Is Everett Dirty? Episode 3 Preview [TRAILER]

Dutton Ranch fans have a theory about Everett McKinney and — if true — it will put the show on its head.

Can we really trust this man?

• Dutton Ranch Ep. 3 drops on Paramount+ this Friday morning (May 22) and airs on Paramount Network Friday night.
• Ed Harris stars and Dr. Everett McKinney, a veterinarian who is very helpful to Rip and Beth during Ep. 1 and 2.
• The Dutton Rules podcast team breaks down each episodes weekly during a live podcast on YouTube (see below). Replays are also available wherever podcasts are found.

Related: Why Did Beth and Rip Move To Texas?

A few spoilers from Episode 1 and 2 are coming but I’ll focus on scenes teased from Ep. 3, titled “Act of God Business.”

There’s also a pretty compelling interview that Annette Bening gave. I suspect she said too much.

Who is Everett McKinney on Dutton Ranch?

Veteran actor Ed Harris plays Everett McKinney and when we first meet him he’s ordering an ice tea from Carol (country singer Morgan Wade) at the Split Heart Bar. Oh, he’s also putting a young cowboy named Hoyt in his place, which older fans loved.

Did you notice that’s the same young man whose butt Carter kicks at the rodeo later on?

Everett is a decorated Vietnam War vet and a veterinarian who’s tended to animals in the Rio Paloma area for decades. Not much is said about his personal life, and that’s what viewers focused on.

Could he be the unknown male Jackson? At least a half dozen comments in our Episode 1 and 2 recap video suggested as much.

On one hand, it seems far-fetched. Joaquin and Rob Will look to have different fathers and Beulah seems to have been married to a man with money.

Talking to Variety, Bening explained why she took the part of Beulah Jackson:

“… and they told me the story that they were going to be unfolding as well with Ed Harris,” she begins. “They got me intrigued, and I thought, ‘Beulah, she’s interesting.’ She’s a rancher, but she’s longing for love as she wants to keep everything together, which she is unable to do, which is why the show happens.”

Bening actually refers to a relationship with Everett in several places across the interview, which is odd because Everett says he tries to steer his friends away from the 10P Ranch owner. Her feelings may be unrequited.

Then again, this picture shared ahead of Ep. 3 shows they have some kind of relationship. Aren’t the people you walk with at funerals always the people you keep closest?

Is Everett McKinney Oreana’s Granddaughter?

If Everett was once married to Beulah, he is likely only Rob Will’s father as Joaquin is clearly hispanic.

At first, Rob Will seems nothing like Everett, but remember what the old vet told Beth in the car to see the butcher: when he was young he joined the military because he was looking for something to fight.

War may have killed his fighting spirit while drugs and an abusive childhood amplified it in Rob Will. This would make Everett Oreana’s (Carter’s love interest) grandfather, as we learn through a text exchange in Ep. 2 that Rob Will is her father.

Dutton Ranch Episode 3 Official Trailer

The trailer for Episode 3 of Dutton Ranch doesn’t refer to any of this. Instead, the clip sets up a small amount of violence on the actual Dutton Ranch and a meeting between Beth and Joaquin.

It also looks like Carter and Oreana reunite, and — for the second time in three episodes — he’s at the mercy of the local sheriff.