WARNING: Spoilers about Netflix's Ransom Canyon ahead!
Ransom Canyon is full of ups, downs, twists, and tornadoes. Though the story of star-crossed lovers Staten Kirkland (Josh Duhamel) and Quinn O'Grady (Minka Kelly) is at the center of the show, there's certainly a whole lot more going on in the town of Ransom. It's everything you'd expect from a cowboy Western drama that involves ranch family dynasties, land disputes, love triangles, small-town politics, and a mysterious death. The final episode of the season answers a lot of the questions that have been floating around, but it also leaves fans asking a lot more.
Here’s the ultimate breakdown of the season 1 finale of Ransom Canyon.
Cap Fuller dies.
Episode nine ends with the death of one of the three big ranchers in town, Cap Fuller (James Brolin). And the start of the tenth and final episode sees just about everyone in town mourning this huge loss to the community. No one is more devastated than Ellie Estevez (Marianly Tejada), his caretaker, confidante, and constant companion in lieu of family. Of course, closely beside her is Yancy Grey (Jack Schumacher), who we find out during the season is actually Cap's grandson and rightful heir to the Fuller Ranch.
With the death of Cap, Yancy Fuller is left to decide whether he's pushing through with the sale of their land to energy company Austin Water and Power (AWP) for the construction of a pipeline, or whether he'll continue on the legacy of the ranch. Ultimately, Yancy does what Ellie believes Cap would have truly wanted, and keeps the ranch. This, of course, is bad news for other major rancher Davis Collins (Eoin Macken) who is trying to cash out millions by not just selling his land, but convincing the other ranchers to sell out, too.
Lucas is officially emancipated from his older brother Kit.
Another bittersweet moment in the finale is seeing how Lucas Russell (Garrett Wareing) feels, being free of any legal ties to his older brother Kit (Casey W. Johnson). The brothers have been struggling to get by after their father left them and it doesn't help that Kit has a reputation as the town criminal who is involved in seemingly shady business and constantly monitored by Sheriff Dan Brigman (Philip Winchester).
While we've seen throughout the show that Kit's heart is in the right place, and that it seems like he's just misunderstood, he gets charged for manslaughter. This whole season, we've been trying to figure out what really happened that night when Staten's son, Randall (Hubert Smielecki), was killed in a car accident. And we find out that Kit got caught in the crosshairs. This leads to complications that he doesn't want Lucas getting involved in, and so he agrees to set his brother free of all obligation to him.
Does Quinn stay in Ransom?
One of the biggest questions plaguing viewers through out the season is about what Quinn ultimately decides to do about the New York Philharmonic conductor who's been hounding her. While Quinn has left her life as a former professional pianist to stay in Ransom with her loved ones, it still haunts her. At the very start of the season she gets offered a six-month gig in New York, which she pushes off but reconsiders during her fling with Davis. But she pushes it off again once things kick off with her business, Gracie's Dance Hall—thanks to an investment from AWP.
However, it becomes clear by the last episode that AWP is not on her side. While the company claimed to be investing in her business out of good will, with no strings attached, they are now threatening legal action if she doesn't pay up soon. The company, along with Senator (and Staten's father) Samuel "Sam" Kirkland (Brett Cullen), is pressuring her to make a statement in favor of the pipeline in exchange of making her $80,000 debt disappear. But Quinn refuses to give in and let anyone bail her out—not even Staten.
So Quinn has decided to make the tough decision of going to New York to fill in the pianist position in the Philharmonic. She's also asked Ellie to come on as her partner in the business, to try and keep things afloat while she's gone—which Ellie happily accepts. However, Staten is clearly unhappy about all of this. Quinn leaving isn't exactly ideal, given that they've just started to officially become an item. But he ultimately realizes that this is out of his hands and that their star-crossed love story will continue.
Yancy proposes to Ellie.
In a big surprise, Yancy decides to ask Ellie to marry him. He takes her to an old chapel on the Fuller property, pops the question there and says he already hired a priest for that same night. They are obviously very much in love, and have gone through so much together within such a short period of time of knowing each other, but this was still a bit sudden and unexpected. There's still a lot of questions surrounding Yancy's questionable past, and as Ellie says herself, "I wanna know the man I marry."
Yancy doesn't pressure Ellie to respond right away, but says he'll be waiting there with the priest, until she shows up (or doesn't) after the big party at Gracie's. Things are looking good, and Ellie reveals to her ex Kai (Justin Johnson Cortez) that she does plan on marrying Yancy that night. But a new complication arises when a woman steps into Gracie's, looking for Yancy, claiming to be his wife.
What happens to Lauren and Lucas?
Another big will-they-won't-they love story in the series is between Lucas and cheerleader Lauren Brigman (Lizzy Greene). Throughout the season they've dealt with a big wedge between them, A.K.A. Reid Collins (Andrew Liner)—Lauren's ex and Lucas's newfound bestie. And after overcoming that, they made a pact promising that all they need in this life is each other, and that they'd leave the small town of Ransom behind for greener pastures elsewhere. However, when Lauren sustains an arm injury while performing a cheer routine, she becomes less sure of their bright future together as this closes the possibility of varsity cheering for a college out of town.
Lauren wants to call it quits, and Lucas has just about had enough of this hot-and-cold. But after getting a pep talk from Reid, Lucas makes a grand gesture to reassure Lauren of their relationship. While their escape from Ransom is uncertain, he wants to make certain that he'll be around to support her no matter where they end up.
Kit is freed, and justice is served.
We've known since episode eight that Kit was innocent and has been lying to cover up someone else's crime. And in episode nine, we find out that the real person responsible for Randall's death is the Sheriff's wife, Lauren's mom, Margaret Brigman (Sarah Minnich). She was drunk while driving when she ran into Randall in his new sports car on the road, and this ultimately lead to the young boy's untimely death. Margaret's lover, Kit, didn't want to give her up to the cops so he had tried to cover it up and asked a clueless Reid to cover up the evidence to make up for a favor he owed—no questions asked.
Of course, Sheriff Dan put all the pieces together. Initially, he tried to deny his wife's involvement and tried to hide his knowledge of it. But Lauren catches wind of everything, and guilts her dad for obstruction of the law he's supposed to hold up. By the end of the episode, the Sheriff does what needs to be done, and arrests his wife for manslaughter—freeing Kit.
Things aren't looking so good for Double K Ranch.
Staten Kirkland has other problems besides his love life. His father is now conspiring with his arch nemesis (in love and life) Davis in order to get the pipeline deal with AWP done. Sam Kirkland wants to prove that his son is unfit to be the sole trustee in Double K Ranch by showing that he's been mentally unstable since the death of Randall. And in order to accomplish this, he enlists the help of Davis, who purposefully goads Staten at the Gracie's party in order to sustain an injury. And, just as he had expected, Staten punches him hard in the face. Davis hops in a car with Sam, who is on the phone with a lawyer already plotting his own son's downfall.
Will the devious duo have enough to knock Staten off his horse? We'll have to see if/when season 2 comes out. There are also a lot of other loose ends from this open-ended finale—one of the most major ones being the bombshell to Yancy and Ellie's relationship—so here's to hoping we'll be back in Ransom soon!
