that he'd love to make more episodes. In the days leading up to its Netflix debut, O'Malley told TV Insider that, in his eyes, 'there are many more season of story to tell', and that he 'desperately' wants to make them.
Seeing as THR claims Netflix could be interested in reviving the show if it finds enough of an audience on the platform, maybe fans can hope that "Heels" isn't quite down for the count just yet.
Whether you're revisiting the Duffy Wrestling League, or you're just in the market for a new show to binge, now's the perfect opportunity to blitz through "Heels". But if you still need a little more info about the show, including some of the praise that it won from critics when it originally aired, read on.
What is 'Heels' about?
"Heels," as I've mentioned already, is a professional wrestling drama. However, this isn't one that takes place among the glitz and glam of the WWE world; instead, Michael Waldron's show takes us to Duffy, Georgia for a more grounded slice of life.
Here, we're introduced to Jack and Ace Space (Stephen Amell and Alexander Ludwig, respectively). Following the unexpected death of their father, wrestling legend Tom Spade, Jack inherited the family promotion, Duffy Wrestling League, afloat. He's also currently drawing the audience's ire as the promotion's "heel" (a villain, in wrestling terms).
Ace, meanwhile, is the league's "face," the crowd favorite and DWL golden boy. However, those in-ring identities slowly begin to bleed out into their real lives (where their roles are very much reversed) as the pair butt heads over how the promotion should be run.
Why you should watch 'Heels'
In short, "Heels" is a heady mix of sports action and compelling family drama that deserves a second chance. Don't be frightened off if you're not a big professional wrestling fan, either. Aside from a single summer where I watched everything from the WWE that I could get my teenage eyes on, I'm far from a die-hard fan myself. That said, I'd still say there's a lot to like about this "Heels," and definitely suggest giving it a shot now it's on Netflix.
And you don't just have to take my word for it, either, as the show comes highly recommended by critics. At the time of writing, the show's got an impressive 94% critics' rating on the review aggregate site, Rotten Tomatoes. It's not just critics, either, as "Heels" also boasts an audience rating is also 94%.
Reviewing the first four episodes of "Heels" season 1, Entertainment Weekly's Kristen Baldwin gave the show a B+ rating and piled praise on the cast, writing: Amell is a wrestling aficionado in real life, and 'Heels' captures the humor and scrappy showmanship of sports entertainment", even if she found some fault with the 'derivative' female characters.
The Hollywood Reporter's Angie Han wrote that "Heels" was 'the story of people who keep making mistakes but who also keep trying to fix themselves, over and over, with gripping and poignant results'. Han also highlighted the in-ring action — "as directed by Peter Segal, the matches look both impossibly elegant and painfully brutal" — and added that the series "rewards patience" and grows even better after it broadens its scope beyond Jack and Ace.
And in his 8/10 IGN review, Matt Fowler wrote: "'Heels' is a stern but loving look at the world of wrestling, headlined by an actor who truly loves the business," adding that the show shows the pro-wrestling world off 'in a way that's easily accessible, while also providing enough soapy (in a good way) family drama and character conflict to keep the serialized TV series engine afloat).
You can stream both seasons of "Heels" on Netflix now. Still don't think "Heels" is the right show for you? Be sure to check out our list of all the best shows on Netflix we think you should be streaming for even more top show recommendations.
