‘Heels’ Recap: ‘Ten-Bell Salute’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Stephen Amell as Jack Spade in Episode 201 of ‘Heels’ – ‘Ten-Bell Salute’. (Photo Courtesy of STARZ.)

Caution: This article contains spoilers for the Season Two Premiere of ‘Heels’. To revisit the Season One Finale, click here. Also, this piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, the series being covered here wouldn’t exist.
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When we last settled in to discuss the magnificent STARZ series, Heels, we talked at length about one particular moment in life that everyone wants to achieve. Specifically, grabbing hold of our greatest dream at last, and how… it doesn’t play out quite the way we expect to. For the prevailing belief is that the moment we reach the apex, we have a moment of clarity. Of what it means to get there, of what the journey looked like and well… ‘Double Turn’ made it clear, that’s simply not the case. It’s just a moment. One that of course, features a great deal of joy because we finally achieved everything we have ever wanted. But that does of course, beg an important question. In that, why then do so many stories and people speak of reflection at the end of this leg of the journey?
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Well, it just so happens, that season two premiere of this incredible series, takes the time to answer that question. That is, after celebrations were underway in ‘Ten-Bell Salute’. For shortly after Crystal hoisted the belt as champion of the Duffy Wrestling League, and the audience went home… it was indeed time to toast to the reality that the league pulled it off. They were the toast of the town and the buzz of the fair. To the point where deals were ready to be made to make the DWL the premier event of fairs to come and well, everyone was over the moon, and rightfully so. Because at last, the dream was achieved and the sky was now the limit, and that… is where the story began to explore how reflection comes into our proudest moment, by outright taking us into the past to explore what really brought us to this moment and how the journey got underway.

Which for Jack and Ace Spade… began in their darkest hour. But they weren’t aware of that in the moment. After all, their father was gone, in the worst possible manner and all they could think of in the days that followed that devastating discovery, was the pain in their hearts, and they weren’t alone. For the entire town knew and loved Tom ‘King’ Spade and everyone’s attention in Duffy was tuned into paying their last respects to a man that tried to do so much for the community and tried to really make something special happen in this town. But now that all remained of him, were unpaid bills and a Dome that no one could afford. So, plans were set in motion to bid farewell to the Duffy Dome and the DWL and that… is where the journey accelerated for these two gentlemen, and their friends. Allowing for us to understand what lights the spark for the dream and how powerful it feels in those early days of chasing it.

A feat accomplished by way of an interesting suggestion from Stacy. For while she and Jack were talking, she pointed out that Jack’s lamentation of never getting to tell amazing stories via the league and revitalize it the way he hoped his late father would, could be easily fixed. If he put together a Ten-Bell Salute Event. One that would offer up one last match for the DWL, in the Duffy Dome. Wherein King Spade could be sent off in style and with respect and well, that… allowed for Jack and Ace to wrestle together at last, since Ace wanted in and watching him pick it up quickly and watching the joy fill his eyes, alongside Jack… spoke to what lit the spark and what it meant to them to be doing this, on a fateful night when the Duffy Dome was at capacity to say farewell to the King. Since they loved every second of it and found the path, they wanted more than anything.

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Alexander Ludwig as Ace Spade in Episode 201 of ‘Heels’ – ‘Ten-Bell Salute’. (Photo Courtesy of STARZ.)

Which was a sequence that accomplished two goals really for the story. One, it filled in the last of the blanks regarding everyone’s story, and what wrestling, and family and Duffy means to each of them. Since we saw Crystal in her pre-valet days here, and the hunger she had to be near the sport, and we saw Willie really speak to her passion regarding the sport and we learned a lot about Staci and how a miscarriage transformed her into someone that had no qualms being bold to savor the importance of the moment and what we have. But it really did speak to how… the moments following the one where we achieve everything we’ve wanted, are where we finally reflect. Where we truly appreciate the journey and every hardship. Because those moments made us into something more, into the champion, if you will, that finally reached the top of the mountain and achieved what so many seek to achieve.  
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But of course, since this is a powerfully cerebral series through and through, just showing us the formative moments of the DWL and the dream, and what real reflection looks like… isn’t enough for this series. Which is why it also explored how that moment changes us for the better. Because shortly after he returned home from the big night, Jack Spade was not the same person that entered the ring. He was humbled, he was at peace, despite his mistakes. That prompted him to talk to Stacy on a more comprehensive and honest level about their love and how they would start to look toward tomorrow. At stabilizing their relationship, while Jack worked on maintaining the dream and enjoying the fruits of his labor through and through, and it was nice to have the series showcase how the dream does benefit us from a mental health standpoint and also how… the challenges don’t end. 

Because the dream doesn’t stop the world from turning, nor does it stop hardships and well… there are definitely troubles waiting on the horizon for Jack and the DWL. After all, despite being humiliated by a man that made a mess in his pants, Charlie Gully was determined to put Florida Dystopia Wrestling back into the spotlight, despite it being badly eclipsed by the DWL’s incredible night. By simply going online to mock Crystal’s achievement and the match in general. Making it clear this grade-A jackass isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, and of course… there’s Ace. Because we learned in this tale, the DWL brought him closer to his father, and that’s another layer as to why he was chasing this dream. But having Jack treat him in the manner he did for ticket sales… was more than he could bear, and he thought perhaps… his time was done in Duffy, and he headed away from home in a hurry late on this wondrous night. 

A move that also speaks to how our pursuit of the dream at any cost can bring forth big consequences. For now, the DWL is down one of its biggest stars and that will be a big problem in the days to come. But while we wait to see how that gets resolved, we can celebrate… one amazing season premiere. One that informed us that this year’s storytelling will leave no stone unturned with the characters and that their growth and their journey is the focus. And that it won’t be abandoning its explorations of the power of dreams and the ups and downs that come with chasing them and maintaining them. Which is wonderful news. Since it means the characters, we love and adore and relate to, will still be the top focus of the show, and the inspiring commentary we crave will be present, and it will simply be incredible to see what lies ahead for the Duffy Wrestling League as season two of this inspired and incredible series, continues along. Until next time.

To learn more about Willie Day’s journey in season two of ‘Heels’, check out our interview with Actor Mary McCormack.

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