If you watched Welcome to Wrexham Season 1, then you know that the initial draw is the magnetic charisma of Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney. Ultimately, however, the reason to keep watching is the timeless underdog story the documentary tells. It’s clear that this is a team that, despite endless fan support, has never quite achieved greatness under their previous direction. Season 1 ends with Wrexham falling just short of glory – so what’s next for the team?
It’s Make or Break in Welcome to Wrexham
Right away, Wrexham Season 2 does a fantastic job of not only catching us up to speed with everything from Season 1, but also showing how, despite initial apprehension from fans, the celebrity status of McElhenney and Reynolds has truly done wonders for both the team and the town they represent. The small town of Wrexham is absolutely booming with love and attention from tourists from all around the globe. This small team that seemingly no one had ever heard of before is suddenly a global phenomenon.
That being said, with all the fan support Wrexham is getting, turning this team into the winners they need to be to stay together is no easy task. With five episodes released so far (and 10 to go), the dilemma is clear – if the team doesn’t get the wins they need to be promoted to the next league, it will be financially impossible to keep them together. The stakes are as high as they get.
In that respect, Welcome to Wrexham Season 2 does something incredible – it turns the documentary format into an incredibly compelling story on par with many scripted stories. We’re rooting for Wrexham, and not just because of the celebrities that support them or the underdog story. There’s another critical point that Wrexham is smashing out of the park now.
Character Stories Are King
In the past few years, with scripted comedy hits like Atlanta and Dave, FX has become known for a storytelling device that wasn’t super common in the past – entire episodes devoted to side characters, often not even featuring the main characters of the show. In Season 2, Wrexham has taken this compelling storytelling device to the documentary format.
We get to spend more time with the quirky characters of Wrexham overall, right down to a substantial amount of screen time devoted to the guy who runs concessions at the Racecourse Ground. However, the storytelling reaches a new level in Episode 2, when we meet Millie Tipping, a teenage Wrexham fan who was diagnosed with autism at an early age. Tipping’s story resonates with Wrexham forward Paul Mullin, who shares his struggles with his young son, Albi, who was also diagnosed with nonverbal autism. When Paul goes public with the story of Albi, it encourages Tipping to approach him and bond over the similarity of their situation.
It’s a breath of fresh air to see Welcome to Wrexham Season 2 take risks, unafraid to divert from the main plot, and spend time with the people who make the team great. We can only hope the remaining episodes of Wrexham continue to show us the beating human hearts that live within this team of underdogs that the world is rooting for.
Welcome to Wrexham is streaming now on Hulu.
