Dutton Ranch Reveals Beulah’s Darkest Secret

Beth and Rip no longer need to wonder about where the disease that killed their cows came from. Episode 8 of Dutton Ranch tied many of the most frayed loose ends of this show up in a tidy bow.

That’s not to say there’s no more mystery. Austin’s sit down with Beth, Rip and Zachariah only deepens the intrigue about what’s to come in the finale.

• Episode 8 of Dutton Ranch is called “Whiskey Limits,” and it debuted on Paramount+ Friday morning (June 26).
• After last week’s medical event, Beulah Jackson’s fate is revealed. Carter gets a new gig and Joaquin tries to pin a murder on his brother.
• The show is on track for a July 3 season finale. Season 2 was confirmed on Wednesday.

Spoiler Alert! This video and review will describe key events from Episode 8 of Dutton Ranch. As always, the Dutton Rules podcast team will go deep on latest episode next Tuesday (June 30) at 2PM CT.

Dutton Ranch, Episode 8 Recap:

Episode 7 of Dutton Ranch ended with a Beulah Jackson (Annette Bening) cliffhanger, but the show let us off the hook easy. After suffering what we now know was a heart attack, the 10 Petal matriarch will be OK. In fact, she might be better than OK.

Everett McKinney (Ed Harris) came to his senses as he thought she was dying. He chooses to go all-in on their relationship. Together they sneak out of the hospital and drive to his house for some much needed rest. Aside from a handful of difficult conversations, it was an uncharacteristically drama-free episode for Beulah.

Read More: 10 Questions Dutton Ranch Must Answer Before Season 1 Ends

There wasn’t much action elsewhere either. Carter — still very hungover — joins Rip at the 10 Petal after admitting to Beth he quit school. They have the first of two heart-to-heart conversations and the episode ends with the family dynamic in peril. More on that in a moment — like so many episodes, the part most worth talking about came in the last 10 minutes.

Austin Lewis is the 10 Petal Ranch hand most suspicious of what became of Wes and Chet. He gains Zachariah and Rip’s trust and reveals what’s really happening with the Jacksons.

“They ain’t ranchers, they’re (curse word) thieves,” he says.

The family has an illicit cattle operation in Mexico, and they steal cattle to bootleg them into the United States. There’s none of the usual checks for disease because all of the paper work is forged. This, Zachariah explains, is how a cow with Foot and Mouth Disease ended up at the Dutton Ranch causing a massive culling of the herd.

Honestly, this operation is why we’re here.

Emerson Miller/Paramount+

Previews for the remainder of Season 1 show there may be more to the story. It still seems very likely there’s some kind of narcotics trade happening as well, but that’s not been acknowledged yet. The episode ends with Rip and Beth realizing they’ve partnered with organized crime, and Joaquin (Beulah’s adopted son) calling his father for help.

Those two sentences are related. Joaquin’s father is Mariano, who many viewers and followers of the Dutton Rules podcast believe is leading this cattle cartel.

Dutton Ranch, Episode 7 Review:

Very little happened during the first 36 minutes of Episode 8 of Dutton Ranch. This week’s action focused on Carter and his personal turmoil. The kid is still caught between boy and man and the camera won’t let us forget it.

It’s tiring. Every time he gets close to the main plot something unexplainable happens. This week, he becomes very angry with Rip who rightly corrects him when he leaves a cattle gate open and then falls off his horse trying to rope a calf.

Beth’s mother-son talks are as awkward as you’d expect them to be but it’s not totally because Beth is an awkward mom. There’s just not a ton of chemistry between this family unit.

Episode 7 of Season 1 was really strong, perhaps the best to date. A let down was to be expected. Austin’s game-changing confession did set up what should be one breathtaking finale. Forty-four minutes aren’t enough to answer all the questions we still have about what the Jacksons are up to and how (or if) the Duttons will fit in long term.