Dutton Ranch star Joanna Zanella has cast doubt on whether his character Joaquin actually killed his brother Rob-Will in the season finale, which aired on July 3 on Paramount+. The actor pointed to timeline gaps and character psychology to argue that the murder may have been committed by someone else.
Finale Cliffhanger Sparks Debate
The season finale of the Yellowstone spin-off ended with a shocking scene: Joaquin is ordered by his adoptive father Mariano (Raoul Max Trujillo) to kill Rob-Will (Jai Courtney) to regain control of the family ranch. Rob-Will is shot moments after saying goodbye to his daughter Oreana (Natalie Alyn Lind). However, the shooter is not shown on screen.
Zanella, speaking to Variety, questioned the assumption that Joaquin pulled the trigger. "Let me ask you a question: Do you think Joaquin killed Rob-Will?" he said. "I mean, here's the deal, and I'm not being cheeky here. I don't think he did it!"
Timeline Inconsistencies
Zanella noted that the scene's timeline leaves little room for Joaquin to have acted. "If you follow the timeline of the scene, you can check it out again, but Rob-Will says 'Bye' to Oreana. 15 or 20 seconds later, you hear a gunshot and there's no cut. So whoever did it, literally: Ding-dong, door opens, shoots the guy," he explained. "Are you telling me that Joaquin did that? He's not drunk. He's not drugged. And why? Because a guy, his dad, that honestly he has to hate in so many ways, asked? I think there's a lot of questions to be answered."
Character Defense
The actor also defended Joaquin, arguing that he lacks the killer instinct. "This guy's not a cowboy. This guy's not a killer. This guy, for Christ's sake, he's a college boy!" Zanella said. "He doesn't want to be like his father. He wants to be a Texan rancher. He could have made that call 20 years ago, but he didn't want to. So everything that starts happening to him is just so bizarre, and he's not acting like he can control things anymore. He's really scared."
The comments hint at a potential redemption arc for Joaquin in Season 2, which was confirmed by Paramount last month. The series follows Beth Dutton (Kelly Reilly) and Rip Wheeler (Cole Hauser) as they move from Montana to Texas to start anew on a 7,000-acre property in Rio Paloma, clashing with a rival ranch owned by Beulah Jackson (Annette Bening). The feud culminates in Carter's kidnapping and the fatal shooting of Rob-Will.
Dutton Ranch is available to stream on Paramount+.
