‘Heels’ Finale: Showrunners and Stars Explain Why Crystal’s Arc Was The “Heartbeat” of the Show

A lot goes down in the final episode of Starz’s excellent wrestling drama Heels, but no moment is more emotionally charged than — and spoilers past this point — Crystal Tyler (Kelli Berglund) stepping into the spotlight and winning the finale’s climactic ladder match.

“Crystal is a character that in a lot of ways I always wanted to be the heartbeat of the show,” show creator Mike Waldron told Decider at the show’s Television Critics Association (TCA) panel. “I wanted the audience to be rooting for her.  She’s at the bottom of the ladder when the show starts. And in the writers’ room, we always talk about, well, how fun would it be to end the season with her literally at the top of that ladder?”

When the series started, Crystal was the valet, and romantic interest, for Ace Spade (Alexander Ludwig), the star wrestler in the Duffy Wrestling League (DWL). But it was clear from the first episode that she had bigger ambitions: to help create matches for the DWL at the very least; and wrestle at the very most. As the series continues, Jack Spade (Stephen Amell) gives Crystal multiple chances to help out, but his complicated relationship with his brother takes a toll on Crystal’s career aspirations.

“Jack appreciates — from the second episode — her knowledge, Crystal’s knowledge about wrestling and storytelling and respects that,” showrunner Mike O’Malley noted. “But what I love about the show and how Michael constructed it is that it’s complicated by the romantic relationship. We see that happen all the time. There’s a romantic relationship at work … or relationship outside the ring that impacts her opportunities”

Ultimately, though, with Jack and Ace both knocked down a peg in the final match, it’s clearly up to Crystal to save the day during their biggest gig ever. Initially relegated to the role of valet for iconic wrestler Wild Bill Hancock (Chris Bauer), she whips off the bunny ears of her valet costume, takes down both Jack and Ace with their non-verbal encouragement, climbs the ladder in the center of the ring and claims the Duffy Belt for herself. The crowd loses it, and Crystal ends the season triumphant, while in the background we’re left with the wreckage of Jack and Ace’s out-of-the-ring relationship.

“All these characters have a dream,” Berglund said on the emotional arc. “And especially with the way that Crystal is treated, we want to see that happen for her. So it was really exciting to watch that unfold over all the eight episodes and transform into this woman that gets what she gets.”

The story works, and pays off big time… But is it too predictable? My colleague Meghan O’Keefe referred to Crystal’s arc as “Chekhov’s Valet Turned Wrestler,” which Waldron noted was actually an appropriate way of describing it. “It’s an underdog story,” Waldron said. “She’s an underdog. You don’t want to try and be so subversive that you turn away from what would be a really satisfying arc, which is this character rising above a lot of challenges. If anything, what we tried to do is maybe accelerate the story that we probably could have teased out over a couple of seasons. Because now, where do you go from the end of this with Crystal?  I think it becomes really interesting.”

Starz has yet to announce a Season 2 pickup for Heels, but if that last image of Crystal is what we’re left with? As Berglund said, “All these characters have a dream.” At least we got to see Crystal’s dream realized.

Where to watch Heels