Heels

Instead of rehashing the beef between Jack and Ace, which would ultimately be a disservice to the healthy development of both characters, the show chooses to explore new sources of interpersonal conflict and raises the stakes of the various rivalries that drive the drama unfolding behind the scenes.

As a family drama with professional wrestling as the backdrop and often the framing device, Heels is a success.

Heels captures the humor and scrappy showmanship of sports entertainment.

While Season 2 doesn’t feel as high stakes as its predecessor, “Heels'” continues its deep commitment to complex characters and showmanship in wrestling.

Throughout Heels, Jack agonizes over his scripts, trying to figure out how to make the audience care about his characters enough to come back for the next event. Heels itself, thankfully, is already there.

Heels would be a better show if it could quit with the hand-holding, if it could stand on the power of its own convictions without needing to fold in a CliffsNotes summary of its every move. And yet Heels can win you over despite the clunkiness.

McCormack's performance along with Chris Bauer's liquor-soaked portrayal of Wild Bill Hancock, a local wrestler who made good and abandoned Duffy, compensate for the limited emotional resonance of the show's top star. ... This a drama that more often plods than leaps and never makes a case for its necessity.