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Warning! Spoilers ahead for Dutton Ranch episodes 1 and 2.The Yellowstone franchise officially continues with Dutton Ranch, which sets a darker path for the franchise’s Rip replacement. While Luke Grimes’ Marshals opened this new era for the Taylor Sheridan-created universe, the CBS series barely resembles the flagship series. Instead of a serialized drama, Kayce’s story is more like a police procedural — a creative choice that makes sense, considering it being on traditional broadcast. For those, however, who still miss the flagship, Paramount+ has just debuted Dutton Ranch, spearheaded by Kelly Reilly’s Beth and Cole Hauser’s Rip.
Dutton Ranch follows the pair in their new life after John III’s death and Yellowstone was sold back to Broken Rock in its parent series’ finale. While the mothership ended with the pair moving to a smaller and more secluded ranch in Dillon, Montana, Sheridan’s new series forces them to leave the quiet life that they built and to a brand-new life in Texas, where they take on cattle farming instead. Alongside the pair is their adopted son, Carter, whose personal story is shaping up to be equally interesting.
Finn Little himself has admitted that Carter is deemed “Rip 2.0” — a comparison that was first established in Yellowstone, and immediately after Beth brought him home. Hauser’s character took a while to warm up to him, but he eventually did, even acknowledging the similarities between their characters to John III. As Dutton Ranch progresses, however, it’s getting increasingly clear that Carter has a more difficult path for him forward, even though at this point, he’s being treated more like a proper son than a trusted subordinate.
Beth and Rip clearly love Carter, but his challenge stems from his romantic pursuits in Dutton Ranch. Now forced to attend school despite being older than his classmates, a chance encounter sets up his love story with Oreana (Natalie Alyn Lind). Aside from the fact that she’s in a toxic relationship with her boyfriend, she’s apparently also a Jackson — the granddaughter of Beluah Jackson (Annette Bening) and daughter of Rob-Will (Jai Courtney). Despite her icy dynamic with her grandmother, Oreana is poised to take over the 10-Petals Ranch, the biggest hurdle to Beth and Rip’s attempt at making an honest living as cattle farmers in Texas.
Like Rip, Carter falls in love with someone whose background creates a complicated future for a potential affair. However, while his Yellowstone counterpart’s biggest problem with getting together with Beth was the fact that he was working for her family, Little’s character is pursuing someone tied to the antagonists of Dutton Ranch. Bar the additional fears that Rip had in being with Rip, the truth was, he really only had to work hard and prove himself worthy of her to John III — something that he eventually did. Carter, on the other hand, will have to, not only win Oreana’s family over, he also has to convince his parents that she’s worth all the trouble.
Kayce’s Marshals is a hit, but it isn’t the best Yellowstone story that needs to be told. Thankfully, Taylor Sheridan is finally doing it.
Dutton Ranch does a great job improving Yellowstone by telling a more focused and human story. That includes fleshing out the story of Little’s character beyond just being a supporting character to Beth and Rip’s narrative. It’s interesting that in just two episodes,*** ***Dutton Ranch has done a better job moving Carter’s arc forward than over 10 weeks of Marshals with Tate. While the path ahead of him looks difficult, at least it makes for a compelling story.
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Christina Alexandra Voros
Seeking a fresh start beyond Yellowstone’s past, Beth and Rip confront relentless obstacles and a powerful competing ranch unwilling to yield control.