Dutton Ranch Is Fine… Until You Remember Beth & Rip Are Supposed to Be the Leads

It was exciting when news broke that Beth & Rip would get their own Yellowstone spinoff.

They were always the best part and the primary reason I made it through so many seasons of Yellowstone.

A spinoff with two of the most compelling characters in the aftermath was a promising premise and a strong offering for Taylor Sheridan’s never-ending universe.

So, tuning in to Dutton Ranch felt like a special treat.

We saw two proud Montanans trek to Texas, which has its own distinct culture, not to mention legacy families not unlike the Duttons.

Making the pair fish out of water held promise.

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There were endless possibilities worth exploring in that, as someone with an established name like Beth’s, headed somewhere where her name didn’t hold the same weight as at home.

Ranching in Texas is totally different from that in Montana. The climate isn’t the same, the people aren’t the same, hell, even the language isn’t always the same.

It was a prime opportunity to center Beth and Rip in their own story as they navigated these challenges and faced larger threats in the process.

They’d remind us that they’re the unstoppable team we always knew them to be.

Their own show gave us the opportunity to really see them as a power couple and showcase a stable, strong marriage on-screen.

Which is why it’s been so frustrating that, for the most part, Rip and Beth feel like supporting characters in their own story.

Sure, the Yellowstone universe has a way of having a slow-burning quality to some of its largest arcs, so it’s not above leaving us wanting as it slowly builds up to a story in a way that sneaks up on you.

And yeah, it’s possible that’s what the first season opted to do with having both characters essentially working their way into 10 Petal in a way that belies a couple who are adept at playing chess while everyone else is playing checkers.

The problem is that we just don’t see enough of things from their perspective.

Much of the season has predominantly revolved around a frustrating Carter and his attachment to a quintessential Taylor Sheridan obnoxious archetype, Oreana. The rest has revolved almost exclusively around Beulah and her warring sons.

I don’t care about the former. The latter is fine if only the efforts to flesh out these new faces and their legacy didn’t ultimately leave Rip and Beth in the background idling until their next run-in with one of the Jacksons.

It’s one of those series, thus far, where you’re contentedly watching along as you’re waiting for the series to really dig into the meat and potatoes of the story, but then you look up and realize that there are more episodes behind us than in front of us.

I’m not even saying I haven’t been content watching Dutton Ranch thus far. The quiet heartbreak of the two losing their herd during Dutton Ranch Season 1 Episode 4 was a standout for the pairing.

And Beulah’s background revelation during Dutton Ranch Season 1 Episode 7 made for one of the strongest episodes of the season.

But it’s at that point in the season when, if I take a moment too long to think about it, I’m left wondering, what even happened?

It’s an unusual sentiment, given that the season also felt like it burned through a lot of content at the same time.

I wondered why “the powers that be” sold Beth and Rip’s story to us when the primary focus is on Beulah, Rob-Will, Joaquin, and 10 Petal.

It almost feels like a bait-and-switch, as if the point is to introduce us to a new legacy family, and tying it to the Duttons and the Wheelers was the best way to get people to commit to the series.

Except that Taylor Sheridan has so many different shows and spinoffs that we didn’t really need a tie to Yellowstone to introduce us to a new family.

Most likely, we’ll have Beth and Rip really pulling it out and finding a way to somehow take 10-Petal right up from under everyone, establishing them as the new power players in Texas.

At least that’s my theory. But even if that’s what we’re gearing up for, pulling off that feat in the final two episodes of the season feels like a cop-out.

It’s something the series could’ve built to more overtly all season instead of letting the two lead characters get lost in the show’s narrative.

It’s not just that Beth and Rip are sidelined, either. The versions of Beth and Rip we do get feel muted, restrained, and disconnected in a way that departs from what made a spinoff centered on them so exciting in the first place.

Ultimately, the Dutton Ranch is the makings of a series that took advantage of the fact that it would have more than one season, so it took its sweet time, not even bothering to flesh out the characters people came for.

Instead, the series takes for granted that placing Rip and Beth on-screen for ten minutes, leaving them orbiting around Carter or the Jackson family, and likely pulling off a grand finish in these final two episodes, is sufficient.

Dutton Ranch is a perfectly fine series, and it’s even delivered some strong moments along the way.

Nevertheless, for a spinoff built around one of Yellowstone’s most iconic couples, it’s bizarre that it doesn’t do enough to actually let them lead it.

Over to you, Dutton Ranch Fanatics. Do you agree?