<em>Ransom Canyon</em> Is Netflix's <em>Yellowstone</em>. But...Did We Need That?

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. A multigenerational ranch owner is threatened by a corrupt, big-city company. The villains seek to rip his family’s land out of from under him and exploit its natural resources for profit. Though others have sold out to the threatening institution, this patriarchal staple of the community is the last holdout standing between greed and the American dream.

If you thought I was describing Yellowstone, you’re not entirely wrong. Ransom Canyon—a new Netflix series based on Jodi Thomas’s novels of the same name—has an identical premise. The romance series simply swaps the Dutton family’s compulsion to wake up and choose violence with the urge to wake up in someone else’s bed. The only problem? There’s only so many people to kiss in this small Texas town.

Though Netflix likely won't admit it, Canyon clearly received the green light solely to compete with Taylor Sheridan’s highly successful Western series at Paramount. The story is technically older than Sheridan’s—the first Ransom Canyon novel debuted in 2015, while the Yellowstone premiere aired in 2018. Yellowstone is also no feat of originality either. The Western genre is full of the same story told over and over in new ways. Still, I don’t imagine Thomas to build an empire quite like Sheridan’s. Ransom Canyon may look the part, but it certainly doesn’t walk like it.

The series stars Josh Duhamel (Las Vegas, All My Children) as Double K Ranch owner Staten Kirkland. Hollywood is full of men with two first names—John Wilson, Elton John, Adam Scott, John Wayne, Larry David—but Staten Kirkland is the first man on the planet with two last names. Do me a favor, will you? Stop reading for a second and just say "Staten Kirkland" out loud. Awful, isn't it? It just feels bad.

Much like Kevin Costner's Yellowstone patriarch, Staten’s two primary moods are also stubborn and despondent. The series quickly establishes that his wife passed away due to illness before the series began. Then, his son dies in a car accident in the very first episode. (I promise that won’t keep going back and forth... but I must state that John Dutton’s wife is also dead when Yellowstone begins, and his son Lee is murdered in the premiere.)

It’s hard to blame Staten for his gloomy behavior. Costner’s rough exterior has its charms. Plus, John Dutton's other children carry most of the emotional weight in Yellowstone. Staten Kirkland doesn’t have anyone left in his life. He lives alone, and he has no qualms about telling those closest to him that he doesn't care what they do with their lives as long as they leave him alone. For a romantic lead, he's emotionally paralyzed.

Minka Kelly (Friday Night Lights) stars as Staten Kirkland’s love interest, Quinn O’Grady.

Quinn O’Grady (Minka Kelly), an equally depressing character who is also trapped in this godawful town, serves as Staten’s love interest. She’s the owner of a local dancehall who continually pines for Staten despite zero evidence that he’s ever deserved her affection. Outside of a few glances from across the room, it’s rare that he even pays attention to her needs until she starts dating another man. Even stranger? Part of their shared backstory hinges on Staten’s decision to marry her best friend instead. But now that Staten’s wife has passed, there’s a chance for the Texas cowboy to finally see how much Quinn cares for him.

Staten’s brother-in-law, Davis (Eoin Macken), also decides to make his move on Quinn. His character represents everything Staten stands against. Davis runs around town convincing an elderly ranch owner (James Brolin) to sell his land. He isn’t a good father or a sound businessman. Plus, Davis wears almost exclusively black clothing so that the viewer can tell he’s the villain. The fact that Quinn ever considers dating either of them instead of booking a ticket out of this crazy town only reflects poorly on her character from the very beginning.

This bizarre—and a bit too familial—love triangle isn’t my only gripe with Ransom Canyon. I won’t lie; I certainly appreciate that Sheridan has yet to write a Yellowstone story in which a woman dates two men who also happen to be brothers by marriage. (Knock on wood!) To put it simply, Ransom Canyon’s romantic narratives do not move the needle as well as a Dutton plot to bury their enemies in the ground.

Ransom Canyon is no Yellowstone.

I’m no glutton for violence. The tension in Past Lives is just as thrilling as John Wick murdering a hundred goons in a dingy warehouse. But when a pipeline threatens to tear up the Dutton family’s ranch in Yellowstone, Sheridan delivers us a big ol' TV fantasy. The Duttons will not rest until they send their enemies to an early grave. Ransom Canyon? Well, like any love triangle, it’s messy. Instead of sticking it to the pipeline in an explosive finale or proving to another character why love is more powerful than anything else in this world, the series opts to leave most plots unresolved and hope for season 2. Until then, Ransom Canyon’s inhabitants can just lie in bed at night and rewind a season of awkward hook-ups and regrets.

As much as I wanted to see the Western wars take place on TV, it seems rival streamers haven’t figured iut how to capitalize on Sheridan’s fandom yet. I'll offer one suggestion before I go. Competitors need to come up with something a little more exciting than the cheap romance paperback novels they sell in airports nowadays if they want to replicate Yellowstone’s grip on the genre.