Entertainment
This Free-To-Stream 80% Western Series Blended the Best of ‘Yellowstone’ With ‘Friday Night Lights’
As a teen-centric drama airing on ABC Family (rebranded to Freeform) from 2005 to 2008, Wildfire naturally evokes comparisons to the defining high school sagas from the early aughts, like The O.C. and One Tree Hill. Although Wildfire follows the turbulent lives, loves, and losses of four adolescents and their respective adversarial families, the series’ best matches are more off the beaten path: Yellowstone, one of modern television’s biggest hits, and Friday Night Lights, the classic tearjerker about tenacity, hope, and, of course, football.
Created by Michael Piller and Christopher Teague, Wildfire merges the latter’s community-driven emotional center with less bleak versions of Yellowstone‘s Western setting, ranch-related politics, and its preoccupation with familial legacy. In Wildfire‘s case, the winsome and underrated sleeper hit earned a tiny but mighty following thanks to its grounded thematic roots surrounding redemption, small town dynamics, competitive sports, and interpersonal stakes — as well as the timeless connection between an outcast girl and her beloved horse.
What Is ‘Wildfire’ About?
Wildfire unfolds at Raintree Ranch in Fremont, a rural town where horse racing reigns supreme as a spectator pastime, a demanding sport, and a way of life. After serving 18 months in a juvenile correctional facility for car theft, teenager Kris Furillo (Genevieve Padalecki) develops an unexpected bond with the titular horse, whose rebellious disposition lives up to his name. The young woman with a lost, lonely soul and the retired racehorse condemned to a slaughterhouse understand and rescue each other in the elemental way that’s reserved for humans and animals.
Both Kris and Wildfire’s lives change once Kris’ natural respect, affection, and affinity for equines secures her a stable hand position with Raintree. After some initial hesitation, owner Jean Ritter (Nana Visitor) and her father, Henry (Dennis Weaver), grant Kris the encouragement, acceptance, and tools required to heal herself that Kris needs at the time she most needs them. Meanwhile, Kris might just be the miracle the Ritters need to keep the Raintree business afloat.
As Kris nurtures Wildfire, training her animal soulmate into a Thoroughbred racehorse champion, she devotes herself to becoming a jockey worthy of his own recovering spirit. Threats emerge in the form of Kris’ horse-riding nemesis, Dani Davis (Nicole Tubiola), the daughter of the Ritters’ wealthy and morally ambiguous enemies, as well as several unexpected romances — like the love triangle between Kris, Jean’s son Matt (Micah Alberti), and Dani’s older brother, Kenneth “Junior” Davis (Ryan Sypek).
‘Wildfire’ Filters Small-Town Politics, Western Tropes, and Teen Drama Through a Mature Lens
When Wildfire opens, the Ritters are struggling to stay financially afloat. Fees accumulate and metaphorical vultures circle, like Ken Davis Sr. (James Read), the patriarch eager to fold his rivals’ beleaguered stable — one run by love, not for profit’s sake — into his empire. Kris can relate to being the underdog. Born into a lower economic class, denied a naturally loving family, and punished by the law, the odds have opposed her since day one. Kris lacks the naivety of more traditional young protagonists; accustomed to harsh truths, she uses her aloofness, her logic, and her safe connection with animals as a defense against further betrayal.
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However, when the Ritters grant her a second chance, Kris demonstrates the maturity, willingness, and committed hard work required to both improve and prove herself as a trustworthy, loyal person. Working at Raintree helps her gain clarity and discover a purpose after going so long without either, leaving her determined to rebuild her world after external and self-inflicted damage. Over time, Kris embraces healthy ambition, pursues her dreams with renewed hope, and opens up to the Ritters. Their family-by-choice connection stays true even when Kris finds herself reluctantly caught up in the whirlwind of her yearning affection for Junior — a boy who, on the surface, embodies everything she resents.
Yet Junior embarks upon his own journey toward self-worth, valiantly rejecting the pitfalls of his spoiled, silver-spoon-in-hand upbringing. Alongside Dani, the Davis children emphasize Wildfire‘s core themes: establishing one’s identity and defying pre-determined expectations. Adolescents finding their place in a dangerously overwhelming world is a common teen drama refrain, but Wildfire highlights an often overlooked fact: even though mistakes are inevitable, you can recover through active growth, contrition, and self-forgiveness.
‘Wildfire’ Applies ‘Friday Night Lights’ Character-Driven, Sports-Focused Stakes to Horse Riding
Wildfire offers safer, less grim dramatic stakes than either Friday Night Lights or Yellowstone, but compensates with dynamic character tension surrounding the ensemble’s fears for the future and the risk-reward dichotomy of competitive sports environments where fate can turn on a dime. For the Ritters, every galloping sprint, elaborate trick jump, and possible win determines whether Kris and Wildfire can ensure their found family’s survival. Together with excellent performances and multi-generational chemistry, Wildfire is an easy but rewarding binge-watch that’s especially appealing for fans of its aforementioned comparison series — as well as the adults who spent their childhoods devouring “a girl and her horse” books.
