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Spoilers for Dutton Ranch episode 4 ahead.
The moment that Dutton Ranch episode 3 introduced a potential cow foot-and-mouth disease epidemic across Beth (Kelly Reilly) and Rip's (Cole Hauser) cattle, it was clear that episode 4 was about to take a dark turn.
Unsurprisingly, I was right, but it's not the be-all and end-all of drama in Rio Paloma, Texas. Everett (Ed Harris) and wrangler Azul (J.R. Villarreal) are still the friendlier faces of the bunch, but rival ranch 10 Petal and its owner Beulah's (Annette Bening) focus is shifting to unruly Oreana (Natalie Alyn Lind) now that the monstrous Rob-Will (Jai Courtney) is out of the way... for now.
Having watched a lot of Yellowstone and standalone Taylor Sheridan shows, I don't think that there has ever been a more brutal episode ending across the entire Sheridanverse than what we see this week in Dutton Ranch episode 4 on Paramount+ — so don't say that you weren't warned.
Beth catches Carter and Oreana in bed — but it could be the start of an unlikely alliance
Understanding what needs to happen on the ranch and wanting to protect Carter (Finn Little) from experiencing it, Beth heads home to take him to school — only to find Oreana on top of him in his bed. Beth quickly establishes that she's a Jackson, and things become bristly when Oreana tells her that Carter "should get to decide for himself" if he wants to go to school.
Though Carter offers, Beth drops Oreana home, talking about Beulah along the way. It's clear that Oreana feels oppressed in the Jackson household, which is something Beth can sympathize with. "You don't seem like the kind of woman who follows rules," Beth tells her, which brings a cautious smile to Oreana's face.
When Beth drops her outside of the house, Beulah is waiting. She tells Beth that the pair have got off on the wrong foot, and invites her inside for a drink so that they can "start again." Beth immediately refuses, and drives off.
At home, Beulah's bodyguard is told to watch over Oreana's every move so that she cannot leave the house in a bid to preserve the Jackson family's reputation. She's also no longer allowed to drive — if she wants to go somewhere, somebody else needs to take her.
Beulah makes her move on Everett
Everett receives a call that there is a pregnant mare at 10 Petal Ranch, but when he arrives to inspect it, Chet (Hart Denton) tells him that there's no such thing. In a matter of seconds, Everett figures out the call has been a hoax, and that he has been lured there under false pretences.
He finds Beulah on the porch, and she confirms that this was the only way that she could have got him to visit the house. She invites him to stay for a drink, which he does. We see their conversation split into multiple scenes across the episode, but it's the final one where Beulah makes her bid for romance.
She asks Everett if he pictured something bigger than Rio Paloma, a version of life that they can both grab onto before they're too old. "Is that a question or an invitation?" Everett asks, to which Beulah replies, "A little bit of both."
Everett is clearly hesitant, but there's a warmth between them... so we can expect a full-blown romance to blossom across the next five episodes.
Carter gets a job behind Beth and Rip's back
After being caught with Oreana, Carter takes off on his own. He arrives at a local supply store and asks around for any local rancher job vacancies. Without his own horse or supplies, people seem reluctant to take him on, but one man overhears Carter asking the guy behind the counter and offers him low pay and meals in exchange for "becoming the donkey."
We don't learn this man's name, but we do know that he seems like a bit of a maverick. Sitting in a golf buggy while drinking a beer, he has Carter moving around bags of food, coaches him through cattle lasso practice, and even teaches him how to shoot.
When Beth calls, Carter pretends to be at school. "This is school, son... this is the school of life," the man is seen telling him. Parts of his life story come out in the vaguely confusing way drunk people seem to tell stories, so he is mostly still an enigma at this point.
Dutton Ranch has to shoot its entire herd of cattle
Since the beginning of episode 4, we've known that this is the moment that Beth, Rip, Azul (J.R. Villarreal), and Zachariah (Marc Menchaca) must kill every single one of their cattle. It's confirmed that cow foot and mouth disease has hit all of them, with every cow having red eyes and a frothy white mouth.
That afternoon, Rip devises a plan for what to do: the cattle must be herded into a pre-dug burial pit, with cows being shot from above by the team. Rip says that if Azul or Zachariah want to back out, he won't think any less of them — but each doubles down on wanting to help.
Once the pit is dug, we watch hundreds of cows packed like sardines into a pit that seems like the size of an Olympic swimming pool. The shooting starts, though we only see Beth and Rip shooting guns rather than what's actually happening.
This seemingly continues for hours, until only one calf is left standing. We see its tiny little confused face as it stands in the pit full of its dead friends, and then it's curtains.
Beth buys a jug full of vodka as a "funeral" for what has happened, with both Beth and Rip needing to decompress individually before they can console each other.
Rip lays into the local cattle auctioneer as Carter and Beth butt heads
When Carter returns home and finds out what has happened on the ranch that day, he is furious. He claims that he should have been there to help, and if Beth wants him to be a rancher, he should be experiencing what has to happen first-hand.
"What happened today wasn't ranching," Beth tells him, and openly admits that she is trying to protect him. This makes Carter feel even more infantilized, and he storms off to his room.
Before this happens, Beth and Rip pay a visit to the local cattle auctioneer, who was responsible for selling them the diseased bull that caused the outbreak.
With Rip believing that the man knowingly sold diseased cattle, the auctioneer is beaten to a bloody pulp while Beth watches on. The two drive away, soaking in the horrors of what has happened.
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