Ransom Canyon may have done enough to grab Netflix a slice of the Yellowstone crowd and earn itself a second season in the process, but there will be a big shake-up when the show returns as two main cast members are reportedly not returning.
Deadline reports that, in a shocking turn of events, Eoin Macken and Andrew Liner, who played father and son Davis and Reid, respectively, have been dropped from the list of regulars for Season 2. While it has not been confirmed whether the pair will join the roster of guest stars for the new episodes, it seems hard to imagine they will simply not be appearing in Season 2 at all. Recently, the list of guest stars for the upcoming season expanded with Ben Robson and Heidi Engerman joining the cast as recurring guest stars.
Ransom Canyon tapped into the popular neo-Western trend that Taylor Sheridan instigated with his sprawling Yellowstone franchise, and scored a strong premiere in April for Netflix. The synopsis for the series reads:
“Welcome to Ransom Canyon, where love, loss, and loyalty collide beneath the crimson mesas of Texas Hill Country. With three ranching family dynasties locked in a contest for control of the land, their lives and legacies are threatened by outside forces intent on destroying their way of life. At the center of it all is stoic rancher Staten Kirkland (Josh Duhamel), who is healing from heartbreaking loss and on a quest for vengeance. Staten’s only glimmer of hope rests in the eyes and heart of Quinn O’Grady, longtime family friend and owner of the local dancehall. But as the battle to save Ransom wages on, a mysterious cowboy drifts into town, dredging up secrets from the past. Vise tightening, Staten fights to protect the land he calls home, and the only love that can pull him back from the demons that haunt him.”
‘Ransom Canyon’ Is Another Series That Attempts to Tap into a Current Trend
The term monkey see, monkey do could very well be applied to the world of streaming, as if one platform has a huge hit, you can bet that another will already be looking for a way to bring their own version to screens. That seemed to be the case with Ransom Canyon, which has many similar elements to Yellowstone – so much so that star Jack Schumacher explicitly told MovieWeb in April that the series “doesn’t try to be Yellowstone” and it “exists in its own thing.” He said:
“The great thing about Ransom is that it doesn’t try to be Yellowstone. It exists in its own thing… It leans heavier into the romance… You don’t turn it on and go like, ‘Oh, this is like a knockoff,’ you know? It exists in its own world. So I’m very excited at that because I think that’s probably a concern for a lot of people going into it, and I’m sure that people who are turning it on might be thinking that’s what they’re getting into. And I think they’ll be pleasantly surprised to know that that is not the case.”
That may all be true, but it didn’t stop many reviews from both critics and audiences from mentioning Taylor Sheridan’s baby in some way. Ransom Canyon‘s first season certainly delivered the same kind of divisive reviews as Season 1 of Yellowstone, the question now is whether Season 2 can also follow in the mighty Paramount+ show’s footsteps and massively improve in its sophomore year. If not, then it is unlikely that Ransom Canyon will make it to Season 3.
- Release Date
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April 17, 2025
- Network
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Netflix
- Showrunner
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April Blair
- Directors
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Amanda Marsalis
- Writers
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April Blair
