REVIEW: ‘Ready or Not Texas’ Understands What Makes The State Tick

I’ve been watching Lee Seo-jin’s variety series for a while now, thanks to discovering Jinny’s Kitchen on Prime Video, starring Kim Tae-hyung (BTS’ V) and two of my favorite actors, Choi Woo-shik and Park Seo-joon. Through Jinny’s Kitchen, I got to see the group embrace Mexico and its culture. Now, Ready or Not Texas is putting Lee Seo-jin’s love of Texas in the spotlight. 

The Netflix Original six-episode variety show follows Lee Seo-jin and producer Nah Yung-suk (also spelled Nah Yeong-seok; we are using producer Nah’s name as provided by Netflix) on their unscripted journey across Texas with their crew. Together, they explore Dallas, the city Lee Seo-jin dreams of calling home after retirement, make their way down to Houston, and then end the series in the state’s capital and the city I call home, Austin, TX.

The best thing about Ready or Not Texas is that it shows that people outside of the United States see Texas and life in the state as a King of the Hill episode, and they’re not wrong. When I started the series, I was expecting to see the most surface exploration of my beautiful state. Still, outside of very bad Tex-Mex choices (the Oasis is not a good representation of Tejano food in the state), that doesn’t happen. 

Lee Seo-jin and Nah Yung-suk seek out the local food scene. 

Much of the journey involves Lee Seo-jin leading everyone through a “hits of Texas” that he has learned from others and from his visits. In doing so, he captures what makes the state special. By driving to just about every major area in the I-35 metroplex, Ready or Not Texas doesn’t take the bougie approach to traveling the state. Instead, the group travels the state the way that I would. Or more specifically, the way that I have. 

Starting in Dallas, the group’s first stop is for Texas barbecue and, well, they do it absolutely right. Sticking with Modelo and Shiner, the group takes the pitmaster’s recommendations as they get their fill, but Lee and Nah already know what true Texas barbecue is about: beef. 

As much as the series is about experiencing everything that Texas has to offer, food takes center stage. Starting it all off at Cooper’s, just outside Dallas, is the best way to do it, though the surprise of being served beer in giant margarita glasses is one of the show’s best reactions. 

Ready or Not Texas captures the vibrant diversity of the state. 

The important element that Ready or Not Texas captures is that the state is extremely diverse. With different hubs focused on varying industries, highlighting Dallas, Houston, and Austin works extremely well to show the differences that every Texan knows. 

While in Dallas, Ready or Not Texas highlights the vibrant Asian community in places like Carrollton, a satellite city outside Dallas, and, more importantly, just how diverse the food is because of it. Outside of food, the group also uses their time in Dallas to see Longhorns for the first time, get cowboy clothes, including custom hats and boots, and do their best to look like Texas looks in film and television. 

What works with this part of the series is that the camera also highlights the people in Dallas who are all dressing like “cowboys” because that is just their day-to-day fashion. If anything, the series starts with Lee and Nah performing a bit about becoming cowboys, only to get carried away in it. 

Additionally, Ready or Not Texas takes the crew to a shooting range, where they all compete, putting their mandatory military service to the test. While the series doesn’t venture into Texas politics, its approach to Texas gun culture is surprising. Actor Lee points out that he doesn’t want to comment on another country’s laws, but starts discussing the need for documenting and registering guns, compared to South Korea’s approach, which is outlawing them except for specific instances. 

The Netflix series does its best to avoid political landmines, focusing instead on the rich culture.

What matters in this conversation is that while even I want stricter gun laws, Texas doesn’t have the largest ownership in the country (that honor goes to California, ironically), and that comes out as they look up statistics, with Texas not exceeding the country’s average. More importantly, Lee mentions the importance of hunting culture in Texas, something I grew up in. 

Texas is filled with political landmines, and often the cast of Ready or Not, Texas comes close to stepping on them. But the group mostly avoids it, except for when they talk about owning Tesla stock, given the current landscape. That said, there is nothing wrong with that. Ready or Not, Texas doesn’t owe its audience an exposé on Texas politics; it’s a snapshot of Texas’ identity, which the series makes clear is not the same across every city. 

On top of that, they get a touch of American car culture, and top off the visit with something any Texan wants (yes, even if they hate the team): Jerryworld. The Cowboys’ stadium, just outside Dallas (something that duo comment on), that everyone knows as Jerryworld, named after the NFL team’s owner, Jerry Jones, drops the crew into American Football in a big way.

They get to step on the field, check out the merchandise store, and take a guided tour of the team’s history. It’s a definitive slice of life in Texas, and I don’t mean the Cowboys. I mean football. More importantly, Ready or Not, Texas’s trip to Jerryworld also serves as a good PSA for anyone looking to travel to the World Cup. When the schedule shows Dallas, it actually means Grapevine, TX, and Jerryworld is where people will be heading. 

From the Cowboys to NASA, Ready or Not Texas tackles the states tourist draws. 

As the crew drives to Houston, about a three-hour drive from Dallas, NASA is next on the list. Taking up over an episode, Ready or Not Texas highlights how important NASA is to the city of Houston. While they don’t find time to really highlight Houston beyond its greatest attraction, the Houston part of the series captures Texas at a different pace. 

That said, the Houston episodes are among the weakest, primarily because the series doesn’t go off the beaten path to showcase the city as many of us know it. The city is home to some of the best rap music scenes in the US, rivaled only by Atlanta’s. We don’t see Houston as a city that consistently ranks among the most diverse in the US. We just see it as “Space City,” which is a disservice to the cultural depth it offers. Then, Ready or Not Texas takes us to Austin, TX, after another three hours and change drive.  

When the crew arrives in Austin, the cultural shift between the three cities is most noticeable. While all the television coverage highlights how big a tech hub Austin is, it’s not much different from Dallas or Houston, which also boast some top-tier tech companies in their own right. However, it’s the group’s commentary that makes the picture of Austin the series paints most on the nose. This is a city for young people. 

The series could have spent more time in Austin and we’re begging Lee Seo-jin to eat better Tex-Mex. 

The Austin episode is primarily limited to the finale of the variety series. Still, it does a lot to introduce the city and how the University of Texas at Austin (my alma mater) impacts it more broadly. The takeaway is that Austin is a faster-paced, younger city than Houston and Dallas, and I can’t really complain about that because it is. 

Unfortunately, though, because I live in Austin, this is the part of Ready or Not Texas that feels a tad empty. This is where the group tries Tex-Mex, picking one of the most bougie restaurants in the city to do so. As a Tejana, a Mexican-American whose family is native to Texas, watching the footnotes come on screen describing Tex-Mex as something detached from Tejanos was hard, and it took everything not to write a letter to Lee Seo-jin, asking him to please eat better Tex-Mex. 

That said, the Austin episode, despite being contained to just one episode, is a good depiction of the city, and ultimately helps showcase a more liberal side of Texas that you don’t get in Dallas. Among the three cities, Ready or Not Texas is actively working to showcase Texas’s diversity. Maybe not from the people you see, but from the experiences you get. 

Despite some missteps, Ready or Not Texas is one of the best variety series on Netflix.

Often, the series reflects on the size of the state. But more importantly, what it offers. I mentioned at the start of this that the series highlights the beauty of my home state, and despite some of my issues, it really does. Texas is not just one thing; we contain multitudes. Our GDP is enough to index us among countries. Our food is distinct. The home that many diasporic communities have made here is important, and we see glimpses of that. 

The only thing missing from Ready or Not Texas, is the Mexicans. At 41% of the population, Latinos establish Texas as the only “minority” majority state in the United States. In Texas, my hometown, San Antonio is 70% Latino, with 90% of those Latinos identifying as Mexican-American. And our lives are missing from Ready or Not Texas: our food, our lives, our work. We aren’t in this variety series despite being the backbone of the state. 

By just limiting the time spent in Dallas, which accounts for about half of the series, the crew could have spent more time in San Antonio, TX. The city that raised me, the sports culture, and the importance in Texas history can’t be understated. Seeing the crew head to a Spurs game or experiencing Fiesta would have showcased the people who make Texas entirely what it is. But we don’t get that. 

Overall, though, Ready or Not Texas isn’t a misfire. It’s one group’s exploration of Texas, and for the most part, it’s adventurous and doesn’t shy away from putting every person in the crew in the spotlight. Even if there are elements that I find lacking, the series does a lot to highlight how fun the state can be. If anything, I want more. Ready or Not Texas is one of the best variety shows on Netflix, and more importantly, it’s a proof of concept for how well a Korean variety series can be received in the US. Give us more Lee Seo-jin and Nah Yung-suk, please. 

Ready or Not Texas is streaming now, exclusively on Texas.