Wings season one episode reviews

Episode 1. "Legacy" I've always thought of Wings as Perfect-Strangers-without-the-physical-comedy. And this episode (with it's strong contrast between the leads, and sentimental ending) does nothing to dispel that idea. And, of course, I love it.

Episode 2. "Around The World In Eighty Years" Everything I remember about Wings is in place by Episode 2. The contrast between the brothers, Helen being totally gorgeous, Lowell getting all the best laughs, etc. etc. There's a sweet story in this one where Fay meets a man who is back from travelling around the world and is afraid to finish the journey in case he dies.

Episode 3. "Return to Nantucket" A very enjoyable episode that goes to the heart of the characters, and to the concept of the whole series. Carol, the woman that Brian stole from his brother Joe, is passing through Boston on her way to a new life in London. Brian runs to Boston in an effort to win her back, Helen runs after Brian to pick up the pieces (which is what she does for the Hackett brothers) and Joe runs after both of them (and maybe Carol, but he won't admit it). Even more than in the pilot you get a sense of who these people are and what their shared history actually is. It's also a funny episode. The funniest part comes at the end when Carol (who hasn't shown up to meet Brian) sends a very grumpy cab driver to deliver some messages of love.

Before that, all the best laughs come from the character of Lowell.

Episode 4. "Return to Nantucket, Part Two" Carol is back on the island and trying to make things work with Brian. Unfortunately, she's running after Joe behind his back and pretty soon the Hackett brothers won't be speaking again. It's a good episode. The episode gives us a lot of information on the backstory for these characters and it does a lot to make us like them. Comedy-wise Crystal Bernard totally steals the show. She spends the first third of the show angry, the middle third over-eating in odd places and the final third drunk. It is in the final third that she is at her best. Helen has never been more feisty. Or most lovable.

Episode 5. "There Once Was a Girl from Nantucket" Newly-arrived Brian is trying to shake things up for everyone and get a social life going. He sets Joe up with a girl who has a bit of reputation and - on a double date - he manages to get Joe beaten up in a fist-fight with one of her ex-boyfriends. Megan Mullally (from god-awful Will & Grace) is very watchable in this and the episode is well worth watching for their farewell scene at the end. As well as Brian getting Joe into a fight. Basically it's Brian saying thing like: "Joe doesn't like your attitude" and the large angry man saying things like "Really, Joe, is that right?" while poor Joe looks on in dumbstruck terror. Hilarious.

Episode 6. "All for One and Two for Helen" The best episode of the first season finds Brian making his move on Helen, while a jealous Joe sits outside her house all night to see if anything is going on. The episode has several high points: Joe's speech on the three owls is hysterical (as is Lowell's revelation that he accidently killed the owls), Brian's antics as he tries to seduce Helen, the conversation (chemistry) between Joe and Helen at the end and any scene where Helen talks tough and lays down the law.