Well, thanks to the abysmal Marry Me, I now have a premium subscription to Peacock for the month. To be honest, I was low-key excited about it because I was eager to check out the comedy-drama miniseries, Wolf Like Me.
With a show co-starring Josh Gad and Isla Fisher and a name like Wolf Like Me, I was convinced this was just going to be a comedy with some ridiculously campy horror element. I should have known better. At least with the horror element. I didn’t realize the show was created by, written and directed by Abe Forsyth, the same person who brought the gory comedy Little Monsters to the screen several years back. What did take me by surprise though was the amount of drama present. Some really serious issues were tackled like depression and youth suicide, all while dealing with fictional werewolf problems. Heck, they even managed to make that a metaphor for women’s rights! The first episode threw me for a loop because it seemed to flip between light humor to deadly serious topics on a dime. After another episode though, I came to expect the jarring transitions. It was a refreshing approach and kept me on my toes.
Anyways, the series itself focuses on Gary and his pre-teen daughter Emma living in South Australia, but both still reeling from the loss of Gary’s wife and Emma’s mother, Lisa, some seven years earlier. Gary tries masking his pain by focusing falsely sunny attention on Emma and she kind of resents him for it. Things start changing for them every time they run into another American, Mary, which is a lot. And usually with their cars. Their first accident shows that she has some kind of special bond with Emma, as she’s able to help her come down from a panic attack. Gary also finds her incredibly easy to be around and there’s definitely a lot of flirting going on each time, but Mary usually sprints off before anything romantic can happen. But it’s for good reason. Mary is a werewolf, and a bloodthirsty one at that.
When Gary accidentally discovers her secret, it takes a minute for him to come around, but the two start a fiercely loving relationship. Of course, looping Emma in is the final hurdle, but it would be kind of boring if there weren’t at least a few more surprises I left a mystery. Something else really intriguing (and awesome) about the show was the use of so many Queens of the Stone Age songs. Yay rock! Aptly used in the title sequence was their song, “If I Had a Tail,” but a song peppered throughout the show with some more significance was their song, “Fortress.” In my mind, this song spoke to Gary, Mary, and Emma all quite well. Trauma has caused all three of these people to build fortresses around themselves, but the song alludes that even if it comes crumbling down, someone will always be there for you. I also love that this is not the first time Isla Fisher and Queens of the Stone Age have been a part of the same project (thank you, Hot Rod, my favorite movie of all time).
Overall, this was a really neat and unique miniseries. The themes explored in only six short episodes were somehow profound, but not overdone or too fleeting. I love the soundtrack, but more importantly, I loved how Gad and Fisher were able to act the hell out of this thing. I imagine the juxtaposition from comedic to serious so quickly could have been pretty difficult for other actors, but these two nail it. If you’ve got the streaming service, go ahead and check this gem out!