Soapy series about country music’s first family

at first glance, monarchthe highly anticipated Fox drama about country music’s first fictional family, can be described as an ambitious amalgamation. empire, dynastyWhen nashville— sure, with a hint InheritanceCreated by newcomer Melissa London Hilfers, the musical drama set in Texas has all the makings of a hit.

But despite all the soapy temptations and scheming songbirds, monarchInstead of exploring the overwhelmingly white organization of the country music scene, the show turns into a familiar family drama, a plot that regular viewers of the genre could see coming from a mile away. It depends on the twist of

The story takes place at a press conference with country music queens and kings Dottie Cantrell Roman (Susan Sarandon) and Albie Roman (Trace Adkins), who will receive a Lifetime Achievement Award at the CMA. (Each episode is booked with a murder mystery set three months after the pilot, involving all of the Romans and increasing the stakes of the family empire.)

But Dotty is hiding a secret from her legions of fans and is preparing to make her eldest daughter Nicky (Anna Friel) his heir. This doesn’t sit well with her youngest daughter, Gigi (Beth Ditto), a married lesbian who has always felt like an outcast and has shied away from the spotlight until now. At the center of this sisterly rivalry is middle-child Luke (Joshua Sasse), his charismatic CEO of Monarch Entertainment. his father’s approval. (The show is an alternate world where country music hits like Twain’s “Man! I Feel Like A Woman!” and Garth Brooks’ “Friends In Low Place” actually belong to Roman.) is set to

Nicky, who has spent her entire life in Dottie’s shadow, sees her inheritance as an opportunity to make a name for herself as a solo act, and soon discovers that her family’s success was built on a foundation of lies.In fact, viewers of the show will soon unravel their own lies: Friel, not Sarandon, real A leading lady — and it’s a pretty great one. Sarandon mostly appears in flashbacks intended to give additional context to Dottie’s complicated relationship with her husband and children. Few in the six episodes done, like the rest of the Roman family, makes the show feel lost without her.

Friel did much of the heavy lifting in the first half of the season, to her credit, allowing viewers to understand the extreme pressure Nikki feels to prevent a single crack in her mother’s legacy from appearing. She sings song after song, memorably fast-paced one-liners in a Texas accent (“I was going to tell you to watch out for the rats, but you don’t have to, because You get used to it so quickly.”), and plays Nicky with such steadfastness that it makes you wonder why she hasn’t had success on this side of the pond since starring in ABC’s. is easy. press daisiesThankfully, this is a role that deserves her talent.

Ditto’s Gigi is a great foil for Friel’s Nicky, playing a 30-something newcomer who has to go through a steep learning curve in the business. In her pilot, Dottie may not have been the mother of the year, she says, but she taught her children to look out for each other.

A multi-platinum, Grammy-nominated recording artist, Adkins is amazing when it comes to singing and playing guitar. But most of the time, family drama is more compelling when you have a parent who is the glue that holds them all together.Adkins just isn’t the right person for the job.He has an uneven chemistry with Sarandon at best. and it’s hard to believe their characters have been married for over 40 years. It’s not entirely clear whether this is due to it, or the fact that Adkins is simply out of his depth as an actor.

Unlike other primetime family dramas about the One Percent, the Roman family’s wealth and privileges aren’t necessarily reflected in the cars they drive or the clothes they wear. When vengeful Kat Phoenix (Martha Higareda) arrives in Austin, she helps her teenage daughter Ana (Emma Milani) sign a contract with Monarch. desperate to help. But even when Ana catches the eye of Nicky’s adopted daughter, Ace (Inigo her Pascual), she rarely talks about the socioeconomic gap that exists between her and the Romans.

actually, monarch Avoiding mentions of race or Texas politics entirely, it seems like the show is trying to appeal to both sides of the aisle. Take Gigi’s wife Kayla (Meagan Holder), for example, who manages Gigi’s music.Those characters almost feel like window dressing monarch By making it seem more progressive without having to press any actual buttons, this musical drama feels more like a one-hit wonder than a true superstar, at least so far.