Dutton Ranch: Joaquin Star Juan Pablo Raba Has Doubts About That Season 1 Finale Death

This post contains spoilers for the "Dutton Ranch" Season 1 finale.

"Dutton Ranch" just wrapped up its first season with an explosive finale that saw the Duttons defend their ranch against cartel goons, Finn Little's Carter Green kidnapped, and Natalie Alyn Lind's Oreanna Jackson confirm her pregnancy. But one of the most significant moments in the "Dutton Ranch" finale comes when Jai Courtney's Rob-Will Jackson is murdered by his own brother, Juan Pablo Raba's Joaquin Reyes. Or is he? According to Raba, fans shouldn't be so sure that Joaquin is the culprit.

"Dutton Ranch" Episode 8 set up the arrival of the show's biggest mystery character: Mariano Reyes (Raoul Trujillo). This ruthless criminal was once a ranch hand at Beulah Jackson's (Annette Bening's) 10 Petal ranch. But after being forced to flee to Mexico by Beulah's father, he transformed into a merciless cartel boss, who's been funneling drugs through 10 Petal's cattle import business for decades. In the finale, Mariano arrives in Rio Paloma after Rip Wheeler (Cole Hauser) and Beth Dutton (Kelly Reilly) discover his shady operation. But he's not just there to deal with the Dutton Ranch owners. Mariano also instructs Joaquin to kill his brother so as to clear the way for Joaquin's ascension to 10 Petal owner.

Raba's character ostensibly follows through, but the actor has his doubts. As he told Entertainment Weekly, "I don't think he did it. Because he's not a killer. He's not even a cowboy, for Christ's sake. He has never shot anyone in his life." Indeed, part of the narrative in the "Dutton Ranch" season finale concerns Joaquin's lack of tenacity, and Raba's theory starts to seem even more believable when you consider the fact that we don't actually see Joaquin pull the trigger.

In the finale, "El Padrino," Joaquin Reyes seems to do exactly what his father asks. We see Joaquin sitting in a black SUV outside the 10 Petal mansion, holding a pistol and seemingly working up the courage to kill Rob-Will Jackson. After Rob-Will shares a sweet scene with his daughter, Oreana Jackson, he leaves her bedroom, only for a gunshot to ring out moments later. When Oreana runs downstairs, she sees her father's body lying in the foyer as a black SUV with the same brake light design as the car used by Joaquin hastily peels out of the driveway.

After a darkly hilarious sequence in which Rip Wheeler and his ranch hands dump body after body into the "Dutton Ranch" equivalent of the Train Station from "Yellowstone," we see Joaquin once again in his car, teary-eyed and seemingly grappling with the gravity of having killed Rob-Will. But he could just as easily have been grappling with the fact that he couldn't go through with the killing. After all, as his own father says earlier in the episode, and as Juan Pablo Raba himself acknowledges, Joaquin simply doesn't have the killer instinct.

During a clandestine motel meetup prior to Rob-Will's death, Joaquin's father, Mariano Reyes, says to his son, "Power is anticipation. The horse that leads the herd is not the biggest, it's not the strongest, it's the one that doesn't wait, and you have been standing at fences your entire life." That goes to Raba's point about Joaquin being neither a cowboy nor a killer. In all, then, we have a scene that doesn't actually show us Joaquin killing Rob-Will, and a character who's historically lacked the fortitude to kill anyone. Perhaps Raba is onto something.

Let's say Juan Pablo Raba is right, and Joaquin Reyes didn't kill Rob-Will Jackson. That raises the question of who did. Perhaps Mariano Reyes sent a cartel member to carry out the hit because he lacked confidence in Joaquin. But if so, why do it so soon after asking Joaquin? It's not as if Mariano gave his son much time to follow through. Why rush one of his henchmen over to the 10 Petal?

Maybe it was Berto Colón's Miguel, who, thus far in "Dutton Ranch," has been watching over Oreana Jackson, but was conspicuously absent from the season finale. In fact, Miguel may have taken matters into his own hands and killed Rob-Will without Mariano's approval, perhaps to ensure Joaquin took over the 10 Petal and prevent Rob-Will's reckless management from destroying the ranch and putting Miguel out of a job.

The other culprit could be Josh Stewart's Sheriff Handy Wade. Think about it. How did the cartel know where Carter Green was to kidnap him? Why didn't Wade tell Beth Dutton that Carter had been hanging out on Dwight White's (Ray McKinnon) ranch? The Sheriff had known to find him there before and could have told Beth to check, but he didn't. Instead, the cartel seemed to know where to find Carter. Perhaps Wade is in league with the drug runners. That doesn't necessarily provide a motive for him killing Rob-Will, but this character has proved shady, and I wouldn't rule him out. This is all assuming Raba is right, of course. "Dutton Ranch" has been renewed for Season 2, so we'll definitely be getting an answer, even if fans have to wait an excruciating amount of time for the show to wrap up this cliffhanger.