'Ordinary Joe' Episode 1 Review: Perfect mix of tragedy, music and fresh storytelling
Spoilers for 'Ordinary Joe' Premiere episode
There has been a lot of buzz around NBC’s latest show ‘Ordinary Joe’ because of its intriguing storyline. The show revolves around a man named Joe Kimbreau (James Wolk), who has freshly graduated from college and majored in Music. However, he has three paths in front of him and he has to choose whatever is best for him. Most of the shows will show the main character choosing one and then the show will revolve around how he was made for doing that job. But, that’s where ‘Ordinary Joe’ is different and takes viewers on a journey that has never been seen before.
The NBC series shows us three different timelines about how Joe is living his life after making those choices. At the time of graduation, he always wanted to be a musician. Meanwhile, he also has a chance to become a nurse and his family wants him to be a police officer because his dad was a police officer as well. So, which career path did he choose?
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The answer to that question is: “ALL OF THEM”. The best thing about the premiere episode is that it gives us an idea of how a decision can change your entire life. When Joe decides to be a musician, he is living a happy life with his partner Amy (Natalie Martinez), who he met on the day of his graduation, and has millions of followers. On the other hand, he is leading a decent life when he is shown working as a nurse in a hospital and marrying Jenny (Elizabeth Lail), his long-time college friend.
Then, we have Joe being a policeman and honoring his dad. He is still new to all this and hasn’t got time to have someone special in his life. In all these scenarios, only one thing is permanent in his life: music. However, it doesn’t mean that all these choices lead to a perfect life. While being a musician, he is fighting a battle with his wife for getting pregnant. They are trying to have a baby, but unfortunately, they are not able to.
In his nurse life, his marriage is going through a rough patch and heading toward a divorce.
The premise of the show is really fresh and it could have been really hard for the makers to give viewers an idea of how they are going to tackle such a complex storyline. But, it works well enough for now. Even when you feel that things are a bit complex, you won’t find yourself changing the channel because of Wolk’s brilliant performance. He is effortless as a musician, nurse, and policeman. The best thing about his acting is that he is able to show three different sides of him as an actor and every side is different from the other.
In the premiere episode, the show does an admirable job of balancing interest and sympathy across all timelines. Every character is going through something in his or her life. But, it’s still early days for the series and it has all the time in the world to focus on other characters as well. The first episodes ended on an emotional note as musician Joe meets Jenny during the school reunion and they start talking to each other.
While talking, Jenny reveals that she was pregnant when they last met and she wanted to tell him that, but he didn’t come to the beach with her that day. She gave birth to a boy, but she has put him up for adoption because she didn’t have the resources to keep him. Joe gets really emotional after knowing that he has a son and wants to meet him. But, Jenny says that it’s difficult and tells him to not hate her for not telling him. Joe doesn’t say anything as the episode comes to an end.
The premiere was a perfect mix of tragedy, music, and innovative storytelling which has a lot of potential. I’m surely excited to see what the show has in store for us.
‘Ordinary Joe’ returns to NBC with a new episode every Monday at 10 pm EST.
