If you’re a true Yellowstone fan, you’ll know the new Netflix series Ransom Canyon isn’t really anything like it. But there is a nod to Taylor Sheridan himself, if you look hard enough.
Nobody wants a trip to the train station… well, not if you’re a character in a Taylor Sheridan series, at least. Full of explosive shootouts, true grit, and a lot of foul-mouthed danger, shows like Yellowstone, 1923, and 1883 have set the precedent for modern Western TV.
That hasn’t stopped Netflix from giving it a go itself, though. Ransom Canyon is the new TV show to drop on the streaming service, following rancher Staten, a cynical outcast who is being forced to give up his land by his arch-rival. Sound familiar?
Arguably, Ransom Canyon is a lot more like Virgin River than Yellowstone, but there’s one well-hidden Taylor Sheridan Easter egg that Western fans won’t want to miss.
Ransom Canyon had Taylor Sheridan-style “cowboy school”
Speaking to Dexerto, actor Jack Schumacher (who plays Yancy Grey) confirmed Ransom Canyon had a Taylor Sheridan-style “cowboy school” on set. Yellowstone fans might recognize this as practice for both the main series and 1883, alongside separate standalone series, Lawman: Bass Reeves.
“We had cowboy camp for a few hours every morning for the first two months,” Schumacher explained. “I had no horseback or bullriding experience. It’s exhausting, doing it for hours. I could barely walk the next day.
“Thank God there were no nasty injuries, but there was just so much training. If bullriding comes back in Season 2, I’ll probably get the itch to go back to camp.”
Set in a Texan town with horses in every stable, it goes without saying the cast would need to be able to ride. However, it’s only Yancy who takes to the rodeo stage. This happens in Episode 5, entering an all-around contest to win $20,000, and take a pair of convicts from his time in prison down at the same time.
Netflix quickly billed the show as “Yellowstone meets Virgin River,” hoping to pick up some established fans from both shows. However, Schumacher wants to make it clear that Ransom Canyon isn’t the straight-forward “knock-off” you might expect.
“I think the great thing about Ransom is that it doesn’t try to be a Yellowstone knockoff, or Virgin River knockoff. It shares elements of certain thematic things that everyone’s encountering. But it’s not doing exactly the same things, which I think is really important. It completely stands on its own.”
Ransom Canyon is streaming on Netflix now. For more, check out shows to watch like Virgin River, new TV shows streaming this month, the best TV shows of the year so far, and anticipated 2025 releases you cannot miss.
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