'Dutton Ranch' Episode 4 Recap & Ending Explained: Did Beulah And Joaquin Destroy The Duttons’ Herd?

[Spoiler Alert] I think the fourth episode of Paramount’s Dutton Ranch has the most horrifying and (equally) heartbreaking scene of the entire franchise, and each of us (including the characters of the show, Rip Wheeler and Beth Dutton) is going to carry the weight of this tragedy for a very long time. In the previous episode, I surmised that maybe Rip and Beth would be able to save at least a part of their Black Angus herd from foot-and-mouth disease (FMDV), including the young calf that the couple had brought from Dillon, Montana, but I think I was being too hopeful. Unlike us, the town’s vet, Everett McKinney, was a realist, as he already knew how this was going to end. Rip thought he could fix it, quarantine the herd, and stop the virus from spreading, but there are a few things in nature, beyond even his control. In the end, he had to pick up a gun and shoot every single cow on the ranch, suggesting that Beth and Rip have to start over once again. This is the only option they are left with. With that said, allow me to take a deeper look at the fourth episode of Dutton Ranch, and what we can expect next.

Beth Drops Oreana Home

I truly didn’t expect that Beth would find out anytime soon that her adopted son, Carter, is seeing a “Jackson,” a girl who’s likely older than him, but here we are. Amidst everything happening on the family ranch, Beth entered Carter’s room, without knocking, believing the 19-year-old was still sleeping, only to find out that he was “sleeping” with a girl. Well, it’s a kinda awkward situation for the three of them. Carter wanted to drop Oreana off on his way to school, but Beth said she would drop her off instead. The reason being: she wanted to know if Oreana is the right girl for her kid. During the brief exchange, Beth understood that Oreana wasn’t anything like her grandmother, Beulah Jackson, though she still doesn’t trust her completely. You all know that it isn’t easy to get into Beth’s good books, so Beth will take her sweet time to fully accept Oreana. Meanwhile, Oreana’s actions had put Beulah in a tough spot, giving people like Sheriff Wade reason to question the Jacksons’ credibility. Beulah grounded Oreana and took away her credit cards until she stopped behaving like a kid.

McKinney Lost His Kid

It seemed like Beulah’s previous encounter with McKinney at Ellis Logan’s funeral had sparked some old feelings that had brought the town’s vet to her villa to share a drink with her. However, Beulah knew that McKinney would never have visited her if she had simply asked him to come by, so she called his clinic instead and told the attendant that a pregnant mare was about to foal and needed urgent medical attention. The thing is, our old vet cared more about the “foal” than his old flame, so when he found out that there was no one in town to attend the poor creature, McKinney quickly drove to 10-Petal, only to figure out that Beulah’s the “mare” that he needed to entertain.

Here, the scene pointed out that McKinney was once close to Rob-Will. He knew he was a decent kid, a better foreman than Chet, and he could do some good in life, if only he could overcome his demons, his addiction. It could be that Beulah and McKinney aren’t just past lovers, but instead were married to each other and maybe even had two kids, one of whom was Rob-Will. The other kid was probably named Levi, whom McKinney talked about while reminiscing about the past. Back in the day, McKinney had tied up the old tire swing in his garden, and after Levi was gone, he couldn’t cut down the rope, suggesting he still held on to that tragedy. In the episode’s ending, when McKinney received a call from Rip, he had been sitting on the porch, drinking and staring at the same old tire swing, probably remembering the child he had lost. Before walking out of Beulah’s villa, McKinney told her that they had too many demons to deal with to ever be good for each other. I guess he was talking about their shared grief, likely Levi’s death, the tragedy that might have separated the two lovers. 

A second possibility is that Levi was the only kid Beulah and McKinney ever had. Rob-Will might be Beulah’s son from her previous (and her only legal) marriage, and after McKinney came into her life, he looked after Rob-Will as his son, but Levi’s death took a toll on his relationship with Beulah. Soon after, they broke things off and went their separate ways. I guess we will find out more about their “secret relationship” in the upcoming episodes.

Carter Makes Another Old Friend

So you all know that Beth and Rip, trying to be good parents, want to give Carter the life he deserves. But the truth is, after spending a major chunk of his life on the ranch, Carter isn’t able to relate to normal kids anymore. Beth wants him to go to school, learn algebra, make friends, but all those high-schoolers see is a dumb cowboy they can exploit to buy them cold beers. It is evident that Carter’s not being able to fit in, and this explains why he relates to Oreana so much, and likes to spend time with her, because she understands him, unlike his mother, who still treats him like a 15-year-old, which he isn’t. Carter wants to be on the ranch, help Rip build his legacy, but they won’t allow him anywhere near the field, because they think he’s too young to deal with it. So, furious with his mother, Carter skipped school and went looking for a day job at a local store, where he ultimately came across old Dwight, who asked Carter to be his helping hand for the day.

The conversation between the two revealed that Dwight was a rancher from Alpine, who had settled in Rio Paloma, though I couldn’t spot any horses or cattle on Dwight’s ranch, which makes me wonder if he deals in steers at all. At the end of the day, Dwight took Carter deeper into his ranch and showed him a full-blooded African Leopard, named Xena, locked up in a cage. Dwight told Carter that he bought this animal on the internet from an old boy in Arkansas. I think that’s a lie, and Dwight is likely a poacher who smuggles protected wildlife across borders, and if Carter isn’t careful, he could get himself in a lot of trouble. Well, no hard feelings for ol’ Dwight, but after the bull incident, I think the Duttons need to tread carefully, because you never know what a person is hiding behind a mask. Unfortunately, as of now, Carter has grown fond of Dwight, because just like him, even Dwight thinks school’s a waste of time, and a real rancher learns on the field. This suggests this isn’t the last interaction between Dwight and Carter, and the young lad will keep skipping school to work for Dwight, eventually landing himself in serious trouble, from which only Beth and Rip can save him.

Rip Shoots The Cattle

Yes, this was the most horrifying sequence of the entire episode. Rip and Beth tried everything in their capacity to save the herd, but the FMD virus had burned through their entire livestock, leaving them no other option but to shoot them down and bury them six feet under. Rip sent Zach and Azul to a nearby store to bring bullets and other accessories to prepare the graves for their premium Black Angus herd. From the departmental store, Zach bought a red spray to mark the ground to dig up a pit, and as you all know, red is associated with hell, implying that, in a way, Rip and Beth were sending their herd to hell, because they couldn’t do anything to protect them. After digging up the ground, they brought the cattle to the pit and blocked the entrance, with Rip firing shots at the herd. The tragedy here is, he didn’t want to do it, he wanted to fix it, he knew that these animals deserved better, but what other choice did he have? Beth hoped that they could keep the calf Beth had grown fond of, but unfortunately, it had been infected, too. It was Rip who had put his life in danger to save the calf from the fire in Dillon, and now it was Rip who had to put a bullet in it to save it from a painful death. He kept the calf for last, because he knew it wouldn’t be easy for him to pull the trigger on that innocent creature. After it was all done, Rip, Zach, and Azul sprinkled hydrated lime on the corpses to kill the infection before covering the grave.

The New Bull Brought The Virus

The fourth episode of Dutton Ranch made it clear that it was the new bull that brought the virus to the ranch and infected Rip and Beth’s herd. In episode 2, Rip bought the bull at auction from a cattle broker named J.R. Simon, who sent Rip a copy of the bull’s presale examination and blood work report signed by Dr. Poole. However, when Beth called the vet’s office, Dr. Poole to verify the details, he told her that he had never heard of anyone named J.R. Simon. This gave Beth the idea that Simon forged the papers because he knew that the bull was sick. However, when Rip and Beth showed up at Simon’s trailer, he told Rip, “People come to me. Their business ain’t mine,” suggesting that Simon might just be a middleman, a salesman who took that bull to the auction, and there might be someone else pulling the strings from the shadows. My theory here is that it was Joaquin Reyes, who orchestrated this entire operation on his own. He likely used his influence to arrange fake blood test reports and hired Simon to sell the sick bull to the Duttons so they would lose their premium herd. Alternatively, it was Beulah who asked Joaquin to show Duttons their place, because Beth seemed to be really proud of her Black Angus, and what better revenge than making her lose every last one of them? Remember, in episode 2, Beulah was bidding on the same bull from Reveille Farm, but then she stopped suddenly and let Rip and Beth take the animal home. Maybe she always knew the truth about the infected bull, or maybe she figured this out during the auction and let Beth take the bull home anyway as she wanted it to destroy Duttons’ herd. This is the reason why I think Simon wasn’t the main culprit here, however, for some reason, Rip didn’t interrogate him hard enough, and let him go away before he burned his trailer to the ground. He’ll likely never show up in Texas again, which means we will never find out who the real villain is behind this tragedy.

Beulah Doesn’t Want Joaquin To Take Over Her Empire

The other interesting detail that I am constantly thinking about is that Joaquin’s full name is Joaquin Reyes, and as per the IMDb credits, he shares his surname with Mariano Reyes, the man who called Beulah in the previous episode, speaking about “cattle” that he would be moving this month (likely across the border). Now, in episode 4, after McKinney left the house, Beulah received another call, which I think was from none other than Mariano, because ever since this call, Beulah hadn’t been able to sleep. Or maybe it was from the rehab in Sedona, informing Beulah that her son had run away for the third time. Whichever it was, Beulah got all tensed up after this call, and stopped being able to sleep. At night, she told Joaquin, “estoy harta,” meaning “’I’m fed up,” to which Joaquin replied, “Yo se, jefa,” meaning “I know, Boss,” and told her to let him take over the business.  Well, if you noticed, he didn’t call her “mum” or “mother,” but instead called her “boss,” which makes me believe that it wasn’t the Jacksons who adopted Joaquin (as he told Beth), but Mariano, who gave him his surname. And it could be surmised that Mariano is Beulah’s current husband, but I might be wrong, and I think we need to wait a few more episodes to understand Beulah’s exact relationship with Mariano and Joaquin.

The second important detail established so far is that Beulah wants to retire and go on a final ride with McKinney, but she still hasn’t found a suitable heir to look after her empire. It’s possible that she had high hopes for Rob-Will Jackson (her only surviving biological son), but unfortunately, he couldn’t keep his demons away. This was why Beulah wanted Oreana Jackson (Rob-Will’s biological daughter) to take the reins of her empire. So you understand why Beulah doesn’t want Joaquin to become her heir. Not because he’s not capable of it, but because he’s not related to her by blood, which was why Beulah never considered him her own. She’s ready to give her empire to a “kid,” but not the man who deserves it the most, and this tells you everything you need to know about who Beulah Jackson is. I think this was the reason why  McKinney left her and wants to keep his distance from her. Coincidentally, Beulah’s preference for a blood-related heir also creates a parallel with Beth, who, unlike Beulah, is ready to give everything she owns to her adopted son, Carter. This is why I keep telling you all, Beth’s the much stronger woman between the two.

Rip And Beth Will Have To Start Over

The ending of episode 4 didn’t reveal whether Rip and Beth had any cattle left, or whether the entire herd had been infected by the virus. If you remember, Rip and Beth had purchased 175 heads of Black Angus from Jeanie Edwards, and I don’t think it was 175 steers that Rip shot and buried, so it’s possible that some of the quarantined cattle might still be unaffected by the virus. But that’s me being hopeful, as I really don’t want Rip and Beth to lose everything again and start from scratch. Furthermore, Edwards’ premium Black Angus was known for its quality all across Texas, so if the Duttons lost each one of them, then they would have no leverage left in the business, which means, even if they raised another herd, they wouldn’t be able to recreate the “magic” of Edwards’ Black Angus. However, as Zach pointed out, “God’s plan ain’t always a blessing,” so maybe God has a plan for Rip and Beth, because God can’t take away their herd for nothing, right? Well, from what we know of Rip and Beth, they are not the kind of people who are gonna give up so easily, and in the next episode, they will most certainly find a solution to overcome this crisis. I think they will try to raise another herd, but to do that, they will need money, and something tells me that Beth’s either gonna borrow money from the bank, using her ranch as collateral, or she’s gonna take money from her nemesis, Beulah Jackson. When Beth dropped Oreana at her house, Beulah told Beth that Rio Paloma’s a small town, likely implying that she was the one who controls everything here, and sooner or later, Beth would end up at her doorstep seeking help.

As far as Carter and Oreana are concerned, their love story may hit a bump for some time, as they won’t be able to meet each other. Oreana’s been grounded, and Beulah has ordered her most trusted man, Miguel, to keep an eye on her. And lastly, Austin Lewis, the cowboy Beulah’s new foreman, Chet, had beaten up in the second episode, returned to the ranch to resume work. However, I am quite sure Austin’s arrival at the ranch will create some tension between him and the other cowboys (especially Chet), which will force Joaquin and Beulah to deal with the matter in their “own” way. Well, these are my thoughts on Dutton Ranch episode 4, but if you have any other questions, feel free to drop them below.

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