[There are spoilers below for the season finale of Ransom Canyon. Proceed with caution!]
In the tense finale of Ransom Canyon season 1, Yancy Grey (Jack Schumacher) faces a high-stakes choice: Does he sell his grandfather's ranch, take the money and run? Or does he stick around and try to make a go of it with his newfound inheritance and his girlfriend (or future wife, tbd) Ellie. It looks like the choice might not be his to make, as a surprise, supposed first wife comes to town to wreak havoc on his plans. It's an irresistible cliffhanger that has fans gasping for season 2 already.
The actor behind Yancy, Jack Schumacher, has a lot of thoughts about Yancy's choices going forward, if the show is renewed for season 2. He hopped on the phone with Cosmopolitan to talk about where this mysterious wife came from, whether Yancy should keep the ranch or sell it, and what he would do to try to win Ellie back.
My first question for you is, who is this wife?
I gotta tiptoe around answering that too much. Clearly, Yancy's got a few more secrets that he's gotta get straightened out. But as far as what would be possibly popping off in season 2 with the wife, or ex-wife, I gotta leave that to the showrunners. They'll kill me if I say anything more.
Fair enough. How did you react when you first read it?
I had known about the wife showing up from the beginning, which I was really grateful that April Blair, our showrunner, told me about, because it's always nice to have a secret that you got to hold on to when you're performing. I think it really wrapped up the story for season 1 in a beautiful way. It has people wanting to see more. I want to see more. I know a little bit more about what's going on, but even I'm like, alright, well, what's gonna happen?
If you had to speculate, where do you think the wife has been all this time?
I think she was probably floating around looking for him, or kind of keeping tabs on what he's been doing. From what I know, she's a pretty cunning character. Quite a lot for Yancy to have to go against. I think she was probably biding her time and waiting to see what Yancy got up to.
And now that he's inherited this ranch, I would be very skeptical of her.
Yeah, absolutely. It seems like the timing for her showing up is pretty convenient.
I think the wife is fake and it's a setup by Davis, like he set up the punch with Staten.
That's a very good theory. You know, who knows? Maybe that's it. I don't want to squash anything, but I don't know if that is the direction. But it could be. Hey, things change all the time. There's always new drafts of things. And so maybe there could be some fan influence on where season 2 goes.
There's a line in the show where someone makes a comment about how Yancy is not his real name, and I'm curious whether you know what his real name is and it just hasn't been revealed in the show, or does the real name not exist yet?
His name is Yancy. But I think in that scene when Freddie, who I knew in prison, when he's saying that he's referring to Grey is not my real last name. I'm actually Yancy Fuller. Yancy is a very strange name. So I know that a lot of people were like, is that a real name? I had never heard the name before I got the audition, and I remember I was like, is this a typo? Maybe it's for a character named Nancy and they sent me the wrong audition. It was strange at first, but now I love the name.
When I heard that line about that not being his real name, I had this moment where I was like, wait, if you're a con man and you're picking your own name, why would you pick Yancy?
Right. You'd want to go a little bit more inconspicuous.
What do you think Ellie is gonna do in response to this news that Yancy maybe has a wife? What would you tell her to do in this situation?
If I were Ellie's friend and I heard this, I'd be like, you gotta leave this guy. He's got to dig himself out of another hole, especially considering all these other secrets that I was trying to keep under wraps kept popping up. This seemed like a final straw. I think that their connection and the love that they have for each other is real. And so working through that, if she's able to give him another chance, it's going to be an uphill battle, but I think that they both can fight for it.
Why do you think he wants to marry her right away instead of just like being engaged or just continuing to date?
You can definitely make the argument that he's moving a little bit too quick. But I think Yancy's whole desire is family and connection. It might seem far fetched to propose right away if you're a super logical person. But people fall in love really fast and they get married really fast, and sometimes it doesn't always work out, but sometimes it does. Yancy's a guy who is obviously a risk taker. He's not afraid of doing crazy things. The love that he has for Ellie is the only motivation he really needs to want to make that official.
And if you're a person who has never really had a family unit, you could be tempted to make it legal as quickly as possible because then it feels real.
Yeah. He felt like he was finally having a family with Cap for a moment and then that got ripped away from him. A relationship with his mother was never really present. He was always kind of floating through, looking for something solid. That is a big part of it what would really drive him to want to lock that down.
I have to say, I was for him keeping the ranch, but then when it was revealed that it was for sale for $22 million I was like, wait.... Why do you think he feels compelled to keep it even despite that number?
It's a lot of money. I had the same kind of thought. I was like, good lord. I would get rid of a lot for $22 million. It goes back to the same thing with the love for Ellie. He loves her. He wants family. He wants a community. He wants a home. And all these things he's never had. There's no number that that would be worth that. It's honoring Cap and honoring Ellie. He's going through this moment in his life where he's trying to make amends and make changes.
Yeah. The ranch is his one shot at any sort of family history. It's the only kind of legacy that he's been left with.
That's one of the big themes of the show is, legacy and family. That really is just at the core of what drives him.
Is it bad that I kind of felt bad for Davis by the end of the season?
Davis has it rough. It's funny when you're acting with someone and their character just keeps getting crushed. He also deserves it a little bit. Everyone has their flaws. No one's perfect. There's no perfect character in the show. But I think also he's gonna be gunning for me pretty hard in season 2. He's got nothing left to lose, so I think it's going to be scorched earth there.
Do you think Quinn should go to New York or not?
I think she should. I think both Staten and Davis have not been the best. If I'm not Yancy and I'm just Quinn's friend, I'd be like, go to New York. Take a little time to yourself and see what maybe a change of scenery does for you. Who knows? Maybe she'll find some new love in New York.
Were there any scenes cut from the finale that you wished made it into the final cut?
Yes, actually, there were some really cool scenes. There was a whole Cap rescue mission that Yancy went on, and I kind of have this showdown Vern, Freddie's partner. That was a really cool sequence that I really did like but I don't think it fit.
What are your hopes for Yancy for a potential season 2? Where do you want him to go from here?
I would love for him to be able to hang onto the ranch. He's obviously still dealing with the ghosts of his past, so getting through those things while managing to keep that connection with Ellie going. I like his story because of the story of redemption, and I just want to continue on that path. But obviously there's going to be drama along the way, so I'm excited to see what our writers are cooking up.
I did make a joke when we were watching it that season 2 is just going to be Yancy in a boardroom, stuck in litigation over this ranch.
Honestly, I think in real life, yeah, it probably would look a lot like that. But I don't know how much the viewers of Netflix are gonna like that.
Do we think Ellie will come around? And if it were you, how would you try explain yourself in this situation?
I think words don't mean a whole lot at this point. He's gotta show it in some way. Yancy's a charming guy. If he's able to show what's really in his heart, maybe there's hope for him. But I wouldn't blame Ellie for looking for something safer. Sheriff Kai, he's a handsome man, and he's a good man. So maybe she finds love there. Who knows? Hopefully she'll see how much Yancy is fighting for her.
