The Part Of Wayne That Fans Can't Help But Love
With today's glut of excellent television and countless platforms on which to stream them, some shows get easily lost in the proverbial shuffle. Such was the case with "Wayne," a gem of a show that quietly premiered on YouTube Premium in 2019. Inspired by "Dirty Harry" and the solitary transients of American Westerns, "Wayne" is part teen romance and part road comedy, replete with bloodstains and thick Massachusetts accents.
Despite the chemistry between lip-busting loner Wayne (Mark McKenna) and his travel companion Del (Ciara Bravo), as well as producer credits from the minds behind "Deadpool" and "Zombieland," the fledgling series couldn't attract enough eyes, and YouTube pulled the plug after one season. The series received renewed attention when it hit Amazon Prime a year later, invigorating a flock of new "Wayne" fans and drumming up speculation for a much-delayed second season. Here's what the "Wayne" fanbase can't help but love about the short-lived series.
Fans love how Wayne isn't actually that good at fighting
If there's one thing to be known about Wayne, it's that he's quick to throw a punch, whether out of a sense of vigilante justice or just for the heck of it. All 10 episodes are punctuated by bloody fight scenes, all from which Wayne emerges if not unscathed, then at least unbothered. Indeed, it's this scrappiness — not his fighting prowess — that's kept many a "Wayne" fan hooked. "Wayne is more of a tough as hell brawler than an actual skilled fighter," wrote u/0ldKitsune on the r/Wayne subreddit. "He wins by taking more and giving more than his opponent." Adds u/Trishockz, "He's a bruiser."
Fans seem to have tapped into what showrunner Shawn Simmons was going for. Per the Brockton, Massachusetts-born creator, the idea behind "Wayne" came from watching a similarly tenacious kid get beat up, only to throw a rock at the tired gang and unleash a second round of a**-kicking. Of that particular brand of scrappy, down-and-out kid, Simmons told Screen Rant, "We don't see enough of those types of kids in those types of neighborhoods ... They will throw a rock right back at you and get beat up again rather than take their licking and cry."
Still, if "Wayne" does return for a second season, star Mark McKenna hopes that fans can learn to love something else about the outcast protagonist. "[I'd like to watch] Wayne grow emotionally as a person and learn to process and feel something that isn't anger," he said. "They could both use that," said Ciara Bravo about Wayne and Del. "A good therapist."