Ransom Canyon has become a runaway streaming hit for Netflix, but the popular show didn’t make it to the small screen without some backstage drama. The show’s female lead, Minka Kelly, had to fight for pay equality with its male lead, Josh Duhamel, before she even signed on for the project.
What Is Ranson Canyon?
Ransom Canyon is a modern-day Western set in Texas Hill Country. Based on a popular series of books by Jodi Thomas, Ransom Canyon focuses on a prominent local rancher named Staten Kirkland (Duhamel) — who has lost his son in a car accident and his wife to an illness — and a local business owner named Quinn O’Grady (Kelly).
They’ve been friends since high school, and he married her best friend, only to lose her. Staten and Quinn have always had romantic feelings for one another, which eventually turn into a tempestuous on-and-off romance in Season 1.
An energy company is also leaning on Kirkland and local business owners to gain controlling interest in both his land and the most prominent local businesses, and they’re getting help from Kirkland’s father, a senator who uses his position to fix what happens in Ransom Canyon to his own best benefit.
What Was the Salary Controversy Around Ransom Canyon?
When the show launched in April of 2025, Deadline reported that Kelly was the only actress who auditioned who was invited back for a “chemistry read” with Duhamel, who was cast first.
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When she won the role, the former Friday Night Lights star asked Netflix for pay parity with Duhamel, whose initial salary offer was considerably more.
Though she reportedly did not receive the same salary as Duhamel, Netflix did step up and make an offer that was “way above her previous earnings history,” according to Deadline, shrinking the pay gap between the series leads considerably.
“I think that’s probably one of the best things about working with Netflix, is that they’re very pro that,” Kelly tells Deadline. “So I didn’t have to fight very hard. They sort of made that easy. I feel really lucky to get to work with the company that does care about that.”
Will There Be a Season 2 of Ransom Canyon?
Netflix has not yet renewed Ransom Canyon for Season 2.
Duhamel appeared very confident about its chances in an interview with the Not Skinny But Not Fat podcast, telling host Amanda Hirsch, “I don’t know. I feel like it’s gonna happen.”
“It’s been doing well, but you know, it’s about completion,” he said. “People, they wanna see how many people are actually watching it and completing it.”
Duhamel also weighed in during an interview with Town & Country, sharing thoughts on a possible Season 2.
“I want it to feel unpredictable, raw, real, and interesting,” he said.
“I don’t know what they have planned,” he added. “They’ve been in the writer’s room now for a bit, so we’ll see.”
Ransom Canyon creator and showrunner April Blair also commented on the possibility of a Season 2, telling Deadline that her team is already “in the room” working on new ideas for a second season.
