There's a Smell Coming From THE RANCH

Article first published as THE RANCH Review on Seat42F.

Well, it finally happened. It had to eventually, right? Good things never last forever, and at some point, a winning streak must come to an end. Thus, another giant has been laid low. After a string of terrific shows, such as House of Cards, Orange is the New Black, Love, Flaked, and many more, Netflix finally delivers a dud with THE RANCH, premiering this week.

THE RANCH follows a family who runs a ranch. Clever title, right? Older brother Colt (Ashton Kutcher, Two and a Half Men) left home to become a professional football player, and has now returned with his tail between his legs. This pleases patriarch Beau (Sam Elliott, Justified), but not so much Colt’s older brother, Rooster (Danny Masterson, Men at Work), who is trying to help his unappreciative father keep the homestead afloat. There’s also their mother, Maggie (Debra Winger, Terms of Endearment), who has split from Beau, but runs the local bar and occasionally falls back into bed with her ex.

What you may notice in the series description above is the dichotomy of ideas presented. We have the stupid sitcom tropes, such as one brother receiving much more affection than the other and a formerly married couple who can’t stay apart. Further gross humor is added with limbs in animal orifices and nonchalant coitus interruptus. We also have some actual pathos possible, with a man who has failed at his chosen profession and a proud papa who has trouble accepting help. It takes deft talent to balance the two and make them work within the same show. THE RANCH lacks such finesse.

The problems start almost immediately, and very obviously. THE RANCH contains a laugh track, which sets a certain tone, namely, the base sitcom one. But then the plot points try to stretch the story in deeper directions, which really don’t match the established style at all. The result is an uneven program that serves neither very well, and often feels like it can’t make up its mind about what it is.

The issue is not helped along by the cast. Kutcher and Masterson came up together on That ‘70s Show, a finale example of a half hour comedy, and try to use those honed skills in this unfamiliar environment that doesn’t appreciate them. Elliott’s wit is much drier, and he is clearly more at home in the dramatic moments, even though he steals every scene he’s in. Winger is trying to play goofy, but is naturally not so, and feels just as out of place as Elliott when getting laughs, even when they are earned.

Which begs the question, what happened? Did someone try to make one show, only to have their creative vision derailed by someone else? Was a showrunner replaced halfway through? And if so, why weren’t the existing bits brought in line with where the series went? Or did a group of someones (there is no way this was a vision of a single individual) all try to put their two cents in, and as frequently happens with too many cooks, the result is an indigestible mess?

The simple fact is, everyone involved in this show can do better than this, even Kutcher, much as I might look down at him for some of his career choices. THE RANCH is beneath any mainstream performer or writer, let alone a streaming service that has had pretty good judgment up until now, and it would not surprise me if one season is all this gets. It deserves even less, and if it were on a broadcast network, I could easily see it pulled two or three episodes into the season. But that won’t be the case here.

JUSTIFIED Keeps "The Promise"

Article originally published as TV Review: 'Justified' - Series Finale - 'The Promise' on Blogcritics.

    “In the deep, dark hills of Eastern Kentucky,
    That’s the place where I trace my bloodline.
    And it’s there I read on a hillside gravestone,
    You’ll never leave Harlan alive.”

Those lyrics, repeated at select times on FX’s Justified for effect, hang heavy over the series finale, “The Promise,” that aired earlier this week. On a show where characters do die, the body count has never been higher than in this final season, and each of the three core lead characters begin the last hour in somewhat precarious positions. By the time that song is evoked a little over halfway through, it seems like it might come true for at least one of them. Thankfully, Justified defies expectation and lets them all live.

Justified is an underrated series and always has been. Inspired by a short story by Elmore Leonard, it is a high-quality, fascinating drama that maintains the spirit of Kentucky, even while being filmed in California. I’ve enjoyed each and every season, and will desperately miss it.

The hero is Raylan Givens (Timothy Olyphant), and throughout, he circles his former friend, Boyd Crowder (Walton Goggins), the man Raylan comes home to put away. The relationship between the two is a linchpin of Justified, and it is also the most important thing in “The Promise.” From Raylan leaving the state after his task is finally complete, to their showdown in the barn, to their final conversation – the last scene of the show – in which Boyd proclaims the reason for their deep, lasting connection is, “We dug coal together,” they are what fans most want to see, and the show satisfies.

“We dug coal together.” It’s a phrase worth repeating because it says so much about these two men and the setting they inhabit. It doesn’t matter how much they disagree, or that Raylan became a lawman while Boyd became a criminal. It matters that they risked their lives together, doing the dangerous work that their daddies did. It bonds them in a way that cannot be broken no matter what else happens, unique from practically everyone else they will ever know. It’s why they will always be a part of one another’s lives.

Which is not to say that they are friends, exactly. In fact, most of this final scene involves Raylan lying to Boyd. Raylan finds Ava (Joelle Carter), the woman they both care deeply about, and learns she has a son by Boyd. Asking Raylan not to tell this to Boyd, Raylan decides to show Boyd evidence that Ava is dead. This may be a kindness to both Ava and Boyd, keeping him from being obsessed over someone that will just get him into more trouble. But I’m sure Boyd would disagree with Raylan’s handling of it.

Ava is just a notch less central than the two men in Justified, but “The Promise” and all of season six show her importance. She lives in both worlds, breaking the law, but ending up getting her life together. Raylan intends to make her pay when he finally catches up to her, four years after she escapes the law, but that wouldn’t be fair to her child. Now a loving parent himself, Raylan understands this and leaves her alone.

Raylan’s code is what drives him. From the first scene of the series, in which he shoots a man whom Raylan feels in the right to shoot, to choosing to let Boyd live and Ava keep her freedom, he makes decisions based on a moral code. It may not always align with the law, but it’s a strong system that makes him one of the more memorable characters on television this past decade.

“The Promise” contains lots of other gems. From a final showdown with this season’s Big Bad, Avery Markham (Sam Elliott), to a last glimpse of Loretta (Kaitlyn Dever), to learning Winona (Natalie Zea) has not settled down with Raylan in the future, to Raylan’s goodbye to his co-workers, every moment is full of authenticity and emotion. It does what it needs to do with the leads, and after a victory lap throughout the year, Justified closes its story with finality. I can’t imagine a more fitting goodbye for one of my favorite shows.