After watching The Way Home, I knew that I needed to watch Ride. Not because I was thinking that I would get another time travel show on Hallmark, but rather because I thought that I would be getting another modern show with the flair that only Hallmark can give it. We’re looking at a channel, with its leadership, that continues to want to evolve and be more than what we expect of it. It’s a channel that wants to break through its mold and give us current shows that will entice a new legion of fans.
Ride is definitely one of those shows.
Like The Way Home, the first episode left me with more questions than answers. But, in the same breathe, it also left me with the want to watch more. We’re meeting the McMurray family. They are a family of rodeo champions and a big legacy in Colorado. They seem happy enough, all supportive and having each others backs.
Only one member is missing.
Cash.
Do we know where he is? No. But we do soon find out that he’s back when he shows up at the rodeo to surprise his family. Cash has shown up to watch his big brother, Austin, ride. Austin is a champion. Austin sees his little brother and gives him some shit, before heading off.
What happens next is what I don’t understand. Austin is outside and texts, Valeria, and asks her to come outside. We see her come out and him ask her to do something, but we don’t know what it is. We see a sketchy man. We see Valeria with tears streaming down her face and then taking off.
And then we see Austin riding the bull and then it’s a year later and everything has changed.
Families are complex. They are a big ball of trying to figure out what works and trying to move on. Moving on definitely isn’t easy, especially when grief is involved. Missy knows though, that she needs to leave the ranch. She needs to move forward.
But how is it that you can move forward when people need you. And the McMurray’s definitely do.
The ranch is in foreclosure and where it was meant to be a secret, nothing is in this family. It’s actually good though that Isabel left the foreclosure paper on the counter and her Tuff found it. It’s a strange thing, the worst of times, that you find inspiration in those moments.
With Austin being gone, the family has lost a big part of their income and that’s left them struggling. Cash has been training, going back on the bull, struggling for those 8 seconds. Missy goes to talk to him, and he legit looks so frustrated, but also so at ease when she’s there. He asks her to watch him ride.
From the beginning you can see that there is so much left unsaid between the two. It’s a weird thing – as if you wonder that they were meant to be together and it’s something that we’ve missed. I think that to a point, they were. At this point we don’t even know what they were and what has happened with them. But there is something.
Missy was Austin’s wife. She’s been grieving and she has stayed at the McMurray ranch because they are her family. They are the people that matter to her. So leaving didn’t feel right. But she’s ready to and sh’s ready to try for a job at Frontier Jeans.
Now, I have no idea about rodeos and that life – but apparently in this story – Frontier Jeans will play an important part. Austin was sponsored by the company and now Cash wants that sponsorship. With that, we know that shit is about to get really complicated.
While Ride is compared to Yellowstone, I felt that this show was more comparable to Dallas (yes, that is an old show, but the soapiness of this show feels as though it is comparable to it). The show doesn’t have to tell anyone that there are more secrets, lies, and love stories. The show doesn’t have to tell anyone because the actors tell you with their looks, their love, and their movements.
I feel like what happens next – the rodeo, the moments, Missy going for her job… it’s all important, yes. But what becomes the most important is Valeria’s return. While we’re not sure what she left for (except the secret surrounding Austin’s death), we’re confused why she returns and why the family seems to welcome her back.
The McMurrays are Valeria’s only family, but even when we know that, and Isabel considers her family. She considers Valeria to be a daughter, one that she’s always wanted. So for Isabel, she knows that Valeria left, but that doesn’t matter to her. What matters to her is that she is back.
And that leads me to reiterating that this show is about family. At its very heart and soul, it is about family. It is about the ups and downs of family, but how no matter what you go through, you are there for each other. It’s about the way that family comes first. It’s about the way that no matter what happens and what questions that they know the answers to and the ones that they don’t – they all matter, but they’ll wait for answers. Because they believe in each other.
This show is complicated, but it feels like you’re being somewhat intrusive, because you are watching what unfolds in a family and their most personal moments. The show is one that you can’t help but love the characters. The show is one where you can’t help but love the scenery. You can’t help but think you want to be a part of this world.
Hell, with the views you want to move to the ranches of Colorado.
While you know that the stakes are high, you’re wondering if that means that it’s more than loosing the ranch. You wonder if it means that it’s loosing someone else. You know that some of the things are predictable, but you are still entranced. And you’re pissed.
You’re pissed at the way that the family was taken advantage of. You’re pissed that when Missy gets her job, her husband is exploited. You’re upset that the family is in trouble. You’re over the girl who wants to marry Cash for his last name. You’re mad that there isn’t more Tuff.
And then you’re thankful for family. Especially the ending when Isabel rides with Valeria and Missy and asks them to stay. You’re thankful that you know you know that these three are going to lead each other through the worst and find the best. You’re thankful that Cash has a great ride.
Ride is a highly addictive show with a cast that you can’t help but fall in love with. Sure, it’s soapy. But that’s part of its greatness. It’s soapy with heart.
But most importantly it’s led by strong women and that’s something that you don’t see all the time. We’re here for that.
