[Netflix’s ‘Ransom Canyon’ Promises a Near-Perfect Western Binge]
From Dallas to Yellowstone, soapy Western shows make for some of the best binge-watches. They are messy and entertaining, with intense plotlines that range from land disputes to tangled love triangles. They are the perfect escape to watch when looking for a show to get totally drawn into, because they are pretty easy to follow along with, and there is never a dull moment amongst all the drama.
What Is Netflix’s Soapy Western ‘Ransom Canyon’ About?
Ransom Canyon follows the residents of the small town of Ransom Canyon, Texas, most of whom have lived there for their whole lives. At the center of it all is Staten Kirkland (Josh Duhamel), a wealthy ranch owner who’s been struggling after two major personal tragedies. Two years after the death of his wife, Staten had to deal with the sudden death of his teenage son, Randall (Hubert Smielecki), in a car accident. Now, a year after Randall’s death, Staten tries to move forward with his life despite pressure from his wife’s brother, Davis Collins (Eoin Macken), to sell some of his land so that a new pipeline can be built in its place. Staten also finds himself entangled in a messy love triangle. Just as his feelings for his old friend, Quinn O’Grady (Minka Kelly), start to resurface, Davis starts pursuing a romance with her as well.
Ransom Canyon follows the residents of the small town of Ransom Canyon, Texas, most of whom have lived there for their whole lives. At the center of it all is Staten Kirkland (Josh Duhamel), a wealthy ranch owner who’s been struggling after two major personal tragedies. Two years after the death of his wife, Staten had to deal with the sudden death of his teenage son, Randall (Hubert Smielecki), in a car accident. Now, a year after Randall’s death, Staten tries to move forward with his life despite pressure from his wife’s brother, Davis Collins (Eoin Macken), to sell some of his land so that a new pipeline can be built in its place. Staten also finds himself entangled in a messy love triangle. Just as his feelings for his old friend, Quinn O’Grady (Minka Kelly), start to resurface, Davis starts pursuing a romance with her as well.
Collider Exclusive · 8 Questions · 2 Minutes
Which Western Icon Are You Most Like?
No Name · Doc Holliday · Wyatt Earp · Mattie Ross
No Name(Dollars Trilogy)
Doc Holliday(Tombstone)
Wyatt Earp(Tombstone)
Mattie Ross(True Grit)
FIND YOUR ICON →
‘Ransom Canyon’ Blends Romance and Mystery
Ransom Canyon is an addictive show to watch, and once you start the first episode, it’s easy to quickly binge-watch all 18 at once. In addition to the romantic drama and tension related to the pipeline, Ransom Canyon is also a murder mystery. Staten’s wife died of illness, but Randall’s death is more complicated. It was initially believed that Randall’s car was the only one on the road that night, and that the accident was a terrible but random tragedy. At the start of the series, however, Staten starts finding clues that lead him to believe that somebody else caused the accident, whether intentionally or not. He pushes the sheriff, Lauren’s father, Dan Brigman (Philip Winchester), to investigate, but the sheriff believes that Staten is just grieving, so he initially has to look into it on his own.
The town is about to learn your name. What do they call you?
In a Western, what people call you is already half the character.
AThey never do find it out, so the stranger will have to do.
BA nickname I picked up at a card table and never shook off.
CMarshal, and most people say it with a bit of respect.
DMy full name, and I will correct anybody who tries to shorten it.
NEXT QUESTION →
What are you carrying?
Everything out here is character, right down to what is sitting on your hip.
AOne revolver I have had for years and have never once talked about.
BA pistol, a knife and a deck of cards, and the cards do most of the damage.
CA shotgun, because it tends to end arguments rather than start them.
DMy father’s gun, which is far too big for me, and I am carrying it anyway.
NEXT QUESTION →
What are you riding?
A hero and their horse is one of the oldest relationships in cinema.
ASomething plain that nobody in town would look at twice.
BWhatever I won last night, which may not be strictly mine yet.
CA big steady horse that will not spook when things get loud.
DA pony I overpaid for and named myself, and I will hear nothing against him.
NEXT QUESTION →
You have got one evening in town. How does it go?
The saloon is where these films quietly tell you who somebody really is.
AOne drink at the far end of the bar with my back to the wall.
BAt the card table, holding court, up forty dollars and climbing.
CA quick drink, then a walk round town to see that everything is quiet.
DUpstairs with the ledger, working out exactly what tomorrow is going to cost.
NEXT QUESTION →
A stranger offers you money for a job that sounds like trouble.
Somebody always turns up with a full purse and a bad idea.
AI ask how much, and then I ask for a good deal more than that.
BI say yes before he has finished, mostly because it sounds like a story.
CI ask him who gets hurt if I turn him down.
DI ask for the terms in writing before anybody shakes on anything.
NEXT QUESTION →
Somebody is waiting for you in the street. What does the town see?
Two people, an empty road, and everybody else watching from behind the shutters.
ASomebody walking out very slowly who has not said a single word.
BSomebody grinning, which everyone watching finds deeply unnerving.
CSomebody making one last attempt to talk the other man down.
DSomebody far too young to be out there, walking out regardless.
NEXT QUESTION →
What is the one thing you will not do out here?
The code is about the only thing west of the river that actually holds.
AExplain myself to somebody who has not earned an explanation.
BRide off and leave a friend standing out there on his own.
CLet a whole town pay for a fight it had nothing to do with.
DLet a grown man tell me I am too young to be standing here.
NEXT QUESTION →
The job is finished. Where does the story leave you?
Eight questions in, this is the one that decides your icon.
AOn a ridge somewhere, riding away, without saying goodbye to anybody.
BSomewhere warm and worn out, having enjoyed very nearly all of it.
CHome, with the badge on the table and the whole thing behind me.
DOlder, changed by it, and telling this story for the rest of my life.
REVEAL MY ICON →
The Dust Has Settled
Your Western Icon Is…
Four icons and four completely different ways of walking into trouble.
This is the one you would have been out there, why it fits, and what it would have cost you.
The Man With No Name
You have never explained yourself and you have never needed to,
because people work out fairly quickly that you are the most capable person in the room
without you ever having to mention it.
- Eastwood built the character out of everything he refused to do, stripping away the
backstory, the speeches and every bit of reassurance until only the competence was left. - You keep your own counsel, and while other people occasionally find that unnerving, you
have never felt any real need to fix it for them. - The Dollars films work because he genuinely is in it for himself right up until the
moment he is not, and he never explains that part either. - You would be gone before anybody got a chance to thank you.
Doc Holliday
You are the funniest person in most rooms and the most loyal person in all of them, and you would be genuinely insulted if somebody suggested those two
things were in any tension.
- Doc has no real reason to be in this fight beyond the fact that his friend is in it,
which is the only reason he has ever needed for anything. - You lead with wit, and it does a very effective job of hiding how seriously you take the
handful of people you actually care about. - Val Kilmer’s performance is the most quoted in the entire genre because the jokes keep
getting sharper as the situation gets worse. - You would spend everything you had on this and still describe it as a good week.
Wyatt Earp
You never wanted this job, and you took it anyway because the
alternative was standing there watching somebody less careful do it badly, which is the most
Western reason there has ever been.
- Earp is the reluctant authority figure, a man who came to town specifically to be left
alone and somehow ended up answerable for all of it. - You are protective by instinct, so when something goes wrong your first thought is who
is exposed rather than who is to blame. - These films understand that keeping order costs far more than breaking it, and that the
person holding the line almost never gets thanked. - You would do the whole thing again, and you would complain about it the entire time.
Mattie Ross
Nobody has ever successfully talked you out of something you had
already decided was right, and a long line of grown adults has found that out the hard way.
- Mattie is the most relentless character in the Western canon and she manages it through
argument, paperwork and flat refusal rather than a fast draw. - You have no patience for being managed, so you negotiate, you check the details and you
turn up exactly when you said you would. - True Grit is the rare Western where the moral centre is the youngest person on screen
and every adult around her has to catch up. - You would get what you came for, and the film is honest about what that takes out of
you.
With a cozy small-town setting and soapy romantic and business drama, Ransom Canyon is a fun and messy watch that’s perfect for those looking for an easy watch. It is packed with compelling conflict, primarily related to the pipeline, as well as some twists and turns about the characters and their histories with each other. Most of all, though, the series is about Staten and Quinn’s journeys. After losing both his wife and his son, Staten is isolated and angry in his grief, and the show’s first season shows him slowly learning how to open up and let himself care about other people again. Meanwhile, Quinn has always felt overlooked, especially after having to return home from her time away focusing on her music. Now, she gets the chance to make the dance hall she owns into something really special, but the cost of getting the money she needs could mean supporting the pipeline and everything it entails. Staten and Quinn have also always had unresolved feelings for each other, even after he married her best friend, so they now find those feelings coming up again even as they try to bury them. ‘Ransom Canyon’ Blends Romance and Mystery adds depth to their relationship through a complex web of secrets and the town’s turbulent history.
Newcomer Yancy Grey (Jack Schumacher) comes to Ransom Canyon to work for Cap Fuller (James Brolin), another ranch owner whose land Davis is eyeing for the pipeline. At first glance, Yancy looks like a hard worker who cares about his job and who’s quickly falling for Quinn’s employee and friend, Ellie Estevez (Marianly Tejada). Yancy has quite a few secrets, though, and his motivations are much more complex than they seem to be at first — as are his connections to some of Ransom’s longtime residents. Yancy is not just there to work on Cap’s ranch by chance, which Ellie figures out quickly, and she has to reconcile her growing feelings for him with the clear mountain of secrets that he is keeping from her.
In the wake of Randall’s death, his cousin and Davis’ son, Reid (Andrew Liner), is spiraling. Little does he know, his ex-girlfriend, Lauren (Lizzy Greene), is secretly dating his best friend, Lucas (Garrett Wareing). That’s nothing compared to the pressure that Davis puts on him to succeed, especially now. Davis’ interest in the pipeline isn’t coming out of nowhere; if he can’t make this deal work, he could lose the ranch that has been in his family for generations, all because of his own father’s carelessness with his finances. Everyone in Ransom Canyon has a lot to either gain or lose from the pipeline deal, which makes this storyline feel particularly high-stakes, especially on top of everything else.
‘Ransom Canyon’ Blends Romance and Mystery
Ransom Canyon is an addictive show to watch, and once you start the first episode, it’s easy to quickly binge-watch all 18 at once. In addition to the romantic drama and tension related to the pipeline, Ransom Canyon is also a murder mystery. Staten’s wife died of illness, but Randall’s death is more complicated. It was initially believed that Randall’s car was the only one on the road that night, and that the accident was a terrible but random tragedy. At the start of the series, however, Staten starts finding clues that lead him to believe that somebody else caused the accident, whether intentionally or not. He pushes the sheriff, Lauren’s father, Dan Brigman (Philip Winchester), to investigate, but the sheriff believes that Staten is just grieving, so he initially has to look into it on his own.
The town is about to learn your name. What do they call you?
In a Western, what people call you is already half the character.
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