Raba Doubts Joaquin Killed Rob-Will in Dutton Ranch Finale
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- 'Dutton Ranch' season finale (Episode 9, 'El Padrino') ends with Rob-Will (Jai Courtney) shot dead at his front door, with the on-screen implication that Joaquin (Juan Pablo Raba) pulled the trigger on father Mariano's (Raoul Max Trujillo) orders to reclaim the 10 Petal Ranch.
- Juan Pablo Raba argued in a post-finale interview that Joaquin did not actually kill Rob-Will, pointing to the unbroken 15-20 second gap between Rob-Will saying goodbye to Oreana and the gunshot with no scene cut.
- Raba said Joaquin wouldn't have done it because he was sober and had reason to hate Mariano, who 'asked' him to commit murder — calling the moment one that 'needs a lot of questions to be answered.'
- Joaquin's character arc this season transformed him from a Texas A&M-educated aspiring rancher into a man forced to deal with killers, with Raba emphasizing the character's prized college ring and desire to be a Texan rancher, not his father.
- Raba framed Joaquin's motivation as heartbreak and not belonging rather than greed or power, citing the internal question of whether rejection stems from 'my blood? Is it my color? Is it my culture?' — a theme Raba said resonates beyond the show.
- Rob-Will's murder deepens the crisis for Rip (Cole Hauser) and Beth (Kelly Reilly), who are working to recover Carter (Finn Little) from the Mexican cartel, and devastates matriarch Beulah (Annette Bening) and Oreana (Natalie Alyn Lind).
- Raba said he is eager to return for a possible second season, noting Taylor Sheridan's universe offers no clear good or bad guys and that circumstances — not nature — define the characters.
Why it matters: Raba's public contradiction of the show's own narrative implication puts 'Dutton Ranch' in the unusual position of a lead actor publicly contesting a season-finale cliffhanger on timeline evidence — a rare promotional moment that reframes the death as an unsolved mystery rather than a confirmed killing, which could either fuel or complicate a renewal pitch to Paramount+.
