'Back to the Frontier': Faith Keeps Family Afloat in History Adventure

Chip & Joanna Gaines are known for helping folks remodel their houses, and for promoting a "farmhouse chic" style. But there's nothing chic about the farmhouses in their new HBO Max/Magnolia series Back to the Frontier, premiering July 10.

From Frontier House to Back to the Frontier

Back in 2002, PBS premiered Frontier House, one of several series that transported modern people back into a lifestyle from the past. Just like its predecessor, Back to the Frontier returns to the West of the 1880s, challenging today's families to live like hardscrabble homesteaders.

But, at least in 2002, kids weren't suffering withdrawal from social media and smartphones -- and they are here. Also, one of the families has same-sex parents, which would have been nearly unknown on the frontier.

Take a look:

What Happens in Back to the Frontier?

Chip & Joanna Gaines, who began their home remodeling and style empire with the HGTV TV series Fixer Upper, are executive producers for the eight-episode weekly Back to the Frontier, streaming on HBO Max, and available on Magnolia's cable channel, streamer, and dedicated app.

The Loper (Alabama), Hanna-Riggs (Texas) and Hall (Florida) families are taken to a vast property near the Canadian Rockies, where they surrender all modern conveniences, from makeup, jewelry, and clothes to electronic devices.

They're provided with an 1880s wardrobe, a not-quite-finished cabin, basic supplies, and a store of cash to buy more -- including bidding on groups of farm animals.

Over the course of a summer, the families are expected to house and feed themselves, fill up their winter pantries, and still have enough money left over at the end to purchase their homestead deed.

While it's surprising to hear some of the adults lament the lack of hot showers and toilet paper (what did they expect?), it's not hard to guess the kids' reactions to physical labor, canned ham, and a lack of modern comforts.

Talking to the Lopers

Just before the show's premiere, I caught up with Stacey and Joaquin Loper, whose teenage sons Landen (14) and Maddox (12), and Joaquin's good-natured but no-nonsense mother, Shirley, accompanied them on the TV adventure.

The Lopers are already known on social media, since grief counselor and leadership trainer Stacey, author of the 2017 faith-inspired book Total Surrender, has 4.7M followers on TikTok, as ThatLoperLady.

She and Joaquin, a marriage counselor and motivational speaker, are co-founders of the online ministry Blended & Winning.

Here's some of what they had to say:

On whether they played by the rules on the frontier:

Joaquin: No, there were no shenanigans. We stuck to the rules. That was the only way to make it. I believe us sticking to the rules really impacted us more than having shenanigans on our help. It really gave us that drive every day to know that you don't have any help. This is what you and your family have to accomplish today, so don't look for help. Figure it out.

Stacey: Yeah, it was definitely no shenanigans. It was real life, 1880s social experience of truly figuring out if we could meet this challenge and be better than we were when we arrived.

On how doing the show affected their relationships with Landen and Maddox:

Joaquin: I think I appreciated my kids and what we've done as parenting more on the frontier than I ever have in our 17 years of marriage, because what my wife has been telling me to look at and let them show me, it really resonated while we were on the frontier.

It was bigger insight than I'd ever seen before, and it gave me the opportunity to step back a little from being a parent and just allow them to grow as kids and show me all the things we've put in them, they're there and they use them.

Stacey: It was definitely an exhibition of the Bible verse that says, "Train them in the way that they should go, and when they become old, they won't depart from that." And our boys, Landon and Maddox, 14 and 12, showed us that at the tender age of 14 and 12, so can you imagine, what I bought back is what are they going to show me when they're 21 and 25?

These boys, those Loper boys, really rose up in a different type of way at those ages of 14 and 12. And for me as a parent, to see their resilience, their determination, and their drive, it made me want to live and drive and be as determined as they were.

On learning to be happy with less:

Joaquin: I was always the one pushing that, "Hey, we didn't have this back in the day." I was always pushing that what we had was this, this, this, and you get to choose from this. My kids have shown me more growth since they've been back than I believe we tried to instill in them since being back.

For instance, my son, Maddox, we went on a trip, and he told us after eating out a few times, he said, "Hey, we don't need much tonight. All we need is McDonald's." And I was like, that's my boy. That's my boy. He's mine then.

But no, it really showed them that it doesn't take much to be happy, but be happier that you have the ability and the means to get what you want. But the times that you can't get what you want, appreciate what you have.

Stacey: My mother worked extremely hard, like three jobs as a single mom to give us a better look at life that you don't necessarily have to do this. I mean, if it's a means to an end, then yeah, but you don't have to.

On how their Christian faith got them through the experience:

Stacey: We wouldn't have made it without that. We wouldn't have made it without the opportunity to understand what's at the core of everything that we do and what we have instilled in our kids in understanding that ... our blessings come from somewhere totally different.

And in that, we have to be able to humble ourselves, have a spirit of gratitude and appreciation and thanksgiving for everything that we have.

And I'll be honest with you, I can really come off extremely ungrateful. I can. And the frontier taught me a lot about leaving those things where they were and understanding that it's about hands, heart, and head. That's really where it is.

And the frontier gave me that experience, and I definitely believe I bought that experience back into the 21st century.

Joaquin: Standing on our faith is one of the essential cores that we try, values that we have implemented into our family, and I believe that me observing that in every individual there ... from my mother down to our 12-year-old.

Knowing that who we stand with, and who we have as a Savior, that right there, that got me through some of the tough times when I didn't have anyone to talk to.

When I couldn't talk to my wife and I just had to go walk through the woods and just have my moment, that really, really gave me a sense of peace and clarity. Yeah.

Should Catholic Families Watch Back to the Frontier?

Like all unscripted TV, it's sometimes hard to figure out what's a real reaction and what's being done just for the cameras. But, in immersive reality shows like this, after a while, the manufactured situation becomes very real for the participants living it 24/7.

Families will recognize a lot of the issues faced here, from the necessity of pitching in on work around the home, parenting wins and problems, worries about money, building community, and especially what happens when families can't scatter to separate parts of houses, to work, or to school.

In the three episodes I was able to screen, the issue of the same-sex parents -- two men -- is dealt with in a low-key fashion, shifting the emphasis from the adult relationship to more universal themes of parenting and division of labor.

The presence of Joaquin Loper's mother Shirley is a lovely addition. She brings practical wisdom and essential skills, showing the importance, even in our technological world, of knowing how to do the basics.

I observed no questionable sexual content or improper language. And while the Lopers are obviously a Christian family -- as is the Gaines family -- faith and prayer were not at the forefront of the first three episodes.

Image: The Loper Family in 'Back to the Frontier'/ HBO Max/Magnolia Network

Kate O’Hare, a longtime entertainment journalist, is Social Media Content Manager and Blog Editor at Family Theater Productions.