“Ransom Canyon” returned for its second season on Thursday, July 23, but not every familiar face from Season 1 is back for another ride.
Now streaming on Netflix, the premiere wastes little time addressing the departures of several major characters from Season 1 — Staten’s ranching nemesis Davis (played by Eoin Macken), Davis’ son Reid Collins (Andrew Liner), and Davis’ ex-wife Paula Jo (Meta Golding). All three characters played vital roles in Season 1, key pieces in the show’s main love triangles, but none of them return in Season 2.
Netflix
Instead, Quinn (Minka Kelly) returns home to Ransom Canyon, where Ellie (Marianly Tejada) quickly brings her up to speed about the trio’s surprising whereabouts. “Once the pipeline was in, [Austin Water and Power] cut bait,” Ellie explains. “All that money dried up. A half dozen ranches folded. A bunch of them just sold out and cashed in.” Without missing a beat, Quinn asks, “Davis?” and Ellie confirms that he was among those who took the money and headed to Austin. As for the other two, Davis is apparently “reconciling” with Paula Jo, while Reid is off taking classes at Texas A&M.
Part of the reason the Collins family was written out of “Ransom Canyon” was because of the fans’ collective response to Davis as a romantic rival for Staten (Josh Duhamel), according to showrunner April Blair.
“Eoin Macken is an incredible actor, but he had a lot to shoulder in Season 1,” Blair tells TVLine. “He was playing the antagonist who was doing all this shady stuff, but then he was also the love interest. By the end of the season, once we’d put it all together, what I realized is that no one was rooting for Quinn to be with Davis. It was more of a ‘no, don’t go there’ kind of thing.”
At the risk of spoiling too much, let’s just say that Quinn does get a new potential love interest in Season 2 — and he gives Staten a run for his money in every conceivable way.
Patricia Clarkson joins Ransom Canyon Season 2 as Quinn’s ‘crazy, eccentric’ mother Claire O’Grady
Fortunately, “Ransom Canyon” is a revolving door of faces (friendly and otherwise), so there are plenty of new, interesting characters to meet in Season 2. The most dynamic entrance comes courtesy of Quinn’s mother Claire (played by three-time Emmy Award winner Patricia Clarkson), who blows back into her daughter’s life like a hurricane.
“She’s a little crazy and kind of eccentric, she’s been married multiple times, and she’s had this whirlwind of a life — but she’s never really felt fulfilled, so she kind of puts that on her daughter,” showrunner April Blair tells TVLine.
Along with creating more conflict for Quinn (and lots of it!), introducing Clarkson’s character was all part of Blair’s plan to expand the scope of “Ransom Canyon.”
“We’re trying to build out this world,” she says. “It’s an ensemble show, so there’s a lot of storytelling to do. Season 2 is just like a fun time to start to build out people’s worlds.”
Are you enjoying your “Ransom Canyon” Season 2 binge thus far? Do you miss the show’s departed characters, or are you too busy enjoying watching Clarkson stir the pot to even notice? Grade the premiere in our poll below, then drop a comment with your thoughts.