'The Unicorn' Season 1 Episode 1 Review: Walton Goggins is the saving grace in widowed-dad-enters-dating-zone comedy
The review contains spoilers for the new CBS series 'The Unicorn' Season 1 Episode 1.
It's past mourning time for Wade Felton. Little does he know he is a "unicorn" until his friends break it to him. In the new CBS sitcom 'The Unicorn', Walton Goggins plays a widower with two daughters and two dogs, still living off of frozen casseroles delivered by neighbors after his wife's death. One of the hottest women Tracy Wilvers tries to hit on him, but Wade has no clue. "This man has no idea what catnip he is to these women," Delia (Michaela Watkins) says in one scene.
A super dad, he takes care of everything until one day, the casseroles are over. "All that food people made for us, it seemed it will last forever, but it's gone. It seems like Jill is really gone," the realization strikes him. With great difficulty, his close friends — Ben (Omar Benson Miller) Michelle (Maya Lynne Robinson), Forrest (Rob Corddry) and Delia (Michaela Watkins) — persuade him to meet women, help him set up a dating profile and even help him dress up for his first date.
Employed, attractive, and with a proven track record of commitment, he seems to be the perfect man. "You are a unicorn. You are a devoted father, husband, and you haven't had sex with anyone besides Jill in like 20 years," his friends say. But, is he ready for it? As Wade goes off to his first date, he finds out that he actually needs more time. The widowed-man-reentering-the-dating-scene concept seems to have been repeated quite a bit and although Goggins does bring a genuine take of his own, the story seems to have nothing much to look forward to, except the same, old formulaic writing.
There are moments, however, that will tickle your funny bones. There are several witticisms too. In one scene, Michelle tells Delia, "As compared to four kids, one kid is like no kid." And when Wade is filling out his dating form, when his friends pressurize him to write six feet instead of his actual height, he says, "If I meet her, I might stand up."
Another comical episode takes place when his date tries to walk out on him thinking he is married, and he is forced to scream out loud: "Look I couldn't cheat if I wanted to. My wife died." Soon, people start sending compliments and condolences to him from the "corner booth."
The dialogues and expressions are on-point and the actors perform to the best of their ability. From a villain to a loving father, Goggins does show he can do a variety of roles and he is not wrong when he says the role is 'closer' to him than anything he has ever played. His effortlessness feels like he is just being himself. The most heartwarming aspect of the show lies in the father-daughter bond with Grace (Ruby Jay) and Natalie (Makenzie Moss). If explored well in some of its next episodes, it might take the simple series to newer heights. Planning to watch the series? Expect lighthearted entertainment and a reason to smile.