Ransom Canyon Ending Explained — What Happens to Staten & Quinn?

Netflix packed plenty of romance and family drama into just 10 episodes of ‘Ransom Canyon’

Netflix’s Ransom Canyon premiered on April 17 and immediately captivated viewers with its small-town, Western charm.

The new streaming hit is based on a series of novels by author Jodi Thomas, whose characters live in Ransom Canyon, a remote town in Texas. The stars include Staten Kirkland (Josh Duhamel), the owner of Double K Ranch who is struggling after the death of his wife and son, and Quinn O’Grady (Minka Kelly), a former concert pianist who returns to her hometown to run Gracie’s, the local dance hall and bar.

Fans are also treated to the stoic Cap Fuller (James Brolin), Davis Collins (Eoin Macken), owner of rival ranch Bar W, and Lauren Brigam (Lizzy Greene), a high schooler who must choose between the safe option in Reid Collins (Andrew Liner) or her true love, Lucas Russell (Garrett Wareing).

Quinn also struggles with matters of the heart, including her romance with Davis, her will-they-won’t-they status with Staten, and her future: does she belong in Ransom Canyon, or back in New York?

All of the characters contend with Davis’ desire to sell land from their ranches to Austin Water & Power in order to build a pipeline, which brings the series to a dramatic conclusion in episode 10.

Keep reading for a recap of Ransom Canyon season 1, including the show’s ending, explained.

Warning: Ransom Canyon spoilers ahead!

How did Ransom Canyon season 1 end?

In the lead up to Ransom Canyon‘s season 1 finale, Lauren is stuck between her head and her heart, trying to appease her father by dating Reid, but sneaking around with the “troubled” Russell boy. The show’s first big reveal comes with Yancy Grey (Jack Schumacher), who shows up as Cap’s new foreman, when in reality, he’s the rancher’s long-lost grandson looking for revenge after his grandfather turned his mother away years prior.

The season finale of Ransom Canyon picked up after the death of Cap at the end of the show’s ninth episode. Ellie is devastated, but is being looked after by Yancy. He’s determined to honor his late grandfather’s last wishes by burying him on his land and completing the deal to sell to Austin Water & Power. However, Ellie helps Yancy change his mind, telling him that Cap wouldn’t want him to sell and that keeping the ranch in the family would be the right thing to do.

Yancy also consults Staten, who reveals that Cap actually spent years looking for Yancy and his mother after he had turned her away and wanted to make things right. After initially making a deal with Davis — agreeing to get Cap to sell in exchange for getting him out of prison — Yancy officially backs out of the deal, losing out on $22 million in order to retain the ranch and his relationship with Ellie.

After Quinn accepts money from Austin Water & Power earlier in the season to help renovate Gracie’s, they go back on their original “no strings attached” agreement and ask her to recoup their investment, leaving her to scramble to pay tens of thousands of dollars. Staten realizes they are going after Quinn to try to get him to sell his land and offers to lend her the money. However, she refuses his multiple offers and contemplates closing Gracie’s for good.

After some deliberation, Quinn reveals to Ellie that she is going to go to New York in order to make money for the bar. In addition to not closing Gracie’s, she also formally invites Ellie to be a new partner in the business. The evening unfolds into a night of fun and dancing, at least for a little while.

Several relationships also face uncertainty: Quinn and Davis finally break up in an emotional scene and Lauren struggles with her feelings for Lucas. After injuring her arm, which hurts her chances of getting a scholarship to the University of Texas at Austin, she pushes Lucas away. That doesn’t stop him from pulling a grand gesture at Gracie’s, declaring his love for Lauren publicly, leaving her no choice but to share a dance with him.

The final moments of the episode boil over when Davis and Staten have it out at Gracie’s after Davis makes a comment about his late sister, who was also Staten’s wife. In the heat of the moment after punching Davis, Staten makes a grave mistake in revealing a secret Quinn told him in confidence: he knows Davis is broke.