'Dutton Ranch's 5-Minute Cattle Shocker Just Put Beth and Rip at an All-Time Low

Editor's note: The below interview contains spoilers for Dutton Ranch Episode 4.

Despite Taylor Sheridan's Yellowstone wrapping up with its fifth and final season, the hit neo-Western franchise has found a way to endure by way of two spin-offs about John Dutton's (Kevin Costner) offspring. While Kayce (Luke Grimes) is keeping an eye on Montana on the CBS procedural Marshals, his sister Beth (Kelly Reilly) and her husband Rip (Cole Hauser) have kicked off a bold new chapter in Texas on Dutton Ranch. Yet, as the show's latest episode confirms, a fresh start isn't going to be as smooth as they hoped for, with a devastating blow to the ranch's herd leaving Beth and Rip arguably lower than they've ever been.

Ahead of Dutton Ranch's premiere, Collider had the opportunity to speak with some cast and crew, including Hauser, about the series' biggest shocker to date and which moment he improvised after Beth and Rip return home to grieve this major loss. Below, Hauser also discusses his longtime screen partnership with Reilly, why fans should look forward to even more action and challenges ahead, and more.

Cole Hauser Is Grateful for His Long Screen Partnership With 'Dutton Ranch' Co-Star Kelly Reilly

"We're kind of on our own little island together."

COLLIDER: As somebody who's been watching since the very first episode of Yellowstone and watched your and Kelly [Reilly]'s characters really evolve, do you and Kelly feel that you've developed a kind of shorthand after playing these characters for so long? Because you've played these characters who are so close on screen, are the two of you as scene partners just that in lockstep with each other?

COLE HAUSER: 1,000%. I can't tell you how fortunate I am to be able to use her as a sounding board sometimes, to be able to call her and say, “Hey, what are you thinking here? How do you feel like this is tone-wise?” And she's done the same. Especially this year, we used each other a lot more so than ever. We're kind of on our own little island together.

Obviously, we're blessed to have Christina Voros, who's been with us since the beginning of Yellowstone, so she was a great person to be able to talk to, as well. We both spoke with the writers, Chad Feehan, and all the different writers under him, in the beginning, really trying to get ahead of a lot of stuff so that we weren't doing it on set and we were doing it prior to it. But Kelly and I, we've been talking about this a lot, how blessed we are to have each other throughout this whole process. I mean, we've been now doing this for almost 10 years.

It's really nice to see that even when things are very tough, and if they start tough for Beth and Rip, it only gets tougher as the season goes on. As far as Rip's character growth is concerned, he was more of a right-hand man for John, but now he's really the one in charge, alongside Beth, of how things go on their ranch day to day. What do you see as the biggest change in him now that he really has become a leader in his own right?

HAUSER: To be fair, I feel like he was a leader. He was a leader in the bunkhouse, right? Ultimately, he was the protector of the Dutton family, all the brothers. Lee was his best friend before he passed away. He protected the land, the ranch, the herd. So, it's not a lateral step because it's totally different. All of that is gone, and I think in many ways it's a bit of a relief for him. It’s an easier job that he has in dealing with a couple of cabañeros in Texas. The only problem is they speak Spanish, and he doesn't, so a lot of the time they're talking shit about him and he doesn’t even know, which is a little frustrating for the character. [Laughs]

I think in the beginning, the idea of starting over in Texas is not a huge challenge for him. It's really what happens. You alluded to [Episode] 4, and I think that's one of the toughest episodes for that character because he's not just losing the herd and having to kill the animals that he loves, but essentially, he's shooting his future.

Cole Hauser Reveals the Moment He Improvised for Rip in 'Dutton Ranch' Episode 4

"It wasn't written that way."

Getting into that episode, what hit me even harder than the scene where Rip has to basically single-handedly execute the entire herd is the scene with you and Kelly in the car, where Rip tells Beth to go on into the house because he needs a minute. As much as we've seen these two characters struggle and battle and fight for every scrap of land they own, this really feels like the lowest they've ever been, even just as a united pair. What were the conversations like about bringing them to this point in this show?

HAUSER: I don't know how much more you can strip them down. That moment that you're referring to, it is probably the lowest of lows for him as a man, as a cowboy, as somebody who loves animals. When I was talking to Chad about that moment, obviously it's important between the two of them, and him saying, “I need a minute,” but right after that, Rip literally falls to the grass, and he's just lying there under the stars, and I think it says everything physically. He's just absolutely demolished and definitely needs a moment to breathe on his own and just to be able to balance himself again. It's a great moment that kind of just came naturally. It wasn't written that way. I just felt like it literally took his legs out.

Are there any words of reassurance you can give viewers who, like me, are probably wondering where this family and this ranch go from here?

HAUSER: We go on a ride from the very get-go, and it doesn't stop. The great thing about Dutton Ranch this year is the energy behind it, and just the different things that they have to deal with, the challenges, the different people that come into their lives, and how they navigate those waters. Annette Bening’s character becomes such a powerhouse. Ed [Harris] and Everett become a really grounding force for Beth and Rip. It's just a hell of a year of just full throttle.

New episodes of Dutton Ranch premiere Fridays on Paramount+.