Heels STARZ review: 5 reasons to watch the show when it premieres

2. The characters are complex and compelling.

Easily the most compelling and best part of this show is the characters. When I spoke to Amell during the press junket for this show, he said something along the lines of, “We could have wrestling for 50 minutes of our 56-minute runtime, but if you don’t care about that six minutes focused on characters, then we don’t have a show.” And he’s right. It’s not the wrestling that hooks you on Heels. It’s the characters.

From Jack to Ace to all the supporting players on this show, the actors bring their A-game. Ludwig, in particular, is exceptional in his role as Ace Spade, a complex character who you sometimes love to hate and sometimes just want to give a damn hug. He has a lot of interior conflict and residual trauma leftover from his father’s death that gives the actor tons of material to work with, and that’s not even touching on the relationships in his life.

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1. There are multiple strong female characters.

I don’t like the term “strong female character,” but it just felt apt here, and I mean that in the best way. All of the women on this show feel like real, three-dimensional characters. That said, I feel like Crystal’s storyline is probably one of the show’s weakest elements.

I love a good underdog-rises-to-the-top story, which I feel like is what the writers are going for here, but Crystal needs more to do that doesn’t revolve around the men in her life. I’ve only seen half the season thus far, so I’m hoping that will change in the back half as Kelli Berglund is great in this role, and Crystal has her sites set on being a female wrestler.

I want to see that storyline get some more meat on its bones sooner rather than later. However, I was pleasantly surprised to see that Jack’s wife, Staci, played by the fantastic Alison Luff, gets a lot to do.

She’s not relegated to just a stereotypical “wife” role, and there are some great layers to her relationship with her husband in addition to her personal wants and desires as a woman, wife, and mother. Beyond that, we also get Willie, played by the consistently great Mary McCormack and Jack and Ace’s mother, Carol Spade (Alice Barrett Mitchel).

Are you excited to watch Heels STARZ when it premieres? What are you most looking forward to about the show? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

Heels STARZ premieres on Sunday, August 15 at 9:00 p.m. 9:00 P.M. ET/PT.