Stream It Or Skip It: ‘4EVER’ On Disney+, About Four Strangers Who Create A Boy Band To Find A Missing Guitar

The new Disney+ series 4EVER features members of the band CNCO playing four strangers who form a boy band in order to get back a stolen guitar. Yep, that’s the story. Not sure what one has to do with the other? Neither do we.

4EVER: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: A 4-person boy band is about to sing on a brightly-lit stage. One of them sings, but on the second one’s cue, he throws the microphone down and leaves.

The Gist: A young couple has just bought an RV so they can go on the road; we see them get pregnant, then sing with their first son, then sing with both of their sons, and the family of four is singing and living life on the road… until an accident kills both of the parents. In voice over, Ian (Richard Camacho) says that life and music are a lot alike, “but you can only experience the best of both when you are able to accept pain.”

Since the accident, Ian and his little brother have been living with their aunt Theresa (Wendy Regalado) in Miami. He hasn’t really picked up a guitar since the accident; in fact, he sold his off, that’s how much he’s abandoned music. He works for his girlfriend Helena (Virginia Alvarez) at her high-end auto shop, and with the rent due, he’s looking for more clients to come in.

He gets a call from Teresa that Darío (Erick Brian Colón), a member of the country club where she works, needs a fill-in guitarist to play while he sings a marriage proposal to his girlfriend Alicia (Laura Rosguer). He’s reluctant to do it, but Teresa orders him to do it, since the fee will cover the rent. Not having a guitar, he borrows the guitar from the back of a sports car driven by one of Helena’s clients, a famous musician named Oliver (Mariano Chiesa).

After he sings the song to Alicia, he asks her to marry him and she says no. Darío’s already humiliation is already made worse by a rich customer named Charley (Gonzalo Zulueta), who saw the whole thing and decides to mock Darío in front of Alicia. Ian comes to his aid, as does another customer named Andy (Christopher Vélez), who is meeting with his music manager. The manager appreciates Ian and Darío’s talents, and tells Andy to talk to him again when he forms a band. Also coming to Darío’s aid is Ciro (Zabdiel De Jesús), who worked on the yacht that brought in Charley and his friends, including Sabrina (Noemí Hopper), who seems to like the working-class Ciro’s vibe.

In the comedic melee, the guitar disappears; Charley takes the case and puts it on the yacht where Ciro works. Once Ian finds that it’s missing, it’s all he can think of, but Andy and Darío help him out. Andy’s motive is to see if he can get Darío and Ian to start a band with him. But he also knows Sabrina, so he gets in touch with her to get info about the yacht.

While they’re waiting to find out about the guitar, Andy tells Darío he likes the song he sang, but it could use a bit of a melodic lift. And when Ciro comes in with the guitar case, he provides the song some “flow”. It feels like the four strangers are grooving. One problem: The case is empty.

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Anyone remember 2gether: The Series from the early ’00s? It’s something like that, but with a mystery attached.

Our Take: If it seems awfully coincidental that the four actors playing the members of the band being formed in 4EVER seem to have complementary musical talent, then you’re not wrong: The members of the boy band CNCO play the four leads of the series, which is why the four seeming strangers immediately seem to make perfect harmonies together.

Just why these guys feel like they’re going to need to form a band in order to find the guitar is anyone’s guess. Though we liked the approach the show’s writers are taking by centering the first four of the series’ five episodes on each of the four main characters while the story progresses, the plot of the show isn’t much more than a delivery system for CNCO to sing some catchy songs.

And, for some audiences, that’ll be just fine. It’s a musical series, with talented musicians and dreamy visuals as the members of CNCO perform their songs. But we certainly won’t mistake the show for one with an engaging plot. Will the band get the guitar back? Who knows? Will we get some insight into each of the band members? Maybe. Will we hear some fun Latin pop? Definitely.

Sex and Skin: None. The show is pretty much geared towards tweens and teens.

Parting Shot: Ian opens the guitar case and is flabbergasted that the guitar is gone.

Sleeper Star: Noemí Hopper’s character Sabrina seems to be one with her head screwed on right, unlike the rich boys she hangs out with.

Most Pilot-y Line: The fight sequence is very Keystone Cops; the band members don’t actually throw any punches. They just somehow manage to let Charley and his friends run into and inadvertently punch each other. We’re guessing that’s likely something the band requested.

Our Call: SKIP IT. The music in 4EVER is nice, but the story is pretty lightweight and silly.

Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.