Miracle Workers – Episodes One (‘2 Weeks’) and Episode Two (‘13 Days’)
Miracle Workers is a new Stan event series that follows the story of God (played by none other than Steve Buschemi) who has become cynical about the direction Earth is headed and has decided instead to blow it up. When Eliza (played by Geraldine Viswanathan), an angel working in the ‘Answered Prayers’ department, tries to convince God there is still good things on Earth he makes her a deal – she has fourteen days to answer one ‘impossible’ prayer or the Earth goes kaboom.
Although on paper this sounds like a dark and taboo subject matter for a comedy television show, Miracle Workers is a quirky, brightly-coloured and funny show that seems to subtly want to discuss real world problems, but also wants you to have some fun while you watch it. Across the first two episodes, I get similar vibes to that of The Good Place – bright colours and cinematography, jokes that are at times cheesy but at other times funny and unexpected enough to cause me to laugh out loud, and some really talented actors playing a host of oddly relatable characters.
Highlights of the show so far are easily Geraldine Viswanathan, Daniel Radcliffe and my personal favourite Karan Soni. Vishwanathan is an Australian actress who has previously been on the television show Janet King before having her major international breakthrough in 2018’s Blockers. In Miracle Workers she plays Eliza who is a total powerhouse – a strong, funny young woman who makes a lot of mistakes but takes it all in her hilarious stride. Eliza is the newly assigned partner in crime to Craig, Daniel Radcliffe’s character, who runs the ‘Answered Prayers’ Department. Craig is a hesitant and slightly skittish angel who is having to readjust to having company around after spending so long is his department with the lights off and a blanket over his head working away on the smaller, more manageable prayers. Together Craig and Eliza accept God’s challenge of answering an ‘Impossible’ prayer and so far after two episodes they’re making an unconventional yet hilarious duo.
Lastly, one of my favourite actors of the last few years, Karan Soni once again steals every scene he’s in. Hilarious throughout his whole career so far from Safety Not Guaranteed all the way to both Deadpool films and Office Christmas Party, Soni has a lot of skill in playing exasperated characters and Miracle Workers is no different. Constantly confused and a little bit apathetic toward all of God’s plans, Soni’s character Sanjay is an executive angel and is sort of like God’s right-hand man with responsibilities ranging from planning an outer space restaurant to doing God’s dirty work.
So far, Miracle Workers is heading in a slightly cheesy and possibly predictable direction but then again we’re only two episodes in; if the show follows the exact narrative that it has laid out for itself (will they solve the impossible prayer and save Earth?) it would still be an enjoyable watch, but I’m also excited to see the side stories develop and I hope to see more of Steve Bushemi as God. Director Ryan Case has several episodes of popular sitcoms and comedies under her belt including Modern Family, Superstore and Brooklyn Nine-Nine so I’m excited to see what her experience with those shows lends to Miracle Workers and whether there’s a big plot twist coming.
Miracle Workers airs every Wednesday night at 6pm on Stan.