Spoilers for Dutton Ranch episodes 1 and 2 ahead.
The long-anticipated Beth Dutton (Kelly Reilly) and Rip Wheeler (Cole Hauser) spinoff, Dutton Ranch, is finally here.
With its first two episodes now available to stream on Paramount+, the fiery couple have left their native Montana — which is where we were convinced they were going to stay at the end of Yellowstone season 5 part 2 — for Texas, setting up a ranch from scratch there instead.
You’ve probably got a lot of questions about Beth and Rip’s return to the small screen, with episodes 1 and 2 full of new information that we need to process.
From new rival ranch 10 Petal to exactly how John Dutton (Kevin Costner) is referenced, here’s the full-blown Dutton Ranch premiere recap that you’re in desperate need of.
Why have Beth and Rip left Montana for Texas?
At the end of Yellowstone season 5 part 2, we watched as Beth and Rip moved to a separate Montana ranch to start over. But at the beginning of Dutton Ranch, it burns down as a wildfire takes hold of the local area.
Between them, most of their horses and cattle are saved, with Beth managing to get Carter (Finn Little) to safety in plenty of time too. The family hits the local shelter area, beside themselves that everything they once had is now lost.
Rip phones around to try and get a new lead on ranch opportunities, and can only find one in the small town of Rio Paloma, Texas. Beth claims that buying a ranch with almost their entire bank account will still be cheaper than building their Montana ranch back up from the ashes, so off they go.
The pair buys an abandoned ranch, known as Edwards Ranch, from a widow who no longer has use of it. Beth and Rip promise to honor the quality and values of its old owner, as well as taking care of wrangler Azul (J.R. Villarreal) as their own.
So who else do we know so far in Rio Paloma?
Rio Paloma is an incredibly small town, and almost everybody knows each other. Beth and Rip’s biggest problem is the local dominant ranch 10 Petal, run by no-nonsense Beulah Jackson (Annette Bening).
Beulah’s adopted son Joaquin (Juan Pablo Raba) is the company’s problem solver, which basically translates to hiding the family’s dirty laundry. Son Rob-Will (Jai Courtney) is a misogynistic, racist and homophobic brute with a drug problem… but a little more on him later.
Then she’s got troubled daughter Oreana (Natalie Alyn Lind), who takes a shine to Carter after he defends her honor during his first visit to the local rodeo.
Everett McKinney (Ed Harris) is the local vet who helps Beth rehabilitate a horse on death’s door, but also acts as a mediator between Rio Paloma and Beulah.
There’s also Zachariah (Marc Menchaca), a cowboy in prison who Azul vouches for to work alongside Rip. He’s clearly got a trouble past, but we currently don’t know why he’s been incarcerated.
What is 10 Petal ranch hiding?
In short, a body. At the beginning of Dutton Ranch episode 1, we see Rob-Will fly off the handle at a rancher that he’s got out of bed in the early hours of the morning. With wrangler Chet (Hart Denton) watching on, Rob-Will berates our victim for allegedly accusing 10 Petal of fixing their books. In a fit of rage, Rob-Will kills him, burying the body in a field in the middle of nowhere.
Obviously, this poses a huge problem for Beulah, She tasks Joaquin with cleaning up Rob-Will’s mess, who claims that the only fix is to pack Rob-Will off to a rehab far enough away that it won’t raise eyebrows. We find out that this is the third time Rob-Will has been there, who remains convinced that he’ll be out in “a couple of days.”
Then there’s Chet. Beulah blackmails him into taking on Rob-Will’s role of ranch foreman, quickly sending another wrangler to hospital after beating him up to assert his authority.
In episode 2, we see Rip come across the dead rancher’s body, digging him up and dumping him in a nearby abandoned well. Joaquin goes into meltdown afterwards, and rightly so.
What about Carter?
He’s only been in Rio Paloma for a few minutes, but Carter is already teetering into trouble. Not making any friends at school, he’s cajoled into going to the local rodeo by a girl who seems interested in him, but actually only invites him to buy alcohol for her friends because he looks old enough.
While there, he finds Oreana in a fight with her boyfriend in the parking lot, with Carter punching him when he starts to get physically violent with her. Carter winds up in jail until Oreana bails him out, with Carter skipping school to hang out with her the next day.
There’s clearly romantic tension between the two, but Oreana’s boyfriend is clearly not going anywhere without (another) fight.
Where is Beth in all of this?
Don’t you worry about her! Beth is busy making her reputation known among the locals, including a particularly scathing first meeting with Beulah.
She’s also instrumental in helping Rip pick out the first bull for their ranch from the cattle auction.
How is John Dutton referenced?
Unsurprisingly, it doesn’t take too long for Beth’s dad to get a mention. As the Montana fire breaks out, Beth immediately packs a photo of them from their younger years, his hat and his knife.
Months later, when she’s settled in Texas, Beth admits to Rip just how much she misses her dad. “We brought the best parts of him with us,” Rip replies.
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