Spoilers for Dutton Ranch episode 3 ahead.
Last week’s explosive two-episode premiere of Dutton Ranch kicked off the new Yellowstone spinoff series with a bang.
After a devastating wildfire, Beth (Kelly Reilly) and Rip (Cole Hauser) have no choice but to relocate to Texas, where an abandoned ranch lies in wait to be bought. But in the town of Rio Paloma, everyone knows everyone.
While local vet Everett (Ed Harris) and wrangler Azul (J.R. Villarreal) are among the friendlier faces, rival ranch 10 Petal and its owner Beulah (Annette Bening) look to be a thorn in Beth and Rip’s side.
What’s more, Beulah’s frankly feral son Rob-Will (Jai Courtney) has killed one of their ranchers, and Rip has found the body. In short, we’ve only just opened that can of worms.
But in Dutton Ranch episode 3 (now on Paramount+), an entirely different problem has surfaced.
Dutton Ranch episode 3 kicks off with some devastating ranch news as a stranded cow is found on death’s door in one of the furthest fields.
Zachariah (Marc Menchaca) and Azul call Rip, and the three check it out together. With red, bleary eyes and a bile-ridden mouth, it’s clear that something is up, which Everett confirms is cow foot and mouth disease.
The young cow has to be immediately killed, but there’s a bigger problem. The disease has already likely spread among the rest of the cattle, meaning the three ranchers immediately need to implement a quarantine procedure to try to mitigate the worst.
The four camp out around the fire, having stayed overnight in the fields to avoid any kind of contamination. But how has this happened? Rip suspects that the new bull, bought at the cattle auction in episode 2, hadn’t been vetted properly. “There’s a lot of anti-vaxxers in this, though,” Everett explains.
The episode ends with Beth returning home to find Rip in a field, standing over yet another diseased (and dead) cow. We’ve not seen the fallout properly yet, but this confirms that the worst has happened.
Beth heads to Dallas to poach customers
While Rip is dealing with the disease outbreak at home, Beth’s taken it upon herself to head to Dallas and poach potential customers. Armed with a small cooler of their first sample of steak cuts, she arrives at a fancy hotel and puts her plan into action.
Crashing an employee meeting, Beth overhears that the kitchen staff are having their tips withheld, with the hotel owner seemingly unwilling to get things sorted out. She later finds the head cook and promises to double their tips if they serve one of her steak cuts to the owner himself.
The chef agrees, and Beth later finds the owner tucking his food. She pounces, bigging up her work before revealing that he’s already eating it. The owner says there is a procedure to these things, with a number of ranchers already lining up to have their chance of being stocked across the entire hotel chain. But he’s clearly impressed, and the pair swap details.
Later that night, while Beth is eating a complimentary dinner at the bar, Beulah’s adopted son, Joaquin (Juan Pablo Raba), sits down next to her. Beth asked if she’s being tailed, with Joaquin responding that 10 Petal is just friendly competition. “Competition is never friendly,” she responds, before walking out.
Zachariah’s crimes are revealed during a ranch standoff
On top of the whole “the cows have foot and mouth disease” thing, another disaster has broken out this week at Dutton Ranch. Just as Azul and Zachariah are saddling up to complete another day’s work, an unknown woman drives in a frenzy up to the house, gets out of the car, and points a gun at Zachariah.
The woman is screaming about him needing to pay for his crimes, and weirdly, Zachariah immediately gets to his knees and accepts his fate. “I always knew this day would come,” we hear him say to himself.
It’s up to Rip to diffuse the situation, carefully taking the gun away from the woman while simultaneously getting to the bottom of what’s actually going on.
It turns out that Zachariah has been in prison for the death of the woman’s daughter, though we piece together that this might have been an accident (manslaughter) rather than murder.
There’s an uneasy understanding between Rip and Zachariah from this point on, who seems genuinely remorseful for what happened in his past. He’s not being kicked off the ranch any time soon, put it that way.
Beulah and Everett reveal they have a romantic history — and might want to try again
Rio Paloma’s former sheriff died before Beth and Rip arrived, but his funeral is taking place in episode 3. Beulah gives a eulogy, with Everett coming up to her after the service is over. It’s implied that Beulah had a romantic history with said sheriff, but didn’t really like him.
Neither did Everett, which immediately bonds the two together. So far, this is the only time we’ve seen Beulah at ease, with her defensive walls entirely down.
As the pair continue to talk, it’s clear that they have had a romantic history in the past as well — and with the dead sheriff now out of the way, the looks on both of their faces suggest that they’ll be meeting again sooner rather than later.
Carter takes Oreana home with him
Rather than going to school, Carter (Finn Little) is continuing to ditch class to meet up with Beulah’s daughter, Oreana (Natalie Alyn Lind). Once again, she tells Carter about her abusive on-off boyfriend, resulting in the two vandalizing his truck before driving off.
The new sheriff catches up with them, warning Carter that Oreana is no good and that he shouldn’t be associated with her. He lets the pair off, but claims that if he ever sees them again, they’ll be arrested on the spot.
Carter eventually takes Oreana home with him, where she makes herself comfortable by changing into his clothes. She encourages him to be his own man, and well… you can probably guess what happened after the cameras cut.
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