Summary
Even as Dutton Ranch begins to intensify, Carter continues to drag the whole thing down with his nonsense. It’s also looking like most of the real drama is going to come in Season 2.
Until now, Season 1 of Dutton Ranch has lacked a compelling villain. Initially, it seemed like Beulah Jackson might be it, but her recent team-up with Beth kind of put paid to that idea, and here in Episode 7, there’s even more reason to root for her. But “Den of Sin” provides an adequate replacement in the form of Rob-Will, who for the first time begins to seem like a proper bad guy instead of just a dopey thug. And yet the person I find myself hating the most — and it’s far from just me — is Carter.
Despite being bookended by flashbacks, which we’ll get to, this episode is unique in that it largely revolves around a single event, and bundles almost the entire cast up in the same location. The event is the latest anniversary of the 10 Petal Ranch, and the location is Beulah’s swanky main house, decked up with flowers and theatrics. Everyone is in attendance, including, problematically, Oreana and Carter. And it turns out that she’s not quite as flirtatious and enigmatic on her own turf.
It’s clear where all this is going from the second Carter arrives and is given short shrift by Oreana, who is draping herself all over a smug rich guy named Harrison. Carter immediately gets jealous and drowns his sorrows at the pop-up bar. First Sheriff Wade and then Everett give him sage advice about mingling at the party and not doing anything rash. He responds by getting progressively drunker and more hostile. When Oreana finally spares a moment for him, he berates her about Harrison and acts, essentially, like the jealous kid he is.
Sure, Oreana is showing her true colours here. She has been toying with Carter’s emotions all season, and now she takes the first opportunity to twist the knife. But the kid’s an idiot. What was he expecting? And his behaviour after this is even more ridiculous and unjustifiable, but we’ll get to that in a minute, since there are a few other things to discuss in the meantime.
Dutton Ranch Episode 7 opens and closes with flashbacks to a young Beulah (played by Rebeca Robles, who has an uncanny likeness to Annette Bening), which also introduce Joaquin’s father, Mariano. He was Rip’s equivalent, essentially, her father’s right-hand man, and so it was his job to play babysitter while taking Beulah out dancing with her pals. Problematically, she started dancing with a handsome cowboy named Luke, and Mariano fell for a too-obvious distraction, allowing Beulah to be taken away and sexually assaulted. When she staggers out of a trailer, her face bloody and her dress torn, she makes Mariano agree to tell her father that she fell off a mechanical bull.
At the end of “Den of Sin”, Beulah has another flashback. In that one, she discovered she was pregnant as a result of the attack, and once again turned to Mariano. Under the guise of letting him know he’s going to be a father, she gets herself invited into his place and shoots him dead when he turns around. This isn’t an especially nice thing to do, granted, but it’s totally unambiguous whose side we’re supposed to be on. I left this episode actively rooting for Beulah in the past and even the present day.
Granted, my fondness for her in the present day is mostly down to my distaste for Rob-Will, who turns up at the anniversary festivities with a very simple proposition for his mother. Either she anoints him as the official heir of the 10 Petal Ranch instead of Joaquin, or Rob-Will will kill Joaquin. Thanks to what we saw in the flashbacks, and the fact that Rob-Will is deeply awful, we understand why Beulah would be inclined to do anything to protect Joaquin, so it’s expected, if still lamentable, that she does exactly as Rob-Will wants.
The announcement immediately threatens the deal Beulah and Beth made with Zane, who is also in attendance, and causes Joaquin to leave the ranch in disgust. But it’s a very drunk Carter ripping an animal head from the wall in the main house and slamming it on the ground outside that really tips Beulah over the edge, and she collapses to the ground clutching her chest. That’s when that second flashback kicks in. “Den of Sin” leaves her fate mysterious, but since we know who’s going to be running the place in her absence, things aren’t looking good. Since Rip is the current foreman, and Austin is already disillusioned with the state of things, this is becoming an incredibly combustible atmosphere.
Should be fun.
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