Spoilers below.
With only two episodes left in this debut season of Dutton Ranch, we knew it was only a matter of time before we got a juicy backstory for Beulah Jackson—and an unsurprisingly fantastic performance by Annette Bening.
The episode opens with a flashback, a device that was used sparingly on Yellowstone. Here, a 20-something Beulah (Rebeca Robles) and her two friends are dropped off at Billy Bob’s Texas, a country bar outfitted with a riding bull. The driver tasked with keeping an eye out for her is Mariano (Bobby Soto)—Joaquin’s father.
At the bar, Mariano sips on some coffee (since he’s still on the clock) while Beulah enjoys the attentions of Luke (Cameron Cowperthwaite), a handsome Six Flags mechanic. They get flirty, and he teaches her how to dance to some Willie Nelson. Meanwhile, the bartender tries her own moves on Mariano—who’s happily married—but she finally gives up and admits that Luke paid her to distract Beulah’s driver so he could whisk her away. Panicked, Mariano rips through the crowd and jumps in his truck to track her down.
Eventually, he approaches a convenience store, where he finds the young Beulah disheveled, bleeding, and missing a boot. Both horrified, they agree on a cover story that will protect them both from her father’s wrath: She fell off a mechanical bull. If this turns out to be Rob-Will’s origin story, it’s a dark one—and quite different from the one she told Beth in their heart-to-heart last episode.
Back in the present-day timeline, Beulah is looking fabulous in a white suit embroidered with florals. She shows up at the 10-Petal Ranch’s bunkhouse to deliver some bad news and some good news: The cowboys aren’t invited to the ranch’s anniversary celebrations this year—their debauchery causes too much of a headache—but she did set up an open tab at a local bar so they can wreak all the havoc they want there. Not a bad deal.
In preparation for the big day, Beulah goes into Martha Stewart mode, critiquing even the smallest detail of the setup, e.g., how a chef is cutting up an orange with the wrong knife. Oreana is also dolled up in a floral dress and bold dark-red lipstick, while Joaquin is sporting his freshly fitted cowboy hat.
Over at the Dutton Ranch, Beth gets Rip to change into a crisp blazer and shirt, which he’s not altogether pleased about. As they wait for Beth to get ready herself, Rip offers Carter a weekend job at the 10-Petal, and they share a tender moment in which the latter thanks the former for the care he and Beth have given him over the years. (Little does Rip know this kid has not been going to school.) For some reason, the Duttons decide to head over to the 10-Petal on horseback. (Beth is in a dress, y’all!) Beth’s plan is for them to spend two hours partying and then make an Irish goodbye. We’ll see how that goes.
They arrive at the 10-Petal for the celebrations, and Carter meets Beulah for the first time. (She tells him he can call her “Mama B.”) Out on the patio, Carter finds Oreana chatting with a tall man named Harrison (Matthew Erick White), who’s introduced as her “friend.” Ouch. What happened to their connection?! The last time we saw Oreana and Carter together, they were racing off on a speedboat, so it feels as though we’re missing several scenes of context here. Perhaps she’s asserting her independence after he used the “love” word last episode? Anyway, Oreana shoos him off to get a drink and Carter broods in the corner while Sheriff Wade gives him some friendly advice: Maybe don’t beat this guy up. He reminds Carter he’s outside of the class structure of Oreana’s life; he’s the “downstairs” to her “upstairs.” Yikes. Eventually, Carter gets a moment with Oreana, during which he makes his jealousy a little too clear. This results in her telling him not only that he needs to grow a pair, but that she actually has already slept with Harrison. Oh, Carter.
Meanwhile, at the bar where the 10-Petal staff are enjoying drinks served by bartender Morgan Wade, things start getting heated when some other local cowboys opt to pick a fight. Predictably, the evening turns into an all-out brawl—and it’s not even Austin who started it this time! That being said, in the aftermath of the fight, Austin does take the opportunity to bring up Wes and Chet’s disappearances. Another cowboy tells him, quite wisely, to keep this to himself. My boys Azul and Zachariah better stay out of this!
As the sun sets, the anniversary party is going swimmingly. Zane even makes an appearance, giving Beth an opportunity to gift him with some fancy horse stirrups as a little gift for their newfound business deal. But their conversation is interrupted when Oreana summons Beulah to her office, where she finds Rob-Will—cat’s out of the bag! There, he reads a speech she left on her desk about Joaquin taking over the ranch after tonight. Rob-Will starts threatening her to hand over the reins to him and compares his own ruthlessness to his grandfather’s. But this twist doesn’t feel totally earned. We know Rob-Will is a loose cannon, but why does he care so much about becoming the ranch’s CEO? Can he even handle all the meetings and emails?
The evening is all building up to Beulah’s grand speech. She finally gets onstage with a whiskey in hand and decides, at the last minute, not to read the speech she had written out. With everyone watching closely, she caves to Rob-Will’s threats—I suppose to protect Joaquin—and announces Rob-Will as the official heir of the 10-Petal empire. Joaquin, obviously pissed, leaves immediately, though not without enduring a few more of Rob-Will’s insults on his way out.
The Jackson scion’s new position of power is sure to disrupt nearly everything Beth and Rip have worked to establish so far. It’s not great for Zane, either, who is understandably caught off guard: His restaurant deal was with Beulah specifically, not with her chaotic son, whom Zane knows is an addict.
There’s no time for Zane to get a straight answer from Beulah, however, because in walks a drunken Carter. He’s carrying a massive taxidermy goat’s head, which he smashes to the ground for everyone to see. Rip doesn’t hesitate to grab him by the collar and drag him out, but the shock kicks off what looks like a stroke for Beulah, who promptly passes out. This night is turning disastrous on every level.
Before the episode ends, we watch another flashback in which Mariano finds Beulah collapsed in the bathroom with a positive pregnancy test. It’s exactly what I suspected! Mariano drives her to a house belonging to Luke, who assaulted her. As it turns out, she’s not there to confront him about the pregnancy. She’s there to shoot him—and to retrieve her other boot. That’s one way to get your revenge!
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