REVIEW: ‘Welcome to Wrexham’ Episodes 1 – 2

Welcome to Wrexham premiered on FX and HULU this past week, and it’s generated an amazing amount of buzz in the online world. It’s a crazy story really. Two very successful celebrities in Ryan Reynolds, and Rob McElhenney come together to use their purchasing power to invest in, Wrexham Football Club. A Canadian, and an American in Wales. Don’t adjust your screen you read that exactly right. Welcome to Wrexham is a fly-on-the-wall documentary highlighting the journey of Reynolds, and McElhenney as they attempt to get this football team into successful shape through promotion, and lift up a community that is in desperate need of a helping hand.

Back in 2020 McElhenney became increasingly infatuated with the beautiful game, also known as Football (sorry America, Soccer). This was due to the influence of his friend, also a writer on Mythic Quest, Humphrey Ker. Ker is obsessed with the sport, and a native of England, and would watch it religiously during his lunch breaks. McElhenney envisioned a dream of having ownership in a club in the UK, but after Ker walked him through the potential investment risks, financial obligations and essentially the money pit that owning a team would require, he turned to his friend and superhero mega-celebrity Reynolds to see if he’d be keen on going halfsies.

The show actually does a wonderful job of introducing all of the insane variables into the view to give the audience the full scope of the events of this very true story. Two massive celebrities investing in a team that is literally 40 minutes away from where I used to live in England.

While many people will likely be tuning into the show wanting to see the antics of Reynolds, and McElhenney, the show actually has more to offer than some might have anticipated. The show does find a wonderful way to balance itself out by using Reynolds and McElhenney to imbue that comedy in a way that is very unique to their styles. Yet, both celebrity investors inject a lot of their personal stories into the decision of buying the club and allow a lot of filming access as they conduct business and learn the hard way about the challenge they’ve accepted. In that sense the show feels incredibly personal and vulnerable in a way. It’s quite stunning how much footage they had even very early on in this venture.

As a lover of the game and a fan myself, Football in the UK is a phenomenon like no other I’ve experienced. For many fans their team is a physical manifestation of the town or city itself, it embodies the culture, and the success and failures are felt deeply throughout. The show does a fantastic job in projecting this lifestyle by allowing players, fans, and business owners in the area the chance to share their personal perspectives.

This is where the show really starts to feel much more than the spectacle. There are real people on the other end of this with jobs at the club and businesses that depend on this football club to thrive. Once the show has been grounded and you understand that the town of Wrexham has been handed this lifeline the documentary begins to take a completely different form. No, Welcome to Wrexham isn’t just a simple rags to riches story, it’s an underdog story full of heart and hope.

As you pull back the layers and find yourself drawn further into the story the docuseries continues to give you more. It’s the clever, and quick-witted way it details football facts in a relatable and easily digestible fashion, or the splash of humor they use to translate slang words in English into American, and even in to Welsh.

Welcome to Wrexham is heartbreaking, hilarious, and charming all in the same breath. The show manages to pack in an incredible amount of content and after two episodes you’ll be left invested in the adventure with a mighty need for more.

Welcome to Wrexham is available now exclusively on FX and HULU with new episodes coming weekly.