Netflix’s new romantic Western series, Ransom Canyon, seems to blend matters of love and land ownership to create a dramatic concoction that is bound to impress fans of slightly soapy shows. The plot is centered around a rancher named Staten Kirkland, who goes through the crushing feeling of losing his family in a very short span of time while also having to fight off outsiders as a private company comes seeking permission to lay a pipeline through his land. Staten and a few of the other ranchers at the small town of Ransom refuse to allow this intervention, for they very well know how these intruders will soon start to bring about unwanted changes to their way of life. While Ransom Canyon was a mostly average watch for me, the popularity it is gaining online is evidence of how the modern Western genre still continues to have a sizable fanbase.
What is the Netflix series about?
Ransom Canyon begins with Staten Kirkland, a private rancher in the town of Ransom, Texas, riding up to a cliff on his property, seemingly to meet someone. As Staten waits for some time and returns home, it is revealed that he had planned to meet his son, Randall, as it is the latter’s birthday. But the teenage Randall is not all that interested in spending time with his father and has instead been growing closer to his uncle, Davis Collins. Although it has only been a year or two since Staten’s wife passed away, he is already quite disapproving and wary of her brother, Davis, since some major differences have emerged between the brothers-in-law. Also a private rancher with a significant amount of land and cattle, Davis has recently decided to side with Austin Water & Power, a private company that wants to do business in Ransom. The company has been asking for permission to lay a pipeline on Staten’s land as well, but he has outright refused to work with the outsiders, for he fears losing control of his land and therefore his way of life.
Therefore, when Davis gifts Randall a fancy new car as his birthday present, Staten is quite angry at the matter and tells his son to never use the car and even try to return it. Young Randall obviously does not take the advice well, as he feels that his father is still too stuck on the untimely death of his mother, and he angrily drives away from the ranch in his new car. Tragedy strikes that very night, as Randall dies in a horrible crash, leaving Staten without his wife and son in quick succession and strongly believing that there is a larger conspiracy behind Randall’s death. A year passes, and Staten still continues to try and come up with some theory about his son’s death, often pushing the local sheriff, Brigman, to further investigate the matter.
A series of changes now rock the town of Ransom, with the owner of the local dance bar, Quinn O’Grady, deciding to accept an investment from the Austin Water & Power company to strengthen her business. Lauren Brigman, the daughter of the sheriff, takes a liking to Lucas Russell while still being in a relationship with Reid, the son of Davis. Finally, a new man named Yancy Grey arrives in town as a drifter and works with the elderly ranch owner, Cap, but there seem to be a number of secrets about his real identity and motive.
How does Cap die?
One of the biggest developments towards the end of Ransom Canyon is the sudden death of Cap, the elderly rancher who is considered an esteemed member among the town’s decision-makers. While Yancy Grey had initially introduced himself as a drifter who had come to Ransom Canyon without any particular motive, it was later revealed that he had specifically targeted Cap, for he happened to be the rancher’s grandson. Cap Fuller is the patriarch of one of the three ranching families running the town, and he had turned his daughter away when she came to seek his help after her husband had passed away. The woman had also brought her young son with her, but both of them were neglected and sent away by the rancher, who had been angry at them over some difference of opinion. Yancy happens to be this very son of hers, and so he comes to Cap looking for both vengeance and also acknowledgment as family.
Eventually, Yancy does come clean to his grandfather about his real identity, only to realize that Davis Collins, the man he had been initially working with, had already told everything to Cap in his own twisted manner. This led to Cap now ordering Yancy to leave his property and coldly stating that he does not care if the two of them are biologically related, and so Yancy has to leave town unannounced. However, when he comes back a couple of days later, simply because of his newfound love, Ellie, he is informed that his grandfather hasn’t been receiving anyone’s calls. Yancy starts looking for the man on his property, and after searching throughout the night, he finally finds Cap’s lifeless body under a tree.
Cap had ridden his horse to the spot and stopped under the tree to take a rest when he clutched his chest as he suffered a heart attack. He apparently sees, or imagines, a wolf on his property, probably signifying that he realized that he was about to die. Despite being a major character whose unexpected death has a significant impact on the community, there is actually no mystery regarding the end of Cap Fuller, and he dies of natural causes. Before his death, Cap had been thinking of Yancy and his parents, as evident from a photograph of them clutched in his hands, since the man had admittedly repented his earlier decision of not helping his daughter-in-law and grandchild. Yancy later learns from Staten that Cap had made a lot of efforts to search for him and his mother a few years after turning them away.
While Cap had reluctantly agreed to Davis’ repeated offers regarding selling off his land to the Austin Water & Power company, the situation changes again after his death. Since Cap had no official will, all his property now belongs to Yancy, his only descendant still around to make any claims, and Yancy eventually refuses to sell the land. Supported in this plan by Ellie, Yancy states that he wants to now actively run the ranch and die at the place and be buried beside his father and grandfather.
Does Ellie decide to marry Yancy?
Ellie Catawnee, mostly seen as the manager and also bartender at Quinn’s establishment, grows close to Yancy after he comes to town, since they both happen to be close to Cap. Eventually, Yancy professes his love for Ellie, because of which he even returned to town after being threatened by his grandfather into leaving, and asks her to marry him. Ellie is revealed to have had a very deep romantic relationship with Kai, one of the deputies at the sheriff’s office, in the past, because of which they are still close friends, and Kai actively looks out for her. Despite Kai’s warning about Yancy having just too many secrets, Ellie ultimately decides to marry the man and is about to leave the bar to head to the church when there is another twist.
A woman, whose face is never revealed, comes to the bar searching for Yancy, and she happens to ask Ellie about the man’s whereabouts. Since Ellie is already so close to him, she naturally asks the woman about why she’s looking for him, only to be told that she is actually the wife of Yancy, suggesting that she has been looking for him for quite some time now. The identity of this woman and the secrets regarding Yancy’s past are left undisclosed, which clearly suggests that Ransom Canyon will surely return with further seasons. It could be that the woman is really Yancy’s wife, since it is mentioned a number of times that his dark past will eventually catch up to him. We are never told about his past or even his real name, since Yancy Grey is a fake identity he has created for himself, and so it is possible that his wife had to spend days simply to find out about this alias and then to track him down.
However, it could also be that the woman has been planted by someone to create trouble for Yancy, since his relationship with Ellie is public knowledge now, and it is also quite clear that he cannot run his grandfather’s ranch without Ellie’s help. The convict with whom he had developed an enmity had been picked up by the police earlier, but he had threatened to come back to hurt Yancy. This could be part of his plan to disrupt his enemy’s life, and since Yancy has now decided to not sell the ranch, Davis might also be involved in the conspiracy.
