Welcome to Wrexham – Season 2 Episode 4 “Shaun’s Vacation” Recap & Review

Shaun’s Vacation

Shaun Harvey leaves the Wrexham hotel. On the road, he explains that Wrexham is the definition of a working-class town hoping to improve itself. His wife, Nicola, explains how they met, and how hard Shaun works. Even Rob and Ryan chime in to praise Shaun. “I don’t know where we’d be without him.

Shaun is planning to take an overdue vacation with his family. His work ethic and knowledgeability lead Humphrey to compare him to Varys from Game of Thrones, having all the behind-the-scenes knowledge. A real hand-of-the-king type.

Last year, for Rob’s birthday, Ryan dedicated a urinal to Rob, with a plaque above it with his face and everything. A nice prank. This year, for Ryan’s birthday, Rob plans to release a giant blimp over the stadium with an unflattering photo of Ryan on it. Humphrey doesn’t like prank wars and does his best to stay uninvolved.

Of course, these hijinks interrupt Shaun on the first day of his holiday. A reenactment ensues of Shaun shedding light on the fact that flying a blimp without permits breaks several Welsh aviation laws and could incur fines or even arrests.

Rob shows up to The Turf to watch Wrexham’s Boreham Wood away game. However, a British football law prevents broadcasting live games on TV for fear of diminishing ticket sales. Rob finds a loophole in ‘Article 48’, and plans to stream the footage he gets as club manager inside The Turf. The whole town finds out about this, and soon enough, Shaun’s phone is blowing up on his vacation again. He insists they not stream the game, and listen to the radio broadcast instead. The game ends in a 1-1 draw. But it gets worse.

Paul Mullin falls under fire for putting a political message (“F*** the Tories”) on his boots. For American audiences, that’s akin to saying f*** conservatives. It brings questions of whether the club itself endorses the message. It quickly becomes a big scandal, and of course, Shaun has to take a bunch of calls about it… on his vacation. Paul explains that it’s largely a Liverpool thing. Ryan liking Paul’s photo just adds fuel to the flame. Shaun may have to come home early.

Humphrey goes full ‘hand of the king.’ He makes a statement for the club and starts a scheme to save Shaun’s vacation, using Ryan to get to Rob and try to put this all to bed. It seems Shaun’s vacation is saved. Wrexham beats Halifax town 3-1, as Rob magically predicts. Credits roll to actual photos of Shaun’s vacation.

The Episode Review

When the episode started, it seemed like it would be a bit of a dud. Explanations of Wrexham’s working-class roots are only charming and heartwarming for so long before it becomes repetitive. Comedy, hijinx, scandals, and drama, however, never seem far away from the Red Dragons. The running metaphor of the episode is that of Game of Thrones. Rob is the king, Ryan the queen, Shaun the hand, and Humphrey… the hand’s assistant.

This is a show that does more than simply accept what it is. So far, this season takes every opportunity to provide a fresh perspective and keep viewers guessing what’s going to happen next.

Shaun’s interrupted vacation brings the audience back to the widest possible view of the club. The honest-to-god difficulty of dealing with the whims of A-list Hollywood actors is a high-stakes stressor, and it’s both hilarious and heartbreaking to see Shaun deal with everything so readily. Humphrey acts as the perfect instigator of empathy from the viewers, explaining everything with a near-perfect amount of dread.

The production levels of the show get a new opportunity to shine. It’s worth noting that the camera work and editing is pretty stellar throughout the season so far. Lighting is never an issue, which is harder than it sounds in the doc format. Things like mic dips and unfocused subjects are used with calculated precision, to heighten the ‘reality’ effects through editing. The reenactment of Shaun’s vacation is intensely reconstructed, and the recasting feels like its own joke. Shaun’s warmth is replaced by a stern, rather buff actor.

Paul’s boot scandal was a wildly unexpected left turn, but it did just as well to deliver drama and intrigue to this mostly comedic episode. It’s a testament to the show’s ability to deliver a wide range of style and emotion. It’s more than the everyday beauty of community, more than stark portrayals of real life, more than the buzz of football, and even more than the whims of the Hollywood elite. What’s going on in Wrexham feels like an honest-to-god movement. Hopefully, Wrexham AFC can continue to wrack up points and move towards promotion.