Dutton Ranch‘s Juan Pablo Raba weighed in on that shocking death in the finale — and denied responsibility.
“When I first read it, I was like, ‘Oh my God, how is this going to play out?’ But as I flip through the pages, I don’t see an actual scene where Joaquin kills [Rob-Will],” Raba told TVLine about the finale, which premiered on Friday, July 3.
Raba argued that Joaquin might not be at fault.
“You see Joaquin in a car with a gun, and a lot of doubt and heartbreak. He’s not getting pumped to do something that he’s never done before,” he noted. “All we see is Joaquin in his car giving some hard thought to something. And then we see him later, in the same car with the same gun … but did he do it?”
According to Raba, there is also Joaquin’s dad to consider, saying, “If you’re Mariano, and you’re saying [demeaning things] about your son, and then you tell him to go kill his brother, wouldn’t you also send someone to make sure things have been done? I’m just saying!”
The season finale of the hit Paramount+ series, Oreana (Natalie Alyn Lind) took a pregnancy test and found out she was expecting a baby. She didn’t tell Carter (Finn Little) but the couple did reunite and make plans to leave Texas behind.
Oreana’s dad, Rob-Will (Jai Courtney), found her packing her bags, which led to a sentimental father-daughter moment. It didn’t last long, however, because Rob-Will went down to open the door — and was shot by brother Joaquin.
“There was no climax, no discussion,” Raba shared. “This guy literally just opened the door and somebody shot [Rob-Will]. That’s a stone-cold killer if you ask me. Now, is Joaquin capable of doing that? Maybe the heartbreak [of losing the 10-Petal] was too much for him to handle, but I have no idea.”
He continued: “You can always have the killer revealed, maybe in a flashback, if you need to in the future, but it was much better to leave the possibilities open for a storyline in the second season.”
Yellowstone initially introduced viewers to the Dutton family in 2018. The Paramount Network show came to an end in 2024, expanding its universe with Luke Grimes‘ CBS show Marshals and Dutton Ranch, which premiered in May.
Kelly Reilly and Cole Hauser have made the move from Yellowstone to their own show — but who else makes up the cast of Dutton Ranch? The Paramount Network show, which premiered in 2018, introduced viewers to the fictional Dutton family. Yellowstone came to an end in 2024, expanding its universe with Luke Grimes‘ CBS […]
Dutton Ranch has introduced some new characters played by Annette Bening and Ed Harris. Other newcomers include Courtney, Lind, J. R. Villarreal — and Raba’s Joaquin.
“I love this about Taylor Sheridan and the universes that he creates where it’s really hard to say that somebody’s good or bad. We have our heroes, of course but if you go back — in retrospective —some of the things they’ve done I would not consider to be very good,” Raba told Us Weekly. “But they’re still our heroes and you understand them. I hope I can do same with Joaquin — no matter what direction he takes.”
Raba had high hopes for his journey, adding, “I hope that I get the chance to really expose what can happen to someone who has been stripped of everything — even hope.”
Dutton Ranch is streaming on Paramount+.
