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Spoilers for Dutton Ranch episode 5 ahead.
Just when I thought that the Dutton Ranch drama was settling down, another curveball came out of nowhere. In episode 5, that's Rip (Cole Hauser) taking on the job as foreman at rival ranch 10 Petal, ousting Chet (Hart Denton) out of his temporary position.
But by the end of the episode, the Duttons had doubled-down on their ties to the Jackson family. We saw Beth (Kelly Reilly) proposition Beulah (Annette Bening) to take her on as a brand manager, claiming that she can turn 10 Petal into a "recession-proof household name" in the next three years.
For now, at least, it seems as if the trio are working as one. But as Beulah tells son Joaquin (Juan Pablo Raba) later, she thinks having both Rip and Beth onboard will be useful. "They have secrets, and I've learned that people who have secrets can be useful," she points out.
So we can't quite call this an alliance just yet, as ulterior motives are bubbling under the surface. We could say that that is an act of desperation from Beth and Rip, losing all their cattle to foot and mouth disease for the first time since leaving Yellowstone.
But what if we've been looking at this — and the diseased bull the pair bought at the episode 2 cattle auction — the wrong way? What if it's inevitable that Dutton Ranch and 10 Petal are set to merge into one on the Paramount+ show, and the clues have been under our noses the entire time?
Dutton Ranch's diseased bull might have been meant for Beulah all along — and a proper alliance is coming
Up until now, my theory has been that the diseased bull was planted at the cattle auction by Beulah. She was in a bidding war with Rip until she pulled out at the last minute, which implied that Beulah knew something that Rip didn't.
But what if she genuinely didn't want to go over $10,000 and Rip was actually the fall guy for something not meant for him?
"I just realised the Diseased Bull was wasn't meant for Dutton Ranch... it was for 10 Petal," one Reddit thread reads. Whoever forged the bull documents wanting to do biological warfare didn't expect Beth to outbid Beulah."
This argument makes total sense. Beulah has a lot of enemies in Rio Paloma, and Rob-Will's (Jai Courtney) behaviour is only making family relations worse. This could be linked back to the wife of dead rancher Wes (Nakoa DeCoite), who was killed at Rob-Will's hands.
On top of this, Beulah is clearly starting to wear down. Exhausted and taking on more than she can control, she's arguably an easy target in a vulnerable state.
Another fan adds, "I reckon there's a chance that Beulah and Beth will end up on the same side, possibly in the season finale. There's a reason that they brought Rob-Will back in the latest episode and I think it connects to a bigger common enemy that will reveal itself in time. Given that the 10P cattle is of Mexican origin, the bigger threat might be a cartel."
"Both women seem to have an affinity for each other despite their hostility and it may turn out to be a good thing that instead of the typical main character against another one," a third weighs in. "Maybe they do actually team up against someone else which would be an exciting and ‘unpredictable’ change."
Personally, I don't hate this change in direction. There's clearly similarities between Beth and Oreana (Natalie Alyn Lind), so perhaps the two families coming together could benefit them... and us.
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