‘Ransom Canyon’ Romance Recap: Where All Couples Stand Ahead of Season 2
What To Know
- Season 1 of Ransom Canyon ended with major romantic upheavals, including Quinn leaving for New York.
- Lucas and Lauren ended the season together, but another romance could be in store for Lauren.
- A major secret about Yancy came out in the finale, putting his future with Ellie at stake.
Ransom Canyon‘s small-town drama is anything but simple, as Season 1 proved. The Netflix series created a web of all kinds of relationships — familial, friendly, and most of all, romantic — while navigating the politics of three Texan ranching dynasties and different generations. They all had interconnected histories when we met them in the show, and it only got more complicated as the season went on. Again, especially in the romance department.
The Netflix series is sure to add even more threads between the characters in Season 2, which comes out on July 23. Of course, not all of their relationships are straightforward, but we’re working with three main pairings: Staten Kirkland (Josh Duhamel) and Quinn O’Grady (Minka Kelly), Lucas Russell (Garrett Wareing) and Lauren Brigman (Lizzy Greene), and Yancy Grey (Jack Schumacher) and Ellie Estevez (Marianly Tejada).
Swooon has gathered all the details you need to remember about where the main couples (and side pairings, however brief) left off in Season 1. (Warning: This post contains MAJOR spoilers for Ransom Canyon Season 1.)
Anna Kooris / Netflix
Quinn & Staten
Quinn has had feelings for Staten since they were kids, but she buried them when Staten married Amalah, Quinn’s best friend. Before the events of the show, Amalah died of cancer, so Staten is consumed by grief when we meet him. Then, his son, Randall (Hubert Smielecki), dies in a car crash.
After some time, Quinn and Staten’s friendship turns into something more. They don’t act on their feelings until they’re literally forced to confront them in Episode 7, trapped in Quinn’s basement during a tornado. They hook up while the storm rages on outside. The will-they-won’t-they tension is finally gone… for a while.
The bliss of their new romance doesn’t last long. Earlier in the season, Quinn made a deal with Austin Water & Power, the company that wants to put a pipeline in town at the expense of the town’s ranches. They offered her “no strings attached” money to renovate her bar, but they ask for their tens of thousands of dollars back. Staten realizes they’re targeting Quinn to try to get him to sell his land. Quinn rejects Staten’s offer to pay her debt.
Quinn reconsiders her mentor’s (Kate Burton) offer to work as a pianist for the New York Philharmonic. Quinn decides to spend six months in New York for the paycheck, which will keep the dance hall afloat.
Staten doesn’t react well to the news when Quinn tells him, questioning if she was using him as a fling. All the tension comes out at Quinn’s bar. First, Staten betrays Quinn’s trust by revealing a secret she told him: that Davis (Eoin Macken) is broke. Making matters worse, Staten punches Davis, who intentionally provoked him, in front of everyone.
“All I ever wanted was you, and I think that all you want it your own pain,” Quinn tells Staten when she pulls him aside.
By the end of the episode, things start to look up as Quinn spots Staten sitting at the bar and heads in his direction. But Staten is gone before she reaches him. He left his matching bracelet with Quinn on the bar, seemingly ending their relationship. At the very least, we can assume it’s likely on pause while Quinn’s in New York. We’re back in will-they-won’t-they territory.
Quinn & Davis
Quinn and Staten’s tornado tryst technically happens while Quinn is in a relationship with Davis, whom she decided to give a chance at the start of Season 1. He’s the older brother of Amalah and Staten’s rival, as well as the main advocate of the pipeline.
Despite being an all-around slimy guy, he actually has genuine feelings for Quinn, who breaks up with him in the finale episode. He already knew she was sleeping with Staten and actually reacts well in the moment when she ends it, saying he appreciated her support of his sister and always wanted Quinn to be happy.
In the end, though, we find out why Davis provoked Staten: Staten’s father, Senator Kirkland (Brett Cullen). orchestrated it to prove Staten was mentally unfit to be sole trustee of the ranch.
Davis’ plan worked out, but Macken has left Ransom Canyon and won’t appear Season 2. His character’s son, Reid (Andrew Liner), won’t either. We’ll have to wait and see what that means for their storylines.
Paula Jo & Davis
Macken’s exit also leaves the fate of his ex-wife, Paula Jo (Meta Golding), unclear. Paula Jo works for Austin Water & Power and has the same goal as her ex in Season 1. However, her goals are undermined by their son, who secretly records her admitting to sabotaging Staten’s wells and plays it in front of the town. Earlier in the season, Davis cheats on Quinn — they’re even — by sleeping with Paula Jo. (Not to mention, Paula Jo and Staten hook up once a parking lot before Staten and Quinn get together. But we won’t get into it.)
Anna Kooris / Netflix
Lucas and Lauren
We can’t forget about the youngest generation’s romances! Head cheerleader Lauren develops feelings for Lucas while still being with her quarterback boyfriend, Reid. She ends her relationship early on with Reid to be with Lucas, sneaking around because her father won’t approve of Lucas’ “troubled” circumstances. The love triangle puts Reid and Lucas at odds at first, but they become friends when they start working on Staten’s ranch together.
Toward the end of the season, Lauren injures her arm, which hurts her chances of getting a cheerleading scholarship to the University of Texas at Austin, which is where she and Lucas planned on going. Lauren spirals and pushes Lucas away. But Lucas, desperate to save their relationship, declares his love for Lauren on stage at the bar, so they end the season together.
We’d be remiss not to remind you of the tension between Lauren and Lucas’ troublemaker older brother (and guardian), Kit (Casey W. Johnson). Though Kit outwardly opposes Lauren and Lucas’ relationship, Lauren and Kit bond when they’re trapped in his trailer during the tornado episode. Whether you interpret them having romantic chemistry or not, Garrett Wareing has said there was “something there” between Lauren and Kit during the tornado. Do with that what you will.
Kit & Margaret
What could make Kit and Lauren’s potential romance even more complicated is that Kit once had an affair with… wait for it… Lauren’s mom. (Just try not to think about it.) In Season 1, we find out that Kit covered up that Margaret (Sarah Minnich) hit Staten’s son, Randall, with her car and killed him. He does it out of love, and even when he’s falsely accused of the crime, Kit doesn’t give up Margaret.
Sheriff Brigman & Margaret
While the affair is going on, Margaret is married to the town’s sheriff (Philip Winchester), but their relationship is strained. Margaret is an alcoholic, and during Season 1, she skips town. When the sheriff discovers that his wife killed Randall, he places her under arrest. She’s behind bars going into Season 2.
Yancy & Ellie
Yancy rolls up into town as rancher Cap’s (James Brolin) new foreman, hiding his criminal past as a con man. He wants revenge on Cap, whose son was Yancy’s father. Yancy thinks that his grandfather rejected his mother years ago. Yancy is brought to Ransom by Davis, who wants Yancy take over Cap’s ranch and hand it over to the pipeline company. In exchange, Yancy gets parole from prison.
Enter bartender Ellie, who’s like a daughter to Cap. Not knowing Yancy’s true intentions, Ellie is drawn to the new guy in town. Yancy, who grows to love Ransom and decides against his plan with Davis, falls for Ellie, too. Yancy’s shady past throws some wrenches in his romance with Ellie, but it ultimately holds strong, especially after Cap dies in Episode 9.
Yancy thinks his late grandfather’s last wish was to sell his land — now Yancy’s land — to Austin Water & Power. Ellie convinces Yancy otherwise. Yancy loses out on Davis’ $22-million deal to keep the ranch and Ellie in his life. Yancy proposes to Ellie and even sets up a wedding, but Ellie doesn’t make it there after she meets Yancy’s secret wife at the bar. Yikes.
We don’t think we can count out Ellie’s ex and deputy police officer Kai (Justin Johnson Cortez) just yet. He’s a protective friend to her and isn’t the biggest fan of Yancy’s, to say the least.
Let us know your predictions for Ransom Canyon‘s couples in the comments below! Who’s endgame, and who isn’t?
Ransom Canyon, Season 2, July 23, Netflix
