Dutton Ranch Blows Up Beth and Rip's Yellowstone Happy Ending in Series Premiere

So much for that happy ending Rip (Cole Hauser) and Beth (Kelly Reilly) got on Yellowstone. 

The first two episodes of Dutton Ranch revealed that the couple and their adopted son Carter (Finn Little) had indeed found peace and happiness on their little Montana ranch after the death of John Dutton (Kevin Costner). Unfortunately, that peace was short-lived (because happiness does not a TV show make) when their ranch was hit by a lightning strike. The town of Dillon, Montana, was burned to the ground in a fast-moving fire, and despite all of Rip's best efforts, they lost everything. 

And so two of Montana's most dedicated citizens moved to Rio Paloma, Texas. It may be a small town, but it's full of drama, intrigue, murder, and a bustling ranch community. Beulah Jackson (Annette Bening) lords over 10 Petal, the main ranch in town, and she's spent years trying to get her hands on the very ranch that Beth and Rip have just bought. While she and Beth come to blows over slaughterhouse services and Carter falls in with her granddaughter Oreana (Natalie Alyn Lind), Rip gets to work setting up his new operation. 

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He hires Azul (J.R. Villarreal) as foreman and picks Zachariah (Marc Menchaca) up right out of prison to work as a ranch hand. He and Beth buy a new cow at an auction and befriend local vet Everett (Ed Harris). And then he finds a dead body. Whose body? He doesn't care. He simply disposes of it. 

The body is actually Wes, a former ranch hand of 10 Petal. Wes was murdered by Rob-Will (Jai Courtney), the ranch foreman, the son of Beulah, and the father of Oreana. His brother Joaquin (Juan Pablo Raba), who oversees the ranch, is left to clean up after him, and sends him off to rehab for what appears to not be the first time. 

Dead bodies and rancher feuds are old hat for Yellowstone, but usually Rip and Beth have all the power. Now, they're fish out of water, and they're up against some major challenges all while mourning their life in Montana. Hauser reiterated to TV Guide just how much the couple has lost at the start of the show. 

"What I love is that [Yellowstone] ended with Beth asking if Rip was happy, and he responds, 'Yeah, I am, I'm starting to be,' and then at the beginning of Dutton Ranch, we start with them in this beautiful setting, riding through the mountains, and me asking her the question, 'Are you happy?'," Hauser said. "And then literally lightning strikes, and the whole ranch goes up. We had to start them in a place where they essentially had nothing but each other and Carter, and the idea of moving to Texas I thought was a great idea. Obviously the cowboy way down there, the topography, the beauty of Texas is so different from Montana. And I thought it was a great way to begin." 

Texas cowboying is unlike any cowboying they've done before, and Beulah is unlike anyone Beth faced on Yellowstone. Both Reilly and Bening tell TV Guide that their relationship is not necessarily what you think. 

"Beth and Beulah, they're both such powerhouses," Reilly says. "We know Beth, we know she's capable, but she's put down her weapons for a minute. She just needs to use the facilities at the 10 Petal, and she meets Beulah. It's like these two heavyweights suddenly meeting one another, sniffing each other out, and this wonderful journey of mutual respect and admiration starts to seep into the story, which was really important to me, as the actress. So often, women get paired against one another for no reason, so we wanted to peel that away and start to get a little deeper and see where they could admire one another." 

While Beulah doesn't know anything about Beth, Bening knows a lot. 

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"I was such a fan of her work, as an actress," Bening said. "I just have to say wow, this woman knows what she's doing. She knows how to raise the stakes and find things she can really fight for. The relationship between the two women gets more and more interesting as the story goes on. At first it's definitely like, 'You want what I have, and I don't know if I'm going to give it to you or not, but we'll see. This is my territory. I'm the Texan. You're from where exactly?' But she is also admiring of this woman with all this chutzpah who comes into her place of business." 

Beth certainly does have a lot of chutzpah, but we'll have to see who has more beef: the cows, or these women. 

Dutton Ranch airs Fridays on Paramount+ and at 8/7c on Paramount Network.