Heels Season 2 Unpacks Season 1 Trauma And The Desperate Search For Fame

After Heels Season 1, it wasn’t entirely clear how the show would up the ante when it returned. It turns out, though, that the streaming service arms race to acquire new content fits in right at home as a plot point on the Starz series, with Jack Spade (Stephen Amell) and his group of wrestling misfits doing all they can to make it to a national stage on a fictional streaming service. This particular development means some significant growth for at least one character, Ace Spade (Alexander Ludwig).

Speaking to GameSpot in June, before the SAG-AFTRA strike, Ludwig teased, “I think what I love about [Season 2] is it’s setting up where I hope this show will go. ‘What is this? What are these two people from the middle of nowhere, and this family in the middle of nowhere, what do they become when their promotion is on a national stage and Ace’s character is on a national stage? What happens when [Ace] has to deal with that if he can’t even deal with himself in a small town?'”

Given where we left Ace in Season 1–still at odds with his big brother Jack, who also books the matches–viewers weren’t sure what to expect from the character. Per Ludwig, though, there are some interesting twists and turns ahead for Ace.

“What I love so much about Season 2 is–and this show, in general–is that wrestling is the crazy backdrop,” the actor explained. “And it’s an amazing world that I love to explore. But at the heart of this, it’s about people dealing with really, really deep issue traumas and problems in their own life.”

Chief among those dealing with trauma is Ace, himself. You might recall the revelation in Season 1 that he was the person who found his father’s body after the elder Spade killed himself. That one moment led to several horrible ways Ace acted out against his brother and his fellow wrestlers in Season 1.

Now, though, Ludwig says, “In Season 2, his journey is about realizing that if he is going to be the man he hopes he can be, he needs to let go of that. And you will for the first time see Ace go on his own journey and come back kind of resembling the inklings of a changed man. And he starts to lean into this idea that, excuse me, I hope you have a bleep button, but basically ‘F*** everyone, I’m going to do me the best I can.'”

Of course, Ace coming into his own is bound to be a bumpy ride, just like everything else that transpires in the Duffy Wrestling League. However, a little maturity from the youngest Spade sibling can go a long way.

“Once you start to see Ace lean into that, you start to see the very sparks of greatness that could be” Ludwig added.

Will it last, though? That question is best left to Heels Season 2, which airs Fridays on Starz.