Netflix’s Western drama series Ransom Canyon is officially returning for season 2. After its 10-episode first season was released in mid-April 2025, Ransom Canyon became one of the most-watched new original series on Netflix. Ransom Canyon is set in a small town in West Texas and chronicles the intertwining lives of a group of storied locals. Ransom Canyon is developed by April Blair based on a book series of the same name written by Jodi Thomas. Josh Duhamel leads the cast of Ransom Canyon alongside Minka Kelly, Eoin Macken, Lizzy Greene, Garrett Wareing, Andrew Liner, Marianly Tejada, and Jack Schumacher.
According to Netflix’s Tudum, Ransom Canyon season 2 has been renewed by Netflix after season 1 became a streaming hit, generating 2.6 billion views in its finale episode, despite receiving mixed reviews. Ransom Canyon earned just a 45% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes but accrued a much more positive audience score of 73%. Initially marketed as Netflix’s answer to Yellowstone, Ransom Canyon veers into romantic and soap opera territory, although it focuses on a group of ranching families who compete for land, status, and prosperity in their idyllic town. Ransom Canyon has a great soundtrack and a strong ensemble cast.
What Ransom Canyon’s Swift Season 2 Renewal Means For Netflix
Netflix Is Paying Attention To Viewership Over Critical Reception
Netflix renewing Ransom Canyon for a second season shows great confidence in its budding Western drama franchise. Since Ransom Canyon season 1 ended on a wild cliffhanger, viewers were already expecting a second season to be announced at some point. The interesting part of Ransom Canyon’s TV expansion will be finding out what route Blair and the writers take with its original cast, since the books are more anthological. Some key characters, such as Duhamel’s Staten Kirkland, Schumacher’s Yancy Grey, and Philip Winchester’s Dan Brigman, appear in later books, but there is no established serial format.’
Netflix’s quick renewal of Ransom Canyon season 2 suggests that it was planning all along to expand the series. It also makes it blatantly clear that for Netflix, viewership is king and critical reception does not play a huge role in determining which shows to invest in and which to axe after one season.
Ransom Canyon’s renewal makes sense, but it does present a challenge, similar to the unexpected season 2 and 3 expansion of the FX/Hulu historical drama series Shōgun.
Ransom Canyon’s renewal makes sense, but it does present a challenge, similar to the unexpected season 2 and 3 expansion of the FX/Hulu historical drama series Shōgun. Similar to Shōgun, which won 18 Emmys last year, Ransom Canyon will likely have to rely more on its writing staff for season 2 to come up with original storylines and character developments.
Our Take on Ransom Canyon Getting Renewed By Netflix
The Franchise Has Big Potential With Established Prequels & Sequels
In the same vein as Amazon Prime Video’s flagship series Reacher, Ransom Canyon has the luxury of having a book series to source its TV material from. The second book in the Ransom Canyon series, after the 2015 debut novel, is 2016’s Rustler’s Moon, which, instead of being intently focused on Staten Kirkland and Quinn O’Grady, follows two new characters: Angela Harold and Wilkes Wagner.
Interestingly, Ransom Canyon also has a prequel novel, Winter’s Camp, which chronicles the life of James Randall Kirkland, Staten’s grandfather, who founded his ranch. Jodi Thomas has just published a brand new Ransom Canyon novel, Silverleaf Rapids, the second prequel of the series, which follows Staten as he drops out of college to tend to his ailing grandpa. Considering all this, Ransom Canyon season 2 could go in a variety of directions, and it will be exciting to see what Netflix can come up with next.
