Miracle Workers Series Premiere Plot Summary:
Angels Eliza (Geraldine Viswanathan) and Craig (Daniel Radcliffe) must answer an unanswerable prayer to convince God (Steve Buscemi) not to destroy the Earth.
There is a plethora of creative fictional interpretations of life as we know it. Pixar’s Inside Out imagines a person’s actions and emotions as dictated by the little voices inside their head in a control room. Similarly, Osmosis Jones follows the life of a white blood cell cop hunting down germs. Miracle Workers resembles those scenarios but takes place on a macro level. God and the angels of Heaven Inc. control all life on Earth, from answering prayers to designing each speck of dirt on the ground.
On the surface, this is a funny reinvention of the workplace comedy with the potential to be a real hit. You have the ever-talented Daniel Radcliffe playing an angel from the Department of Answered Prayers and Steve Buscemi playing God. Buscemi is probably the last person you’d imagine as God, which is why the casting is so brilliant. So, it’s frustrating Miracle Workers doesn’t work, at least in its first episode.
While the premiere retains the quirkiness found in the promos, the chief problem is that so many jokes fall flat. I see God lamenting that no one sacrifices animals to him anymore and I think, “Yes, now give me more.” Instead we get lame gags where Eliza causes a disastrous storm when bringing rain to a farm or Craig melting snow one snowflake at a time to help a lady find her keys.
The most annoying part is that the episode starts strong with God watching all the disasters on Earth that he’s not supposed to directly interfere in but fix nonetheless. A race car driver thanks God for helping him win a race, putting in perspective how trivial the idea that God would help an individual racer win and that this is only satisfaction God can get. But then, of course, as a gag the driver dies in a car wreck. You might say that’s the punch line, but wouldn’t it be cleverer to let the scene breathe?
Maybe Miracle Workers will hit its stride in the coming episodes, but I can’t say I’m excited when the focus is on some awkward rom-com scenario of getting a guy and a girl on Earth to kiss. This show should be more creative than that, and maybe it will be, considering we’re supposed to meet God’s family. But based on the premiere alone, I’m unconvinced this miniseries will live up to its full potential.
Rating: 5.5 out of 10 (Acceptable Entertainment)
