Hang on to your hats.
Dutton Ranch S1
All nine episodes are now streaming on Paramount Plus. The nine-episode series also airs Fridays on the Paramount Network at 8pm ET/PT.
Note: spoilers ahead.
My recap of Episode 8 was cut short by the need to avoid spoilers, the biggest of which is that Beaulah (Annette Bening) survived her medical emergency -- a heart attack -- which allowed her, from her hospital bed, to ride herd on her son Rob-Will (Jai Courtenay), newly re-installed as her heir apparent, and his plans to ride solo.
Instead, Beaulah directed that he work with his adopted brother, Joaquin (Juan Pablo Raba), instead of killing him, and also insisted that Rob-Will maintain the employment contracts of both Rip (Cole Hauser) as ranch manager and Beth (Kelly Reilly) as financial advisor.
Beaulah informs Beth, who is quite straightforward: "He's a mistake." On the ranch, Rip puts Carter (Finn Little) to work in his usual roughshod manner; Carter does not respond well to Rip's management style, has a very bad day, falls off his horse when he tries to recapture a runaway steer, and storms off, rebuffing Rip entirely and waving off Beth's earnest plea for him to stay.
Beaulah defends her choice of Rip to Everett (Ed Harris), although she sounds completely defeated. In a sudden turn, Everett proposes to her, and then helps her escape from the hospital, taking her to his place.
Joaquin visits Sheriff Wade (Josh Wade), handing over what he feels is incriminating evidence (a handgun) against Rob-Will in the murder of ranch hand Wes. With no body, however, Sheriff Wade has little interest in pursuing the matter, although he keeps the gun.
Alone and frustrated, Joaquin makes a call to his "father" for help. In Episode 7, young Beaulah shot the man who raped her; evidently, she gave birth to the child, who we've been led to believe is Rob-Will. At the time, she was supposed to be under the protective care of young bodyguard Mariano, who has not appeared in the series so far, but Beaulah's story is that she adopted Joaquin when his birth parents were unable to care for him anymore.
So what really happened to Joaquin's parents? That's where Episode 8 ends.
Episode 9 immediately barrels into spoiler territory -- I mean, in the very first minute! -- so I won't be giving away any plot points here.
I will note, that its running time is longer than the previous eight episodes. That's because the heat is on high: The narrative is now boiling, overflowing with action, character details, and significant plot developments. You can almost hear the sizzle as the overflow hits a hot stove.
Really, it feels like two episodes' worth of narrative, stuffed into one, which marks a departure from the first eight episodes, which had a measured pace and allowed time to get to know the characters. Episode 9 feels like it's in a hurry, so it's a good thing that the show has been renewed for Season 2.
As characters, Beth and Rip brought with them their personalities from Yellowstone, and it felt like the Dutton Ranch writers captured the straightfoward nature of their characters. They are not given to ceaseless gab, so when they talk, it has meaning and emotion behind it. On the other hand, their adopted son Carter is portrayed as a late-blooming adolescent; he's 19, but acts like he's 13, prone to tantrums, fits of self-pity, and emotional outbursts.
Episode 8 left Everett and Beaulah promising to devote themselves to each other, and giggling like teenagers. They are faced with major developments in Episode 9 that leave their future in question. Likewise Oreana (Natalie Alyn Lind), who begins behaving in a manner that feels curiously out of character with how she has been presented previously.
Indeed, Episode 9 is so overly consumed with ramping up the tension and the melodrama to new heights that it takes a number of questionable turns to get there. I couldn't quite believe that everything was taking place within the Dutton Ranch universe that the first few episodes created.
Despite my reservations, however, I have enjoyed watching more adventures with Beth and Rip, as well as the open-hearted and vigorous performances by the likes of Annette Bening and Ed Harris. A number of threads have been left open by Episode 9, so Season 2 will have plenty of plotlines to resolve and more characters to explore.
Reportedly, Benjamin Cavell, who created SEAL Team, will be the new showrunner. Cavell also created The Institute and co-created The Stand, both based on novels by Stephen King. But, in view of how Season 1 concludes, SEAL Team may possibly be the more relevant credit. We shall see.
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