The Western romance led by Josh Duhamel and Minka Kelly proved a big hit with Netflix viewers — so will there be a second season?
Shortly after it premiered on Netflix on April 17, Western romantic drama “Ransom Canyon” galloped its way onto the streamer’s top 10 shows list, with a whopping 2.6 billion minutes watched after that cliffhanger finale. (That’s 2 billion more minutes fellow buzzy title “MobLand,” per Variety.)
In case you missed it, the “Yellowstone”-meets-“Virgin River” series is an adaptation of the popular 10-book series of the same name by Jodi Thomas, starring Josh Duhamel, Minka Kelly and James Brolin.
The story sees “love, loss, and loyalty collide beneath the crimson mesas of Texas Hill Country,” per the series’ official logline. Three ranching families locked in a contest for control of the land, their lives and legacies are threatened by outside forces intent on destroying their way of life. At the center of it all is stoic rancher Staten Kirkland (Duhamel), who is healing from heartbreaking loss and on a quest for vengeance.”
And given the viewership success of the drama’s first season, it seems all but certain that “Ransom Canyon” will rope in a second installment on Netflix. Here’s everything we know about “Ransom Canyon” season 2 so far. (Warning: season 1 spoilers ahead!)
Will there be a ‘Ransom Canyon’ season 2?
Officially, Netflix has not yet announced that “Ransom Canyon” season 2 has been greenlit. However, as mentioned, all of that positive buzz and strong viewership stats certainly help the show’s case for a season 2 pick-up.
Also, show creator April Blair has previously disclosed to Deadline that the writers’ room is already working on potential scripts for a second season (and also teased that they’re looking to cast the mysterious brunette from Yancy’s past who shockingly showed up in the final moments of the season 1 finale).
Similarly, series star Josh Duhamel spoke confidently about future editions of the romantic drama in an interview with Town & Country. “I want it to feel unpredictable, raw, real, and interesting,” he said, adding, “I don’t know what they have planned. They’ve been in the writer’s room now for a bit, so we’ll see.”
When would ‘Ransom Canyon’ season 2 come out?
Seeing as how “Ransom Canyon” hasn’t been officially picked up for a second season just yet, we don’t have any intel on a release date. However, if the Netflix original does ultimately get greenlit for season 2, we would expect the episodes to drop in fall or winter 2026.
That would be in line with the release schedule of the show’s first season. Marie Claire reports “Ransom Canyon” began filming on season 1 in February 2024 and wrapped in June, with the series premiering on Netflix in April 2025. If production soon begins on those prospected season 2 episodes, fall 2026 is looking like a good bet for a release window.
Marianly Tejada as Ellie and Jack Schumacher as Yancy in “Ransom Canyon” now on Netflix
Who will be in the ‘Ransom Canyon’ season 2 cast?
We certainly haven’t seen the last of Josh Duhamel’s Staten Kirkland and Minka Kelly’s Quinn O’Grady, though we left the latter contemplating a move back to the Big Apple to perform with the New York Philharmonic that would put her burgeoning romance with Staten on pause.
Elsewhere, we have unfinished business with Ellie Estevez (Marianly Tejada) and Yancy Grey (Jack Schumacher), especially because their would-be nuptials were shockingly interrupted by — spoiler alert! — Yancy’s heretofore undisclosed wife.
Other cast members that will likely be making their return in season 2 are Garrett Wareing as Lucas Russell, Lizzy Greene as Lucas’s girlfriend Lauren Brigman, Philip Winchester as Lauren’s dad Sheriff Dan Brigman, Eoin Macken as Davis Collins, Andrew Liner as Davis’s son Reid and Justin Johnson Cortez as sheriff’s deputy Kai.
However, unless there are flashbacks or dream sequences, we don’t expect the return of Emmy winner James Brolin as gruff old rancher Cap Fuller, given that his character died of natural causes at the end of season 1, effectively leaving his ranch and estate to his estranged grandson Yancy.
‘Ransom Canyon’ season 2 plot speculation
Since “Ransom Canyon” season 2 hasn’t been announced just yet, there aren’t many details floating around about potential plotlines for season 2.
However, creator April Blair did say that fans could expect a time jump in the new eps, telling TV Insider: “Quinn needs to go away and save her ranch, and we need to see what the implications are for that punch that Davis goads Staten into doing and what that plot between Davis and Staten’s father, the senator, is like.
“I think we would probably do that because she says, ‘I’m going to go away for six months.’ So the idea right now, although nothing’s set in stone, is that we would do at least a six-month time jump.”
Blair also discussed how the arrest of Margaret Brigman in connection with Randall Kirkland’s death would have lasting effects for her husband and daughter in a second season.
“In a potential Season 2, I think it’s a huge part of what’s going on…Westerns are morality tales, and so every aspect of this show, we always try to come from that foundation of love, lands, and legacy, and what that really means,” she told TV Insider.
“For Sheriff Dan, this is his legacy and his family and the people that he loves. He has this moral choice. Does he do the right thing by his family and the wrong thing by his profession? That’s his morality moment, so we try to do that with everyone, but that’s the thing he’s grappling with, and he painfully chooses to do the right thing.”
Overall, though, Blair simply wants to leave the audience wanting more at the end of each season, telling Tudum: “It makes you feel warm and familiar, and you don’t want to let go. That is how I hope people feel. It’s how I feel about the show watching it.”
