The Dutton Ranch Season 1 Finale Finally Proves This Fan Theory Right

This article contains spoilers for the season finale of "Dutton Ranch."

Even while it's struggled to settle on a premise, "Dutton Ranch" has been consistently entertaining since it started. But it hasn't been all that hard to see where it was all headed. Back in "Dutton Ranch" Episode 4, we got a sense of who the real villain of the season might be, with fans speculating that Beulah Jackson's (Annette Bening) 10 Petal Ranch was in league with the Mexican cartel. Now, the season finale has confirmed that theory was pretty much right on the money.

"Dutton Ranch" Episode 4 contained one of the most disturbing sequences in the "Yellowstone" universe, with Rip having to shoot his entire herd of cattle following a foot-and-mouth disease outbreak. At the time, fans clocked that Beulah had been talking to a mysterious man named Mariano Reyes on the phone, and speculated that this shady figure was some sort of drug lord who held sway over the 10 Petal. The fact that Rio Paloma — the town that Rip Wheeler (Cole Hauser) and Beth Dutton (Kelly Reilly) now call home — is very close to the Mexican border added further evidence to support the theory.

We finally got a glimpse of Mariano in "Dutton Ranch" Episode 7, wherein flashback sequences revealed he was once a 10 Petal ranch hand charged with watching over a young Beulah. But we still didn't know how he might have become a drug runner. Now, the season finale has revealed all, and fans had it right the entire time.

"Dutton Ranch" Episode 8 confirmed everyone's worst suspicions about the 10 Petal Ranch, when Sterlin English's Austin Lewis told Beth Dutton and Rip Wheeler that Beulah Jackson had been smuggling in cattle from Mexico. The season finale sees Beth and Rip investigate those claims, and what they find confirms the theory about cartel involvement. After taking several cows from the latest 10 Petal delivery, Rip calls in Ed Harris' Everett McKinney, who finds $2 million worth of Fentanyl hidden in the cattle.

Later, Beulah sits down with Everett and explains all, recounting how Mariano Reyes helped her dispose of a body — alluding to the events seen in Episode 7, in which Beulah killed a man named Luke (Cameron Cowperthwaite) who sexually assaulted her. It seems Beulah's father found out about it all and blamed Mariano, forcing the then-ranch hand to "take the heat" and disappear to Mexico. As Beulah explains, she and her father then took care of Mariano's baby, Joaquin Reyes (Juan Pablo Raba). Meanwhile, "something went down" at the border, and Mariano's wife, Joaquin's mother, was killed. How? We don't know. We also don't know how Mariano went from a ranch hand on the run to the head of a powerful drug-running operation. No doubt more will be revealed in the already greenlit "Dutton Ranch" Season 2.

What we do know is that Mariano is far from the courteous ranch hand we saw before. "Dutton Ranch" Episode 7 revealed the man who fans believed to be the real villain of the series, but he didn't seem all that villainous. In the season finale, however, we get our first look at the modern-day Mariano, and he's a much more imposing figure.

Whatever kindness Mariano Reyes once had has now well and truly evaporated. After "Dutton Ranch" Episode 8 set up the arrival of this mysterious villain, the season finale delivered the first appearance of Raoul Trujillo as an older Mariano. He's no longer a kindly protector but a ruthless, cold-blooded drug boss. Not only does he order his men to kill Beth Dutton, Rip Wheeler, and their associates, but he also charges his son, Joaquin Reyes, with killing his own brother. Joaquin obliges, gunning down Jai Courtney's Rob-Will Jackson at the 10 Petal mansion. By the episode's end, Mariano and his men have taken Finn Little's Carter Green captive and plan to hold Beth and Rip's son as leverage to draw out the Yellowstone power couple.

Clearly, Mariano is a true villain and certainly brings a palpable air of menace to the series. That should go some way to appeasing fans who weren't all that thrilled about a drug gang being part of "Dutton Ranch." One Redditor even begged the writers to avoid "another cartel storyline" following the plot of fellow Sherdan-verse series "Landman" Season 2, in which Billy Bob Thornton's oil man strikes a deal with drug boss Danny "Gallino" Morrell. Well, that plea seems to have fallen on deaf ears, though as one user responded, "Being that close to the border, I don't see how they avoid it realistically."

Thankfully, the writers managed to spin a compelling story led by Trujillo's excellent performance, even if they have run through about three seasons' worth of story in nine episodes. Hopefully, new showrunner Benjamin Cavell can keep things a little more focused next season, and maybe even make things a little harder for fans to figure out ahead of time.