Miracle Workers is a comedy TV show that premiered on February 12th on TBS. It features Steve Buscemi as God like you’ve never seen him before. The story is based on  the book by Simon Rich, What in God’s Name, and it provides an interesting look at heaven while showcasing that humans are worth saving. See the trailer below:

Unfortunately for the people of earth, God wants to solve the unduly burden of caring for Earth by simply blowing it up, but Craig and Eliza, his hardworking Angels, are the only ones committed to saving it! Here is a recap (SPOILER ALERT!) of episode 101, “2 Weeks.”

God’s Office

God, played by Steve Buscemi, seems overwhelmed and feeling helpless as he sits on his couch watching Earth’s countless and tragic news stories on his TV. In attempts to soothe his anxieties, he cracks open a beer and replays clips of humans announcing their praises to Him. Due to his disheveled appearance and lack of productivity, his right-hand man, Sanjay (Karan Soni), is quick to dismiss any important meetings such as the one focused on “ending all pain.”

Department of Dirt

Meanwhile, in Heaven Inc., Angels carelessly work on their mundane tasks to ensure the continuity of Earth. Eliza (Geraldine Viswanathan), desperate for change from making single dirt particles every day, pleads the Department of Angel Resources to transfer her to a more stimulating work environment. In light of everyone thinking Earth is doomed and can’t be fixed, Eliza believes she can be the change that Earth needs. After some persuasion, Eliza is ecstatic about the endless possibilities with her new career in the Department of Answering Prayers only to find that only a tiny percentage of prayers are ever actually answered.

“God, Please Help Me Find My Keys”

Excited and determined, Eliza marches straight to the Department of Answering Prayers where she meets Craig (Daniel Radcliffe), the only Angel who has been working in this department for thousands of years. Craig, overworked and apparently starved of any social interaction, leaps at this opportunity to show his new coworker on how to answer prayers that can only be done through discrete natural phenomenons. Amidst Craig answering to a “lost keys” prayer, gazing at an infinite wall filled with more answered “lost keys” prayer receipts, and scanning the gigantic room filled with mountains of piled and growing unanswered prayer tickets, it becomes very clear to Eliza that this will not be a very meaningful profession. Many moments later, Craig clears the last snowflake, revealing the lost keys and sits jubilantly at his success.

One Fatal Announcement

Craig becomes frightened when Eliza suggests answering a more significant prayer and strongly advises her to send all impossible prayers directly to God. Against Craig’s wishes, Eliza successfully answers a farmer’s prayer to save his crops impacted by drought through a rainfall turned typhoon, converting one man’s prayer to hundreds of please-save-me-I-do-not-want-to-die prayers. So, Eliza runs to God and pleads for his help. After trying to convince God to do something about the many deaths as Earth is his responsibility, God unexpectedly agrees. He hurries to make an important announcement to all of Heaven Inc.: to blow up Earth.

God’s Bet

God settles back in his office where he states his frustrations to Sanjay about how no one sacrifices lambs to him anymore when he is interrupted by Eliza barging in. Realizing that God is a betting man, she initiates a bet to save Earth. Looking at the high stack of unanswered impossible prayers on God’s desk, she bets God that if she can solve one of these prayers, Earth will be saved.

The Impossible Prayer

Craig soon discovers that his thousands of centuries work’s worth of assets will be completely gone when transferred to another galaxy. Knowing this and knowing he could not bare working at the proposed placement in the Department of Moving Debris, he agrees to help Eliza save the world (and his beloved job) as they calculate the easiest impossible prayer to answer over burgers. So it was decided. If Eliza and Craig are able to bring two people together by way of true love’s kiss in two weeks time, Earth will be spared. If they fail to do so, Earth will be blown up, and Eliza will have to eat a worm alive – both head and butt.