★★★☆☆
The newest reality TV series Country Ever After made its way to Netflix on Friday. The show follows husband and wife duo Coffey and Criscilla Anderson. The 12-episode series follows Coffey, a country singer, and Criscilla, a hip-hop dancer battling through life challenges, big family moments, and health issues.
Cameras follow the daily drama wrapped up in the Andersons’ lives. The show displays Coffey making his way as an independent country artist while living in California and Criscilla’s stage 3 colon cancer journey. The show also features the couple balancing their jobs alongside raising their three children.
There are heartwarming moments and sad ones, but most of the show remains a superficial reality show. It seems as if the couple has looked toward other reality shows and copied pre-existing formulas by dramatizing regular events that happen in their lives. The same tensions and dramas are scattered throughout the series. While there are some lighthearted moments, the show doesn’t bring a lot of entertainment to viewers.
One part that Country Ever After does portray well is life struggles in daily life. Scenes of Criscilla’s chemotherapy treatment were painfully realistic, showing the agonizing treatments and heart-wrenching moments throughout the process. The show also displays their struggling careers, proving how hard it is to make it as an artist or even a dancer while raising a family.
Coffey’s career is highlighted throughout the series, showing off his country roots. To engage with fans, he utilizes social media to film Instagram Lives and video dedications. The series also somewhat misleadingly presents Coffey as an artist that books massive gigs. In one scene Coffey sings to a high school gym, but the performance is filmed to appear bigger than it is.
Each episode centers around touching moments in their lives, whether they’re celebrating a 40th birthday or showing their kids the gratification of giving gifts to other people. Both Coffey and Criscilla focus on raising their children and instilling them with good morals. In one episode, the Andersons raise money to take care of a family’s Christmas expenses and buy a car for a family member who has died from cancer. Coffey and Criscilla take their kids to pick out gifts for the children in the other family, allowing them to understand the power of giving.
Coffey and Criscilla’s daily lives have endearing moments, but the show remains predictable and static. There are no significant conflicts, and while Criscilla battles cancer, viewers only watch the end of her chemo as she makes it into remission. Each episode has a happy-go-lucky ending where everything settles into place, rather than leaving viewers begging to watch the next episode.
At this time, it is unknown if the Andersons will return for season 2. Since the reality TV show documents the struggles with Criscilla’s battle with stage 3 colon cancer in remission, it may be difficult to film during the pandemic because she is immunocompromised. Also, due to the pandemic, life has become more mundane with restrictions across the country. For now, there may not be anything new that the Andersons can share with fans on their unscripted show Country Ever After.
Featured image courtesy of Netflix
