This article contains spoilers for Welcome to Wrexham Season 3 episode 4
Summary
A newWelcome to Wrexhamentry explores everything that surrounds Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney’s soccer venture, as the economic spillover from their Wrexham masterplan is reviving this old industrial city. Of course, all that seriousness is overshadowed by the sheer comedic potential of these two Hollywood actors in an unforgettable musical number.
Since its premiere,Welcome to Wrexhamhas seen Reynolds and McElhenney trying to one up each other with elaborate jokes, though this time around the latter will probably find the “Risky Business” intro quite hard to beat. The two-minute banger pokes fun at McElhenney’s Irish surname, with Reynolds enlisting Oscar-winning songwriting duo Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (La La Land) to pen “It’s McElhenney” while he and the rest of the locals set up the perfect scenery as they attempt to pronounce theParks and Recreation’sstar’s last name.
This musical tidbit helps ease the mood to what is otherwise a very down-to-business episode where McElhenney especially tries to showcase the lengths these two are going to attempt to get the city of Wrexham back on its feet. That includes building brand new spaces like a multipurpose park withRyan Rodney Reynolds’ name to screenGreen Lantern, supporting local entrepreneurs, and even shining a light on the players’ life plans post-football.
Besides getting star Ollie Palmer set up witha brand new HP laptop, viewers get a look at the striker’s own clothing brand, WXM Clothing, which he runs along with his wife Caitlin. It is yet another refreshing look at the players’ lives outside the field, mirroring some of the financial education efforts most professional leagues are starting to implement to avoid athletes being ruined by their financial mismanagement.
It also ties in perfectly with the other point “Risky Business” tries to make: despite all their Hollywood money Reynolds and McElhenney are bound to enter unknown financial territory over the next few years. Wrexham Director Shaun Harvey breaks it down with help from a video report from The Athletic — while Reynolds and McElhenney’s combined net worth of $300 million may seem like a lot in fourth or fifth division football, once Wrexham reach the EFL Championship level (second division), they will compete against owners with much deeper pockets.
The report estimates that Wrexham could reach the Premier League in roughly 7-10 seasons, withWelcome to Wrexhamcurrently focusing on Reynolds and McElhenney’s third full season in charge. The actors are said to have spent around $5M of their own money to fund club operations, butmuch likeElden Ring, theirFootball Managerdreamswill see a substantial spike in difficulty towards the endgame.
That is a problem for future Ryan and Rob though, aslast week’s victory against Notts County is followedby an 8-game unbeaten streak including the featured 6-0 dismissal of Morecambe. This moves Wrexham up the table to second place, only behind old National League rivals Stockport County. Whatever issue the team found in recent episodes sure looks fixed by now.
McElhenney’s time in the city also sees him reconnect with Neil Roberts, the father of cut women’s side player Mia Roberts who was featured in last week’s entry, as Neil is part of the new crop of businesses popping up in the resurging town.
This episode closes off with one of the toughest moments of Wrexham’s 2023/2024 season, as the team faced Harrogate Town in what appeared to be an easy game away from home. Despite taking an early 2-0 lead, the momentum shifts dramatically after a serious collision between new star keeper Arthur Okonkwo and a Harrogate attacker in the first half of the match.
The incident sure leaves a lot to be desired from English football’s concussion protocol, as Okonkwo recalls in an interview how distraught he ended up feeling after the clash, and footage clearly showing the keeper looking unlike his usual self. Harrogate Town scores before the break with Okonkwo barely noticing what was going on, thus him being subbed off at half-time, with team doctors confirming he sustained a broken jaw injury.
SinceWelcome to Wrexhampremiered, the FX hit has seen no less than five different goalkeepers defend the Red Dragons’ goal: Rob Lainton, Christian Dibble, Mark Howard, Ben Foster, and now Okonkwo finally making the position his. This time, Howard comes in and is at no fault for the Harrogate Town equalizer that wraps up the episode.
Modern footballhas teams like Manchester City breaking the gameas if it wasEA Sports FC 24career mode, however, this week makes it clear, that no matter how good things are going for Wrexham, the road to the Premier League is fraught with uncertainty, in spite how rosy things are looking at any given point.
