Picture a rainy night in 1981, with the radio playing Eddie Rabbitt’s “Drivin’ My Life Away” as Young Beulah Jackson (played by Rebeca Robles) hits the Fort Worth strip for a night to remember. Echoes of the past weigh heavily in the Sheridan-O-Verse, reminiscent of Young Beth and Young Rip’s introduction in Yellowstone Season 5. In Episode 7 of Dutton Ranch titled “Den of Sin,” Beulah, alongside her friends, is under the watchful eye of young Mariano Reyes (Bobby Soto), a trusted 10-Petal ranch hand reporting directly to her father. Amidst the lively scene of country music, clinking bottles, mechanical bulls, and line dancing, a shadow looms as Beulah is sexually assaulted by a cowboy while Mariano is momentarily distracted by the bartender. Later, when Mariano finds Beulah, she insists he only tells her father she fell off a mechanical bull.
Flashbacks in this narrative often reveal pivotal decisions or incidents that shape a character’s future. Mariano, once Beulah’s confidant against her father’s domineering ways, was the first to learn of her assault’s aftermath—a positive pregnancy test. It was Mariano who drove Beulah to confront the cowboy responsible. Unbeknownst to him, she would shoot and kill the cowboy. This secret, too, was kept from Beulah’s father.
Fast forward to today at the 10-Petal ranch, where Beulah, dressed to impress in a pristine Nudie-style western suit, meticulously plans the ranch’s grand 190th anniversary celebration. The event promises appearances from notable figures like Rio Paloma and Zane Nash. Beulah’s daughter Oreana is on her best behavior, acknowledging the importance of the occasion to her mother. Beulah’s speech, rehearsed repeatedly in her mind, promises to break from tradition. It will address the future leadership of the ranch, with plans to pass the torch to Joaquin, Mariano’s son whom she raised. However, her plans are disrupted by the return of Rob-Will, her estranged son from that fateful 1981 night, who stakes his claim with a defiant proclamation. “My name is Robert William Jackson III, and this ranch is my legacy. I’ll never let Kino have it. Ever,” he declares.
Meanwhile, the Dutton Ranch clan, led by Beth Dutton in her finest attire, makes their entrance on horseback at Beulah’s grand event. The evening begins on a cordial note, with Everett McKinney accompanying Beulah. However, tension simmers as Carter sulks over Oreana’s flirtation with a college type. Oreana, unimpressed, confronts Carter, “You walk around with this wound, Carter, and you expect me to do something about it.” Her sharp rebuke, laced with a Texas metaphor about bulls and steers, leaves no doubt about where he stands.
Despite Rob-Will’s bold intrusion, Beulah remains unyielding. She acknowledges that her son has squandered every chance she gave him, yet his words resonate with her as he dismantles her original speech. He reminds her of her father’s lessons: to be clear-eyed, ruthless, and a killer in business. These are traits Beulah recognizes are necessary for the ranch’s survival, even with Beth and Rip’s expertise. Since Dutton Ranch began, hints of a deeper control have surfaced, from poisoned bulls to mysterious calls urging Beulah to “do what’s right” for the ranch. Her drunken confession to Joaquin, “I can’t!” hints at an underlying struggle. Perhaps, if there’s a criminal element to the 10-Petal’s survival, someone like Rob-Will might still be the right fit for leadership.
“This is my 38th time for some proper speechifying,” Beulah begins, and in the party audience, Joaquin looks ecstatic. This is his moment! Instead he is crushed when Buelah discards her prepared remarks and announces Rob-Will as her successor. In five years’ time, she says, her only son by blood will take over the 10-Petal’s ranch operations. A startled murmur breaks out, roughly translated as, “Isn’t he a murdering cokehead fuck-up?” But before anyone can react, Carter returns to the party. After Oreana dressed him down, he stole a bottle from the bar, and now this dude is drunk as a skunk. She wants him to grow a pair and be a bull? Barring that, will she accept Carter stealing some Longhorn taxidermy from the wall in Beulah’s office and tossing the cow head onto the lawn? You mess with the bull, you break the horns.
Beth makes a beeline for Beulah while Rip extricates their son from the party. But nobody has time to be mad at Carter’s drunken antics, or wonder about Beulah’s strange and sudden succession announcement, because she reaches for her chest in pain before keeling over. Has the ballad of Mama B reached its final verse?
The Beth Parts for Episode 7 of Dutton Ranch (“Den of Sin”):
- That Dutton Ranch flashback to 1981 Fort Worth had some real nice touches. Rabbit’s “Drivin’ My Life Away” went gold that year on the country charts, and before everything went bad, Young Beulah line-danced to “Good Hearted Woman” by Waylon Jennings. We also liked the more primitive 10-Petal logo painted on Mariano’s boxy 80s F-150.
- “Your son is a drug addict.” At the party, before she collapsed, Zane Nash was not happy to hear about Beulah’s succession plans. Frontier Hospitality Group bought into her family’s ranching story, not the sordid adventures of her wayward son.
- And as Beulah’s 10-P party went south, the bunkhouse boys were getting into barfights down at the Split Heart, where Cowboy Austin, true friend of Dead Foreman Wes, finally spoke his truth. “The 10-Petal’s dirty. Corrupt. We’re all fucked, and we never say shit about it.”
Johnny Loftus (@johnnyloftus.bsky.social) is a Chicago-based writer. A veteran of the alternative weekly trenches, his work has also appeared in Entertainment Weekly, Pitchfork, The All Music Guide, and The Village Voice.