Every Episode of Wonderfalls, Ranked

TV fanatics familiar with Bryan Fuller probably know the writer and producer thanks to his cult dramedy Pushing Daisies (2007-2009), a heady mixture of quirk, morbidity, and quick wit. Pushing Daisies follows pie-maker Ned, who can bring the dead back to life (with some strictures, of course) and uses his power to solve mysteries. Add on top of that whimsical production design (think Tim Burton on a sunny day) and you’ve got an idiosyncratic gem. However, Fuller fans would be remiss if they passed over his earlier and even shorter-lived series Wonderfalls, which turns 20 this year.
Wonderfalls is more magical realism than the later show’s almost fairytale aesthetic. Again, we’ve got a protagonist with a fantastical capability, but this time it’s Jaye Tyler (Caroline Dhavernas), who described herself as “overeducated and unemployable” in her high school yearbook and ends up mostly living up to that epithet as a listless 24-year-old Brown graduate working in a Niagara Falls gift shop. One day, inanimate objects start talking to her (provided they have a mouth), compelling her to venture beyond her misanthropic tendencies and start actually being involved in the world. Jaye’s outsider status seems to have been baked into her from the outset, with all her family’s names rhyming, save her own (mom Karen, father Darrin, sister Sharon, and brother Aaron). Jaye’s sudden interest in her fellow man surprises her childhood best friend Mahandra (Tracie Thoms, or Joanne from the film adaptation of Rent) and lands her a potential beau in the form of the heartbroken bartender Eric (Tyron Leitso).
Tonally, Wonderfalls is plenty zany and even cartoonish at times—one scene features Eric’s heart popping out of his chest and falling into Jaye’s hands—but in a way that’s distinct from Pushing Daisies. Part of that is due to the contribution of Wonderfalls co-creator Todd Holland, who also directed over two dozen episodes of Malcolm in the Middle. He brings the popular sitcom’s same fast-paced energy to Wonderfalls, which funnily enough also focuses on an intense family dynamics; the Tylers may be a smidge less dysfunctional than the Wilkersons, but they’re just as overbearing.
Sadly, this one season wonder was canceled, so we’ll always be left wondering if Jaye managed to silence the voices forever or made peace with their incessant commands. Those episodes we did get were a treat, though, and so we’ve ranked them all, in ascending order:
13. “Muffin Buffalo” (Episode 1.06)
This mid-season episode doesn’t rank the lowest because it drags or anything like that, but because of the outdated fatphobia that makes watching it pretty painful. “Muffin Buffalo” opens on Jaye and her brother Aaron (Lee Pace, so handsome) spying on her trailer park neighbor who she’s nicknamed Fat Pat. The Voices of course make it so she actually meets Pat (Eddie Kaye Thomas of American Pie fame), who’s lost a lot of weight, and tries to introduce him back into the world after years of agoraphobia induced by fat shaming. The writers seem aware that the whole thing is grim: “Fat Pat reminds me of a simpler time,” Jaye remarks, to which Mahandra replies, “When you were a bitch?” And Pat’s supposedly happy ending is shitting out over a dozen pounds to reach his goal weight—and briefly being in a coma—thanks to their other neighbor Mrs. Beattle’s (Beth Grant) laxative muffins. Last place.
12. “Cocktail Bunny” (Episode 1.11)
The Voices’ vague advice of “Save him from her” convinces Jaye that Eric’s estranged wife Heidi (Jewel Staite, best known as Kaylee from Firefly) is trying to kill him. Not only is Jaye sorely mistaken, but the escalating series of events make her look very unwell. Honestly, I may have just ranked this episode so low because I don’t like people calling Jaye “crazy.” Also, Heidi may not be a murderer, but she’s so mean-spirited it’s hard to understand what kind-hearted Eric sees in her. “Cocktail Bunny” still stresses me out years later, though, so I can’t contest the writers’ mastery of tension.
11. “Totem Mole” (Episode 1.12)
Wonderfalls unfortunately falls back onto the old trope of white people using Native culture to try to “find themselves” in this episode. Jaye accompanies Sharon and Mahandra to the fictional Satsuma Reservation and ends up accidentally speaking with the tribe’s recently deceased seer—which is a first for her. By following the Voices’ commands, Jaye realizes that her gift may not be such a burden after all. The episode’s highlights largely come from Sharon (Katie Finneran), who encounters her law school rival Deanna Littlefoot (Alex Rice) on the reservation and continually trips up while trying to prove herself to Deanna. The subplot culminates in Sharon accidentally locking Deanna in an overheated sauna, dramatically screeching, “Pry man, pry!” Finneran deserves more kudos for her comedy.
10. “Lovesick Ass” (Episode 1.08)