Wonderfalls: The Complete Series

For a long time, Wonderfalls was nothing more to me than part of a lengthy Family Guy punchline in which Peter lists a number of short-lived Fox programs. But then out of nowhere I saw it listed as one of the top thirty TV shows of the decade by a TV critic I respect. Then I saw it on a different critic's list of the ten best "one and done" TV shows of all time along with the likes of Firefly and Freaks and Geeks. I went for broke and bought this DVD set for fifteen bucks or so just a couple of months ago, and now that I've seen all thirteen episodes, I'm happy to have made that leap of blind faith. The premise, in a nutshell, is that there is a twenty-something Brown University graduate wasting away in a trailer park in Niagara Falls and working at a gift shop underneath the management of a high school student. Jaye exemplifies the lethargy and apathy of Generation Y, actively choosing to do nothing of any significance with her life in spite of the rest of her family's great success. And then one day a little wax lion figurine begins to give Jaye cryptic instructive messages. All of a sudden, she's got the ability to talk to inanimate animal-based objects. A mounted fish on the wall, for instance. The eagle on the back of a quarter. And these little muses guide Jaye into helping a number of other people with various problems. The show was pretty light-hearted and easy to get into, and right off the bat I had no trouble identifying with any of the characters or wondering why I should care about an admittedly low-stakes premise. Everything just kind of worked and clicked. Most episodes were just that: episodes, rather than chapters of a longer serialized story, although there were also plenty of longer-running arcs and stories. The most significant two were Jaye's apparent descent into insanity to those around her and Jaye's budding relationship with a new guy in town. Fortunately, all thirteen episodes that Fox initially ordered were produced and included on this DVD set, and the final episode was always intended to be a season finale. So there really aren't many loose threads, which is good. Ultimately, I'm not sure if I'd include this show among my own top thirty of the decade, but different strokes for different folks, as they say. In contrast to the last acclaimed one-and-done TV series I watched, Firefly, I'd say that Wonderfalls wasn't quite as rich or rewarding but was certainly easier to get into and easier to let go of upon its finale. In other words, Firefly was "better," but Wonderfalls was more easy to enjoy. The show's creators were kind enough to lay all their cards on the table regarding how they would have approached future seasons, but while it was interesting to read about some of the story arcs they planned on including, none seemed overly compelling so I really can't lament the cancelation of this show as a crying shame. But yeah, definitely worth ten hours and fifteen bucks. Count on that much.