‘Heels’ Recap: ‘House Show’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode Six of ‘Heels’.
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Often times in storytelling, big mistakes that characters make… are treated with great reverence and weight and understandably so. Because mistakes are the foundation for the notion of redemption and having a character screw up badly… allows for a grand journey to obtain said redemption to take place. One where the audience is treated to a great deal of lessons revolving around the importance of finding and maintaining a good moral center. But while that does indeed allow for some engaging storytelling to take place, at times… such a journey is quite excessive and detrimental to the overall story. Because sometimes, finding forgiveness can be a far less complex process than we would like to think, and sometimes all it takes to obtain it, is humility and honesty and self-awareness and a willingness to want to set things right and drawing that out in a story when the solution is indeed obvious… can seem quite silly.
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But not every story out there makes a mountain out of the notion of forgiveness. For there are some that have no qualms with showing their readers or their viewers the simplicity of that notion and how powerful and empowering it can be for an individual to engage in that level of honesty with themselves and with others and one such story that keeps such concepts simple, is the STARZ series, Heels. Because this week’s episode of the show, ‘House Story’, picks up shortly after the harrowing events of ‘Swerve’, wherein grave mistakes were made by a bevy of characters and well… rather than draw out everything revolving around those mistakes, Ace in this instance, wasted zero time in seeking resolution for his own. For he took a little time to reflect upon his actions and came to realize that he let his feelings mix in with the show and that in turn motivated him to do something quite awful and that epiphany allowed for him… to really begin to reflect upon his life and where he’s been and where he’s going. 

Which in turn helped him to understand that he’s made a lot of mistakes and missteps in his life, the kind that have taken him down a path that he simply didn’t want, and the only way to begin to reverse course, was to accept his mistakes and own up to them and find a way to move forward from them. Which is why he took the time to purge his soul of negativity and forgive himself for his actions, so he could in turn ask for forgiveness from others. Which he did indeed do at the barbecue following the baptism of Big Jim’s baby and thankfully, his overtures for forgiveness were well received. Since Bobby Pin was quite eager to sweep that unfortunate moment beneath the bridge that Ace was building and Crystal even seemed receptive to Ace’s overtures, proving without a doubt… that cutting to the chase and being honest and real with ourselves about our mistakes, and putting forth a swift effort to fix them, can bring about wonders and peace.

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However, since this is a series that examines every aspect of the concepts it introduces, it was also eager to ponder upon how one finds forgiveness, when one is clueless to the missteps they make. Because let’s be honest, we’ve all known people who cannot ever read the room or the moment in the slightest, and these are the types of folks it seems, are incapable of hearing others and what they need. But it is possible to reach them and teach them the importance of attrition, as evidenced by Wild Bill’s journey in this tale. For he fits that description to a tee, and he tends to forge ahead regardless of what vitriol spills out of his mouth. But men like Wild Bill, can in fact do the right thing, when someone that means something to them cuts through the B.S. they spew and points out their mistakes. Which is precisely what Jack did in this tale, by subtly explaining to Bill that what he said to Willie was out of line and could jeopardize his attempts at a second chance if he did nothing about it.
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Which in turn, gave Bill pause and left him pondering upon his past and his actions and well… that finally allowed for Bill to lower his guard and do what seemed to be impossible a few weeks ago… and outright apologize to Willie for well, everything. An act that of course, didn’t come easy for Bill in the slightest since this was new territory for him. But eventually, he opened up to her properly and really explained the remorse he felt over the hurt he caused her and how hard it was for him when she bailed on him to become Tom’s valet and well… this made for one powerful moment between the two of them. The kind that genuinely taught us what real talk from others can do for us. But what matters most, is that this was a moment of growth for Bill, since this is something, he simply does not do, and it should be quite interesting to see where this life-changing moment will take him in the weeks to come.

But while this grand and intimate and raw exploration into the power of honesty and the simplicity of forgiveness could have carried this entire tale, there was one other aspect on this matter that the story felt the need to explore. Because while it is indeed nice to know how we come back from our mistakes, it is equally as important to explore what creates them. So that we understand how to better avoid them and really, being present in the moment is the best way to avoid a great deal of our mistakes. Because when we aren’t present in the moment and are utterly oblivious to what’s happening around us, for whatever reason, we can quickly put ourselves in a situation where forgiveness is going to be an outright necessity. As evidenced by Jack Spade’s fascinating journey in this particular tale.

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Because when we catch up with him here, he’s buried in preparations for the big show at the state fair and well, his desire to use that as the ticket to solve his and his family’s problems, helps him to miss the moment. To the point where he misses hearing Staci perform the wonderful song that she wrote for the baptism, and of course… he once again forgets to spend time with her and Thomas and well… that leads to some major conflict between he and Staci. Since she takes the time to point out that his constant push to make life about the DWL over anything else puts her and Thomas in a place of neglect and outright loneliness and that outright makes it clear to us that Jack is indeed, not present in the moment and that might lead to some mistakes in his relationship, and it has already brought about problems within the DWL... as evidenced by the surprise that happened at the end of this tale.

For after weeks of pleading and patience with Jack, Rooster Robbins finally decided to do something about his situation within the Duffy Wrestling League. Because while Jack was working to promote the big show and quietly teaching Bill a lesson, Charlie Gully was making incredible overtures to Rooster. The kind that promised him a great deal of money if he brought his talents down Charlie Gully’s way and well… not being heard and not being respected, led Rooster to take Charlie up on his offer for a better and richer tomorrow. Which is scary to say the least. For Rooster's actions here, really hammer home the fact that the DWL and its future is on shaky ground right now and Jack has to do a better job of being present and observant in everything he does… or the whole dream could come crashing down. 

But while we wait to see if Jack will learn or has learned that all-important lesson, we can bask in the majesty of one brilliant tale. One that reinforced the fact that Heels IS the best show on television right now. Because there’s no other series out there, diving into concepts this intimate and this human. But this show, dares to look at the human condition in a fresh and dynamic manner and this episode really does deserve a round of applause for teaching us some powerful and meaningful lessons in the most engaging and subtle way imaginable. Plus, this episode also deserves some serious credit for once again paying homage to wrestling by way of that Mick Foley cameo and well, in the end, all this episode does is leave us counting down the minutes until next Sunday’s entry. So, we can see what Ace and Bill do with the lessons they’ve learned and what will come of Charlie Gully’s shocking power play. Until next time.

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Wrestling Legend Mick Foley as Dickie Valentine.