Showtime 1.2 - New Beginnings

Showtime : New Beginnings
Genre : Drama / Comedy / Sports
Showrunner: Steven Soderbergh
Writer : Chad Taylor & Mo Buck

Cast: Barry Keoghan, Joe Manganiello, Dacre Montgomery, Nick Offerman, Cooper Andrews, Paul Walter Hauser, Zoey Dutch, Anna Gunn, Clayne Crawford, Tom Hopper, Alan Ritchson, Paul Rust and Lake Bell

Plot: “The Superior” Brad Wolfe (Clayne Crawford) is heckling the Bruiser Brothers, Tom (Tom Hopper) and Don Jackson (Alan Ritchson) in the locker room corner, as he wants them to be a little more joyous. He thinks they are the ones lowering morale, but Tom says “Slim” Clem (Paul Walter Hauser) isn’t any better, always complaining about his failed gimmick attempts. Wolfe says it would be nice to see them smile once in a while and he asks his sister Sweet Tea (Zoey Dutch) if she ever saw the Bruiser Brothers smile ever since she was hired, and she says she hasn’t. Ricky Santana (Joe Mangianello) interferes and asks Wolfe to cut them a little slack, they just lost their twin brother. Wolfe acknowledges that, but he says it’s been a few weeks and they should get over it. Ricky asks for veteran Bill Gundy (Nick Offerman)’s help, surely he’ll understand, but an indifferent Gundy says he doesn’t mess around with backstage politics, he just minds his own business, like everyone else should do. Loto (Cooper Andrews) comes out of the shower and asks if anyone saw Roy today, but nobody has. Ricky points out that Roy always shows up at least a few hours before every show. They find it odd, but keep on with their whereabouts, until they are interrupted by a woman, Diane Brown (Anna Gunn), Roy’s widow. She breaks the news to them and even though her heart is bleeding, she promised to him to keep the promotion alive, so they should go on and do the best show they can, that’s what Roy would have wanted. She says she has big dreams and big plans for TCW and she hopes they will join her in this new adventure. “Loudmouth” Dicky Ray (Paul Rust) follows her into the office and he wants to pitch her a new storyline involving his character, but she brutally shuts him down, pointing out that it really isn’t a good time. 

The TCW show goes relatively well, although nobody’s heart really seems to be in it, but that’s understandable after the tragic news they just learn. The repeated main event between Ricky Santana and Loto the Evil Islander is once again an absolute riot, with Santana getting a ton of crowd support and his win earning a thunderous reaction from the crowd. As Loto heads backstage with Dicky Ray on his shoulder, Dicky whispers to him that Diane is ruining his character by making lose again. 

After the show is over, Diane is doing paperwork in her office and is happy to realise her first show was a success and the promotion made money with it. She is interrupted by young Ben Carr (Barry Keoghan) who came all the way from the Old Continent to pursue to his dream to wrestle in the big leagues. He applies for a job at TCW, but Diane isn’t sure about him, because he doesn’t have the “it” factor that say, Ricky Santana would have. Ben is ready to turn back and go to another promotion, but Bill Gundy, who stayed after the show was over (as always) blocks the doorway. He tells Diane he saw some tapes of Carr and he can vouch for him, this kid can go in the ring and he has a bright future ahead of him. Diane says she’ll take a chance on him, but only because she trusts Gundy. He’s been in the business long enough to know this kind of stuff. Carr thanks Bill for the opportunity and Bill says it’s his pleasure, but he’ll head back to help take down the ring. Carr asks if he can join him, as he used to do that in England and Gundy says he’s welcomed to join.

Santana arrives at his Houston home to his wife Nadine (Lake Bell) and two young sons. He's still taped up from his match with Loto. He and Nadine bicker over bills and his overworked schedule. She then reveals to him that he missed a call from a guy named Buck Gordon. Ricky is stunned to hear this and tells her that he is the head of American Pro Wrestling - the premiere promotion in New York City and the northeast. APW has recently secured a national television deal and is making moves to move beyond their territory - which some consider to be breaking a taboo. Ricky and Nadine argue about the pros (more money, exposure, stability) and cons (relocation, uncertainty) of going there. She tells him that he is needs to start prioritizing home life over his career. This angers him.
 
The next day is Ben's first day as a part of the TCW roster. Gundy shows him around the locker room. Clem jokes that he is relieved to see another jobber arrive so he can share the load. To his surprise, Ben is not offended as he is willing to pay his dues. This makes Bill smile like a proud parent. However, when Brad Wolfe first lays eyes on Ben, all he can see is fresh meat prime for hazing. He asks the Bruiser Brothers if they are ready for some fun and they begrudgingly say they are (while still being passively aggravated about Wolfe's comments earlier). When Ben meets Tea, he is awkward around her, which causes Wolfe and co. to snicker in the background. She whispers to him not to worry about her brother. Dicky watches Ben closely from afar and pulls Loto into Diane's office.

As a rib, Brad has Don Jackson slip some laxatives into Ben's drink. Diane informs the crew that they will be holding a big tribute show for Roy next week in his hometown of San Antonio. She then tells them that Ricky seems banged up and needs a night off so the main event will be Gundy vs. Wolfe and Loto will be fed Ben Carr. Brad looks to the Bruiser Brothers with a sly smile. Loto approaches Ben to plan the squash and tells him he's happy to be his first. Ben gets the joke but says this isn't his first wrestling match. Loto says that he really needs to come off as dangerous in this match as his series with Santana has dampened his appeal. Ben says that is no problem.

The match obviously does not go as planned as the laxatives hit Ben. He panics and tries to do his best but he finds it hard to focus. Ben whispers to Loto that they need to cut the match short. When they do this, the crowd feels that something is off and boos both of them at the finish. 

Afterwards, Loto chews him out as he can't just go off script in his first match in the company. Dicky says that the match was supposed to make Loto look good, not whatever that was. Ben wants to apologize and defend himself but he has to hurry to the bathroom. As Brad and the boys are patting themselves on the back, the locker room comes to a halt when a new visitor enters. The name is Thunderjack Haynes (Dacre Montgomery) and he's here on the request of the late Roy Brown.