Comedy
Wizards Beyond Waverly Place
‘Wizards Beyond Waverly Place’ is a fitting sequel series to Disney’s ‘Wizards of Waverly Place.’ And that can be a good or a bad thing.
Jolie Dumont thought she had it all.
Jolie and her parents live in a beautiful home in Belgium. She attends a posh private school. And even though she’s only 15 years old, Jolie and her horse, Clémetine, are already being scouted by Olympic Equestrian teams.
But then, things turn sour.
It turns out Jolie’s father, Cédric, committed fraud, causing dozens of clients to lose their life savings. Jolie’s mother, Janelle, says that Cédric is trying to fix his mistakes—and she emphasizes that they’re still a family—but for now, they need to sell their assets and try to pay back Cédric’s clients.
That means no more beautiful home, no more posh school and, much to Jolie’s chagrin, no more Clémentine.
Trying to save some money, Janelle packs her and Jolie’s bags and heads back to the only other home she’s ever known: her family’s horse ranch in Baltimore.
Jolie hates it. She’s never been to Baltimore before, let alone met her aunt and cousins who live there. Even Janelle has avoided the place for the past 20 years. But whatever family drama is stewing in that pot, the ladies will need to resolve it quickly, because it looks like they’re there for the long haul.
It’s not an easy transition for Jolie. She’s been used to having everything in life handed to her, but now she’s gotta work for every scrap she can get. Her new school is a bit tougher than she’s used to, too. It has metal detectors, and a local bully extorts other teens (including Jolie’s cousin, Ronnie) for “protection” money.
To make matters even worse, the Chambers Family Ranch isn’t designed to produce Olympians. Sure, Jolie’s aunt, Yvonne, can rehabilitate troubled youth and win a few rodeos, but the facilities aren’t set up for Jolie’s elite training needs. And coming up with the funds to train somewhere else just isn’t within Janelle and Jolie’s means right now.
Luckily, Jolie has Beauty.
Yvonne rescued Beauty from an abusive owner. And Jolie bonds with the horse, realizing Beauty probably feels just as misunderstood as she herself does.
Whether Jolie will be able to get Beauty ready in time for Olympic tryouts is a horse of an entirely different color. But maybe, just maybe, Beauty can help Jolie heal from the pain of her father’s betrayal and start to find the beauty in other things.
If you’re familiar with Anna Sewell’s 1877 novel Black Beauty (or any of the many movie versions: eight of them, dating back to 1921), you’ll likely see some similarities between the book and this Prime Video series. However, families will want to exercise some caution, since this show isn’t quite as children friendly as the novel.
Language sometimes crops up, and God’s and Jesus’ names are occasionally misused. Yvonne’s son, Lemond, is essentially exiled from the family because of gang-related activity. Jolie and Ronnie get into a pretty nasty fight with Serena, one of their classmates, in which the latter pulls a knife on them. We learn a teenage boy is being abused by his father. And as we so often see in contemporary updates these days, Ronnie is gay, sharing a kiss with another girl.
But the show has several positive elements, too.
Although Jolie initially rejects her newfound family, she comes to realize how much she needs them—and how much she loves them. They’re there for her when things between her parents go south. Old wounds (older even than Jolie) are healed, and new friendships are formed as Janelle and Jolie find their place at the Chambers Family Ranch.
And, of course, there’s some pretty impressive horse-wrangling as well.
(Editor’s Note: Plugged In is rarely able to watch every episode of a given series for review. As such, there’s always a chance that you might see a problem that we didn’t. If you notice content that you feel should be included in our review, send us an email at letters@pluggedin.com, or contact us via Facebook or Instagram, and be sure to let us know the episode number, title and season so that we can check it out.)
Jolie’s world is turned upside down when she and her mother are forced to sell everything they own and move in with her mom’s family in Baltimore.
A married woman seemingly flirts with an ex-boyfriend. Teenagers flirt with each other. An adult couple kisses. A woman says her husband hides sweet notes for her around the house whenever he’s on the road for work.
Yvonne rescues Beauty by purchasing her from an abusive owner, threatening to report the man’s cruelty in order to get a lower price. We hear that Beauty has bitten a few people on the ranch out of fear, and a few more folks are knocked down by the horse. At one point, Beauty breaks out of her stall and runs into traffic, but nobody is hurt.
Jolie and Ronnie’s school has metal detectors, which unnerves Jolie. She’s shoved unintentionally by several classmates trying to get to class. Ronnie is threatened by a classmate for “protection” money. We learn Yvonne’s son, Lemond, isn’t allowed on the family ranch because of gang-related activity (a decision that causes Ronnie great ire).
We see some teenagers smoking. Adults drink beer at a party.
Characters lie and keep the truth from each other—often in an attempt to spare feelings but usually causing more problems in the end. People speak negatively of Jolie’s father, sometimes in front of her.
Jolie is blindsided when her mom sells her horse without telling her, not even giving her the chance to say goodbye. She’s further hurt when she learns that everyone knew her dad committed fraud (stealing money from clients) but her. She acts out, stealing money from her family’s ranch to buy a plane ticket back to Belgium, giving attitude to her mom and otherwise acting spoiled when she doesn’t get her way.
However, Janelle stands her ground, supported by Yvonne. She holds her daughter accountable and also finds ways to encourage Jolie. And by the episode’s end, Jolie seems to be warming up to her new life.
We hear that a woman used to party as a teen, but she’s sober now. And she credits the family ranch and church for her change. A few scenes take place in a church and some people express faith in God. One woman jokes her daughter is “whispering sorcery” under her breath.
We hear a few uses each of “d–n,” “h—” and “p-ss.” God’s and Jesus’ names are also occasionally misused.
Emily studied film and writing when she was in college. And when she isn’t being way too competitive while playing board games, she enjoys food, sleep, and geeking out with her husband indulging in their “nerdoms,” which is the collective fan cultures of everything they love, such as Star Wars, Star Trek, Stargate and Lord of the Rings.
‘Wizards Beyond Waverly Place’ is a fitting sequel series to Disney’s ‘Wizards of Waverly Place.’ And that can be a good or a bad thing.
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