Beulah Jackson barely survived The Ballad of Mama B. At the anniversary party, Everett McKinney was quick to her side, and to call in the medevac, which prevented the heart attack from taking her. And after emergency angioplasty, the 10-Petal matriarch rests comfortably. Everett is close at hand – almost losing her woke the feelings in his own heart – and sitting on either side of Beulah are the ranch’s two futures.
Rob-Will, whose swaggering Bad Cowboy act looks all squirmy and out of place under stale hospital lighting. And Joaquin, The Spurned One, who Mama B says will remain as a lesser partner in the ranch’s new management structure. They will also have to get along. Maybe these brothers from different fathers really are joined, in Beulah’s phrase, “from cradle to grave.” But Rob-Will is already looking for a shovel – he says this out loud! – and as we’ll see, Joquin is making a few moves of his own.
But we’ll part from the Beulah beat for now and check in with Carter, who writes his own lonesome Texas song in Dutton Ranch Episode 8 (“Whiskey Limits”). After his drunken destruction at the party, his ride home was full of pauses, to projectile vomit from the saddle, and apologies, none of which Rip wanted to hear. But it’s not like he’s getting grounded or something. We know who this kid’s parents are. Beth accepts him getting fucked up and making a scene over Oreana. But she is surprised and concerned to learn he quit high school. “Carter, I want you happy,” Beth says. “But I need you ready. Ready for the hard parts when they come. And they’re coming.”
Between his resulting “Yes ma’am” to Beth and his “I’ll cowboy up!” to Rip is where Carter wants to live. He is grateful for them, for taking him in. As Rip says, he has already done a lot of living for 19. But: “I grew up between Montana and Texas, and no one noticed.” Carter feels like his adoptive parents shunted him into high school while his real dream, to be a cowboy like Rip or John Dutton, remains unformed. (Ol’ Dwight White couldn’t teach him everything about cowboying in between all those beers.) So, hungover or not – and holy hell is Carter hungover – Beth says he will go to work with Rip as a rookie hand at the 10-Petal.
Carter already got some cowboy seasoning while living at the Yellowstone. But his first day on the job with Rip, Azul, Zachariah and the 10-P boys is full of mistakes and nausea. (Azul: “Boy’s still learning his whiskey limits.”) Carter forgets his gloves. He leaves a cattle gate open. He even falls off his horse. “Fuck this shit!” the kid declares, and stalks off frustrated like the half-teenager he still is. What he really needs to learn is how much time it takes to cowboy up. There is no app for that. And if anybody besides his son walked off his crew, Rip would erase them on the spot.
Like pretty much everyone, Everett is curious about why Beulah chose Rob-Will. But when it’s just them in the recovery room, they don’t dwell on ranch business. Because he understands when she says she’s too exhausted to further dwell on all the succession drama. They have grown old together, but only as denizens of Rio Paloma. Not in each other’s arms. When Everett says he’s ready “to take that final ride” with Beulah, she is suddenly radiant in her hospital bed. The remarkable chemistry between Annette Bening and Ed Harris ramps up, and we are treated to a charming romantic detour for Dutton Ranch, like an Only Murders in the Building pop-up happening inside the Sheridan-O-Verse. They conspire to escape the hospital, repair to Everett’s little home, and his bedroom door closes as they retire together.
At home, Carter’s lonesome song continues. Rip takes a measured approach, asking if his son would like to take a swing at him before trying to lasso some wisdom. (“We don’t get to choose the pain, but we can choose how to build from it.”) But the punch isn’t thrown, the words don’t land, and Beth doesn’t fare much better. For us, it’s some of Kelly Reilly’s best work yet in Dutton Ranch. “I’m not really a natural at this shit” – she interprets this nurturing side of Beth honestly, how it is shown only to her people, as it flows beneath her outward demeanor. But for Carter, despite the convictions of his parents, he cannot accept his awkward place in their family. He knows they mean well, but he still has to go find himself. And Beth lets him drive away. Carter will always know the way home.
Last time, Cowboy Austin declared the 10-Petal dirty, and this time, he’s doing something about it. The indications Beth and Rip have had – the discovery of Wes Ayers’ body, “We need to be careful with this family” – come to fruition around the Dutton Ranch kitchen table, as Austin spills a dark spiral of inside information. Wes was killed because he asked questions about the ranch’s shady dealings, which apparently includes a thriving cattle theft and smuggling operation based in Mexico. There are bribes for the Border Patrol, and forged documents for brokers—like we saw with the FMD-ridden Bullet—and always a steady supply of livestock, even when stuff like a screwworm outbreak shuts down other ranches.
“The whole Jackson family’s dirty, top to bottom,” Austin tells Beth, Rip, and Zacharaih at the table. “They ain’t ranchers. Those motherfuckers are thieves.” Thieves who still technically employ Beth Dutton and Rip Wheeler, and thieves who Beulah has declared will be led by the biggest murdering and thieving Jackson of them all.
The next shipment of black market bulls arrives at the 10-Petal in two days, just in time for the Dutton Ranch Season 1 finale. The harder parts are coming.