Welcome to Wrexham 3×06, “Far Away, So Close,” is a love letter to Wrexham AFC’s global impact — from Patagonia and Gambia to Philidelphia and Wales. This football club’s resonance goes beyond complicated feelings from a streak of unlucky matches, and this docuseries is well known for capturing the club’s influence. Just this season, Welcome to Wrexham 3×01, “Welcome to the EFL,” showcases Wrexham AFC’s popularity growing in the United States. Meanwhile, Welcome to Wrexham 3×04, “Risky Business,” exemplifies how the club’s connection to its community has revived interest in small businesses.
“Far Away, So Close” takes a different approach by exploring some history — with co-chairman Ryan Reynolds narrating. From a production standpoint, that detail weaves Reynolds into an episode where he is primarily off-screen working on the upcoming Deadpool and Wolverine. More importantly, recounting this bit of Wales’ past — when 153 Welsh people traveled to Patagonia “to protect their culture and language from the English” in 1865 — is another example of Reynolds, fellow co-chairman Rob McElhenney, and Welcome to Wrexham expressing interest in every facet of Wrexham.
It’s insightful to hear directly from Matias Humphreys, a local history expert in Patagonia, David Mardones, the biggest Wrexham AFC fan outside of Wales, and Rocio Fernandez, a writer and Cymraeg speaker. “Far Away, So Close” does an excellent job of building up to the trio’s arrival in Wrexham for St David’s Day and the home match against Accrington Stanley, which Wrexham won 4-0 (Just like McElhenney called!).
It’s best that that episode only uses Reynolds’ voice as a lead-in to Humphreys, Mardones, and Fernandez expressing their pride in Wales and love for the football club.
Considering Executive Director Humphrey Ker’s point about the on-and-off-camera concerted effort to center local voices and opinions on “Risky Business,” passing the mic to amplify voices other than Reynolds makes for a stronger documentary. It also makes the payoff of Humphreys and Mardones holding the Welsh flags in the parade and Rocio speaking in Cymraeg to other Welsh people all the better. Like other Welcome to Wrexham episodes, that emotional journey is successful because “Far Away, So Close” takes the time to get to know the trio. The documentary’s considerate and curious lens makes it so that the journey never comes across as superficial but entirely genuine.
Look no further than the (hopefully, eventually) award-winning dedication to 100-year-old Wrexham fan Arthur Massey on Welcome to Wrexham 3×05, “Temporary.”
In “Far Away, So Close,” Wrexham AFC and HP partner with nonprofit publisher NABU for The Lucky Dragon, the Welsh-English children’s book. Seeing the children’s faces light up at the activities with the book and the chance to spend time with Wrexham AFC Women’s defender Erin Lovett and Wrexham AFC’s forward Ollie Palmer can’t be faked for the cameras. That joy, sparked by Welsh culture and Wrexham AFC, is pure.
The beauty of this docuseries is that it turns that outlook inward, too, in the sense that it remains dedicated to getting to know the Wrexham AFC players on and off the pitch. The passionate effort to value mental health on the same playing field as physical health on Welcome to Wrexham 3×03, “Notts Again,” will always stand out. “Far Away, So Close” does so by traveling to the Africa Cup of Nations with defender Jacob Mendy, who is called up to represent Gambia — for the first time. He describes representing his country and Wrexham simultaneously as “a massive feeling.” Welcome to Wrexham exemplifies that magnitude by paralleling family photos with Mendy on that huge footballing stage.
Mendy’s positive mindset, even with Gambia’s elimination in the group stage, is not dissimilar to what pulls Wrexham through their unlucky streak of draws and losses.
“Far Away, So Close” even takes a beat with players and manager Phil Parkinson to discuss the importance of mindset. Like Mendy hearing supporters still cheering and dancing, the support at Wrexham matches is essential. It’s refreshing that Reynolds and McElhenney know they must actively participate in the club’s change because it’s their job — and because they care. That understanding circles back to Reynolds’ off-screen responsibilities and manifests as McElhenney being the on-screen “big dog” to lift morale in Wrexham.
The truth of the situation — that his presence visibly helps — comes through a heartfelt voiceover from McElhenney: “As a co-owner of a football club, it’s good to show your face and give some support in person, especially when they’re struggling a bit. And one of the things we love most about this team is their character, so it’s always important for us to remind them that we are 100% behind them.”
“Far Away, So Close” gives the impression that McElhenney could and will show up even if Reynolds is free to do the same. Welcome to Wrexham is a documented track record of McElhenney and Renyolds’ passion at every level of the football club and Wrexham.
So, yes, it matters that McElhenney shows up and greets Prince William at the Turf with Wayne Jones and Ker, who went to school with the Prince of Wales (!).
But it’s far more effective to see McElhenney meet Humphreys, Mardones, and Fernandez, check in with the players in the locker room, and boost spirits with the temporary Kop’s new sponsorship – The Four Walls Fourth Wall. Without that all-around investment, “Far Away, So Close” wouldn’t have the heartwarming scenes of Mardones meeting Paul Jones and seeing the Patagonian Welsh flag at The Turf or Humphreys, Mardones, and Fernandez watching a match at the Racecourse.
The club’s worldwide impact and the team’s mentality culminate in that St David’s Day weekend match, in which forward Paul Mullin scores a natural hat trick in the 4-0 win.
Ker describes the fans as “our 12th man,” which becomes all the more resounding with the 2,000 additional fans in the temporary Kop. It’s also moving that Humphreys, Mardones, and Fernandez are among the fans at that game. So, “Far Away, So Close” can’t find a better point to end with than Reynolds’ voiceover returning with: “Whether we get promoted or not, there’s something magical about a place that draws fans from Patagonia, a kid from Gambia, a TV star from Philly, and the Royal Family together.”
Then again, this episode also ends with intrigue because the doc still has to illuminate whatever causes the commotion at the Wrexham vs. Tranmere Rovers match later that month. Nevertheless, sports are influential and special, and Welcome to Wrexham continues to capture that and all of its multitudes in the most beautiful ways.
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What did you think of Welcome to Wrexham 3×06, “Far Away, So Close?” Let us know in the comments below!
Welcome to Wrexham airs on Thursdays at 10/9c on FX and streams on Hulu the next day.
