Spoilers for Dutton Ranch episode 9 ahead.
From the jump, it was clear that the eventual finale of Dutton Ranch — episode 9 — would be an absolutely chaotic mind-melter. While I'm happy to report that my assumptions were right, there were some unanswered questions that I didn't expect at all.
For the most part, the Yellowstone spinoff has left us with multiple dilemmas following the ranch raid. The most pressing is whether Carter(Finn Little) will survive his kidnapping, and whether Beth (Kelly Reilly) and Rip (Cole Hauser) can get to him before anything bad happens.
Then we'll have the fallout of Rob-Will's (Jai Courtney) death, which will definitely have messed with Joaquin's (Juan Pablo Raba) mind. This is also going to affect Mariano's (Raoul Max Trujillo) standing in the 10 Petal business, arguably likely to see even more power than he had before.
Beulah (Annette Bening), meanwhile, has absolutely nothing to her name. She needs to grieve Rob-Will, but Everett (Ed Harris) wants nothing to do with her, so her next moves cannot be immediately guessed.
Then, there's Oreana (Natalie Alyn Lind). Will she keep the baby? Will Beth be there to support her? And will Rio Paloma ever be the same again?
Amazingly, none of these issues are what fans are the most perplexed by... and if you've been keeping a close eye on the show's first-look images, you might have noticed that something is missing.
Dutton Ranch season 1 completely cut out Beth bonding with her horses — despite advertising it
Recognize the above image? Despite it being a key part of Dutton Ranch's initial advertising campaign, the scene itself never materialised.
It's this that fans are hung up on, rather than anything that actually transpired in the explosive season finale.
"It makes me so mad they cut this scene of Beth and her horse from the season finale," one fan posted on Reddit. "This photo was released as an episode still on the Paramount+ press website. I’ve been looking forward to this scene. I can’t believe they cut it, but left in the teen angst. Beth and her horse have more chemistry than Carter and Oreana."
A second added, "I was so annoyed this scene was cut! It looks so sweet. It really does seem like so many tender scenes were cut this season, which is so disappointing.
"I loved this storyline and hope we get to see more of Beth with her horse in season 2. I’d also like to know what she named her."
According to the show notes, the still should have come from the season finale, but was cut. Some fans are speculating that the change is linked to the exit of showrunner Chad Feehan, who announced his departure from Dutton Ranch three weeks before it aired.
"With 6, 7 and 8 being such short runtime episodes, it begs to wonder how much footage — that potentially could have elevated those episodes as they were not the strongest of the season — ended up on the cutting room floor?" a third fan speculated.
As of writing, we don't yet know when Dutton Ranch season 2 will air, enter production, or who will take over as its showrunner. For now, all we can do is keep our fingers crossed for some more equine action.
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