Dutton Ranch Just Set Up The Arrival Of The Show's Biggest Mystery Character

"Dutton Ranch" Episode 8 sets up the season finale beautifully. Sterlin English's Austin Lewis reveals that the 10 Petal Ranch is running an illegal cattle-smuggling operation, which was almost certainly to blame for the foot-and-mouth disease-infected bull that wiped out Rip Wheeler (Cole Hauser) and Beth Dutton's (Kelly Reilly) herd. But there's a second story that plays out involving Juan Pablo Raba's Joaquin Reyes, who, in the final moments, makes a phone call that will change everything.

Episode 8 ends with Joaquin calling his father, Mariano Reyes, who thus far has been almost entirely absent from the show. "Dutton Ranch" Episode 4 hinted at this shadowy villain being responsible for Beth and Rip's foot-and-mouth woes. The Episode saw Beulah Jackson take a phone call from Mariano, who warned her that he was moving cattle and didn't want any surprises. Fans speculated that Mariano was Joaquin's father and was secretly in charge of the 10 Petal Ranch.

Then, "Dutton Episode" 7 revealed this so-called "secret villain," and he wasn't actually all that villainous. We learned via flashback sequences that Mariano (played as a young man by Bobby Soto) was, in fact, a former 10 Petal ranch hand who was charged with watching over a young Beulah. We still don't know what happened between those early years and the present day, but Mariano has clearly moved up the chain. Thus far, however, we have yet to see an adult Mariano, and there are still plenty of questions surrounding his actual role and influence. Following Joaquin's phone call in Episode 8, all of those questions look set to be answered in the season finale.

"Dutton Ranch" Episode 8 sees Rip Wheeler and Beth Dutton do their best to guide Carter Green, Finn Little's character, through a turbulent time in his life. Meanwhile, Joaquin Reyes is busy trying to assert his dominance following a shocking reveal. "Dutton Ranch" Episode 7 was the best and worst installment yet, but it was a complete disaster for Joaquin. After his mother, Beulah Jackson (Annette Bening), promised to leave the 10 Petal Ranch in his hands, she reversed course and put his brother Rob-Will Jackson (Jai Courtney) in charge. Joaquin immediately left the ranch, but Episode 8 proves he isn't going to go quietly.

Joaquin knows Rob-Will's big secret, i.e., that he killed former ranch foreman Wes Ayers (Nakoa DeCoite) in the season premiere. In Episode 8, Joaquin goes to the police with the murder weapon, but is dismissed by Josh Stewart's Sheriff Handy Wade. Without a body, Joaquin has nothing. Instead of giving up, however, he calls Mariano. "Hola, papá," he says. "Necesito tu ayuda."

That translates to, "Hi, Dad. I need your help." Clearly, Joaquin has had enough of being jerked around and is calling in the big guns. That's bad news for Rob-Will and potentially Rip and Beth, as Mariano has already proved to be dangerous by wiping out their herd via the infected bull from Episode 4. But it's frankly great for viewers, who will finally get to see this mystery character revealed in the season finale.

We've seen Mariano Reyes via the aforementioned flashback sequences in "Dutton Ranch" Episode 7. But all we learned was that the character started as a 10 Petal Ranch hand. We have no idea how he became the head of an illegal cattle smuggling operation or how his personality changed over the years. In the flashbacks, he was a polite, seemingly sensitive protector for Beulah. Now, he's clearly something much more formidable. The season finale should finally provide answers.

One other big question that remains is whether Mariano will make it out alive. After remaining off-screen for almost the entire first season, the character is now set to show up at a time when tensions couldn't be higher. "Dutton Ranch" Episode 2, Rip establishes a new version of the "Train Station" from "Yellowstone," and Mariano seems destined to end up there. But the fact that he's Joaquin's father complicates matters somewhat, as Rip and Beth have thus far gotten along well enough with Joaquin. Whatever happens, somebody is bound to take a one-way trip to Rip's new Train Station.

Thankfully, regardless of who ends up a victim of Rip's wrath, fans can look forward to more "Dutton Ranch" following the news of the show's Season 2 renewal. Thus far, there are no details, but Kelly Reilly recently told The Hollywood Reporter that she and the other creatives "have some ideas" about season two, adding, "We already know sort of where the beginning is, and that's exciting." 

Meanwhile, Finn Little told Us Weekly that fans should be "very worried" about the season 1 finale, though it's unclear just how serious he was when he added, "At least three people — is it three or four people that die in the finale?"