Dutton Ranch Season 1 Episode 6 Review: Is This Show Switching On Us?

Critic’s Rating: 4 / 5.0

4

The Dutton Ranch series trailer made it seem like this show would be about Beth and Rip claiming their place in Texas.

With Beulah as the main antagonist, the season created the expectation of a slow escalation in their war.

But I’ve watched enough trailers to know that editing them is a talent, and they can distort the narrative to create excitement.

That’s why, in my review of Dutton Ranch Season 1 Episode 3, I noted that it would be a misstep for the show to pull a bait-and-switch on us. And as time goes on, I’m afraid that this is what’s happening.

With Dutton Ranch Season 1 Episode 6, “A Cowboy Saint,” the show fully leans into the new partnership between the Duttons and the Jacksons.

Their interests are now aligned, and if one fails, the other feels the effects. It’s not-so-subtle dilution of the feud we were expecting.

And I’m not sure what to feel about it.

Beulah Becomes Less Terrifying

Every interaction between the Duttons and Beulah ends up humanizing the latter, and she doesn’t seem like the bullish villain one would expect.

Beulah has fears, aspirations, and problems just like anyone else. Her devotion to finally experiencing the love she never did with Everett is the most human part about her.

This hour finds Beth and Beulah chasing an important deal with a hotelier that could be 10-P’s lifeline.

Even with the slight hint of antagonism between them on the plane, Beth and Beulah are two sides of the same coin, and Beulah acknowledges this.

They are two women stuck with a legacy that demands everything from them. It has made them suspicious of other people, and that can be lonely at times.

But when they have a mission, they’ll stop at nothing.

So when they lay out their case to the hotelier, it’s not one of them who breaks through to him; it’s both their stories.

He seems interested in Yellowstone and the late John, but is also intrigued by 10-P’s story.

A high-stakes meeting like that one can break even the strongest of defenses, and the duo finds itself sharing and bonding over drinks.

It’s as amiable as Beth and Beulah have been so far, and I see a reality in which they can be friends.

Of course, the show tries to throw us off that scent by introducing the mystery surrounding Jamie’s (cough!) disappearance, and Beth immediately goes into self-protection mode.

We’ve seen this panic before on Marshals when Kayce was confronted with similar questions by Andrea.

That turned out to be genuine concern instead of doubt, but is that the case with Beulah, too?

It’s entirely possible that the writers are making this thing bigger so that it falls harder, and I’m willing to give them the benefit of the doubt.

But if it’s a bait-and-switch, we have a problem.

The Dead Body Problem

And I’m inclined to go with the latter because they are already setting up the fall guy.

Rob-Will is back like he never left, and even in hiding, he sows chaos. However, this escalation is really not believable.

From a murderous junkie to a genocidal one in a few days? I don’t buy it. And him suddenly acquiring enough munitions to overthrow a small government?

The whole thing feels blown out of proportion because no one wronged Rob-Will; he’s just a self-destructing idiot who thinks he’s owed things.

But even the most spoiled of people have a conscience and don’t immediately declare war on their family for being iced out after committing a murder.

And is he even smart enough to manipulate Chet like that? 

I guess that’s the problem: we don’t know. Rob-Will’s storyline is like that of a sinking stream — only surfacing at intermittent intervals.

He’s more of a caricature of a villain than a realized one.

Rip and Joaquin’s whole conversation after Chet’s death seems like a setup to prop Rob-Will as the scapegoat and keep the Dutton-Jackson union going for at least another season.

Meanwhile, we also check in on Carter, who has been taught a lesson by life and is not as angsty anymore.

Following Dwight’s death, Carter is forced to reflect on his life, and suddenly, he’s not fighting Beth and Rip about school. After seeing the less glorified parts of being a cowboy, maybe school is not such a bad idea.

His relationship with Oreana is still going, but I have a feeling it won’t last. With the budding friendship between their families, the tragic Romeo and Juliet narrative is crumbling, yet something still feels off about their dynamic.

Gut Check

“A Cowboy Saint” pushes Dutton Ranch into riskier territory. Switching up on viewers midseason to give the narrative a longer runway has been the death of many shows.

Whether that happens to Dutton Ranch remains to be seen.

Intrusive Thoughts

• Only straight men will try to make you feel bad about being hot because of fragile heterosexuality.

• Why are we seeing Azul’s home life? It feels like they’re about to kill him off.

Over to you, Dutton Ranch fanatics. What did you think of the story this hour? Is the show slowly setting up a bait-and-switch? Would you keep watching if the Jacksons and Duttons became friends?

Let’s keep the conversation going — it’s the only way the good stuff survives.

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