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If you’re wondering just how much Kelly Reilly’s Beth has changed since the end of “Yellowstone,” there’s a specific scene in the series premiere of “Dutton Ranch” that tells you everything you need to know.
Now streaming on Paramount+, the debut episode puts Beth in the path of an injured horse, one barely clinging to life on the side of the road after a gnarly accident. It’s a callback to the very first scene from “Yellowstone,” in which Beth’s father John Dutton (Kevin Costner) is faced with the very same challenge. And while Beth initially intends to put the poor beast out of its misery, she ultimately decides to save it. When Beth’s new veterinarian pal Everett (Ed Harris) tells her that the horse has a “one-in-a-thousand” chance of surviving, she replies, “One. It’s all we need.”
“I thought about that scene a tremendous amount because it was a homage to ‘Yellowstone’ and to John Dutton, but it was also where the roads maybe divide,” Reilly tells TVLine. “Beth choosing something different was layered in the fact that she’s trying to choose a different path of happiness, maybe that John was more rigid with. Maybe she has more of a luxury because she doesn’t have a ranch to take care of anymore. She looks at that horse and sees such a vulnerability, and Beth is really good when she’s taking care of something, so I wanted to give her something to love.”
Much like Beth, however, Reilly still carries a certain fondness and respect for John. As she reminds us, “To put an animal out of its misery like that is not a pleasant thing for John Dutton to have to do, but he was capable of doing it.”
Beth and Rip are becoming ‘different versions of themselves’ on Dutton Ranch
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“I think that moment is a beautiful opportunity to see how much Beth has evolved,” executive producer Christina Alexandra Voros, who also directed the premiere, tells TVLine. “Her first instinct is to put the horse out of its misery, that is what her default was going to be. And in that moment, there is space for her to reconsider. There’s a moment to pause and breathe and change her mind.”
As Voros explains it, “there’s a peace that has come to both Beth and Rip since the chapter of ‘Yellowstone’ has closed that allows them to become a different version of themselves. They are still the fiery, dangerous, tender, complicated characters that we know them to be, but there is a layer of maturity. They’ve evolved, and it’s beautiful to see them evolve.”
Why Texas was chosen as the setting for Dutton Ranch
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The premiere of “Dutton Ranch” begins with Beth and Rip happily building a new life for themselves at the ranch Rip purchased in the “Yellowstone” series finale. But it isn’t long before a wildfire sends them packing to Rio Palma, Texas, where a familiar name tells Rip about a ranch for sale.
You might be asking yourself, why Texas? Frankly, we wondered the same thing when it was first announced that “Dutton Ranch” would be relocating Beth and Rip to Rio Palma.
“‘Yellowstone,’ the name of the show, was a physical place, and in order to really tell a story about characters moving on from that legacy to the new one, a new landscape was required,” executive producer Christina Alexandra Voros tells TVLine. “It’s a classically Western archetype to go out into a new frontier, into a place where you do not have allies or roots or resources, and to see if you can make it. In many ways, that’s what Beth and Rip are doing in Texas.”
Of course, the change of scenery comes with its fair set of challenges, both on and off screen.
“We started [shooting] at a pretty tough time in the middle of the summer, and it was not easy to get on a horse and go out into the middle of nowhere and start cowboying,” Cole Hauser (aka Rip) tells TVLine. “But we got through it, and I think the Texas backdrop — if you’re not going to be in Montana, which I love — then Texas is the place to be. The sun sets there, the sun rises, the topography is just gorgeous there.”
Annette Bening’s formidable Beula is ‘intimidated’ by Beth
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And because the Duttons can never go too long without making enemies, the premiere also introduces Beula Jackson (Annette Bening), the iron-fisted owner of the mighty Jackson Ranch. Beth and Beula first cross paths when Beth inquires about having a few of her steers cut up at Beula’s slaughterhouse. What begins as a pleasant exchange between strangers ends as a showdown between nemeses, with Beth refusing to let Beula “exploit” her by turning over a cut of the profits.
“I think Beulah admires Beth and sees someone that she’s not really seen before in her own world,” Bening tells TVLine. “Beth and Rip come to Texas, they come to my ranch, they come needing something from me. I just love that in the writing. I think it’s really intriguing that she is who she is. I don’t really know [Beth and Rip’s] history, but I come to learn about their history. The more that comes to light, the more the stakes get higher, and the more we need each other. I think that she is admiring of Beth — and she’s also a bit intimidated, although she wouldn’t show that.”
Joaquin knows where the bodies are buried (or does he?)
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But make no mistake, Beula poses more of a threat than simply cutting in on Beth and Rip’s profits. Heck, our first introduction to the Jackson Ranch is seeing Beula’s drugged-out foreman Rob-Will (Jai Courtney) killing a worker named Wes whom he suspects has been snitching on him for cooking the books. It’s the Wild West over there, and it’s all up to Beula’s fixer/”son” Joaquin (Juan Pablo Raba) to make it better.
Raba describes Joaquin and Beula’s relationship as “a bunch of mommy issues,” and that he’ll do anything to avoid disappointing her. “As corny as it sounds, I think he really wants to be loved and accepted for what he is, and he just can’t find the way,” Raba tells TVLine. “She’s a tough cookie, but he doesn’t give up.”
And Joaquin certainly has his work cut out for him. Rob-Will foolishly chooses to bury Wes on Beth and Rip’s land, and the premiere ends with Rip discovering a gaggle of pigs digging up Wes’ body during his morning ride.
Carter and Oreana’s relationship is ‘very up and down’
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And then there’s Carter (Finn Little), Beth and Rip’s 19-year-old surrogate “son.” He initially has some trouble making friends in Texas, but a chance encounter at the rodeo changes everything for him.
When he witnesses a girl named Oreana (Natalie Alyn Lind) being roughed up by her boyfriend, Carter intervenes and winds up getting arrested. Fortunately, he isn’t stuck in the clink for long; Oreana shows up at the precinct and explains to the sheriff that Carter was merely protecting her, and just like that, he’s free to go.
“I think she sees something very genuine within him,” Lind tells TVLine of Oreana’s relationship with Carter. “Both of the characters come from very troubled backgrounds, and meeting Carter is the first time she has felt that she can be herself around somebody. I think her intentions are always pure, but she has a way of pushing people away. Let’s just say their relationship is very up and down.”
OK, let’s talk: Did you enjoy the first episode of “Dutton Ranch”? Is it a worthy follow-up to “Yellowstone”? Who are your favorite new characters? Grade the premiere below, then drop a comment with your full review.
