Dutton Ranch: Episode 4's Shocking Death Completely Changes Things For One Main Character

Contains spoilers for "Dutton Ranch" Season 1, Episode 5 — "Peaceful Find Peace"

Change has been the only constant for for former "Yellowstone" mainstay Carter (Finn Little) and his family since they landed in Texas during the first episode of "Dutton Ranch."  Beth (Kelly Reilly) and Rip (Cole Hauser) may have had to learn the art of compromise — however briefly — to survive the ruthless onslaught of enemy rancher Beulah Jackson (Annette Bening), but Carter's been changed deeply by the family's move. Love has a lot to do with that — he's fallen for Beulah's granddaughter Oreana (Natalie Alyn Lind), and she's led him astray and toward a path of juvenile delinquency. 

Carter's love for Oreana also ultimately leads to a shocking death and yet more change for Carter. He's spending time with his new boss, Dwight (Ray McKinnon) and his exotic cats when the police raid the place. Dwight is killed in front of his beloved leopard Xena, and Carter is hauled in to face Sheriff Wade (Josh Stewart) for a second time.

Carter, of course, is no fool — he knows that Dwight wasn't killed in an act of self-defense as the cop who arrested him and killed Dwight claims. Wade agrees that Carter knows what's up — but strikes a bargain with him, agreeing to let Carter go and not tell Beth and Rip in exchange for his silence. What can Carter do but call Oreana and then collapse into her open embrace?

Dwight's sudden death is definitely enough to rattle any "Dutton Ranch" fan, serving to remind them that people tend to die painfully in the "Yellowstone" universe. Usually, the most beloved members of a show's cast — like Colby (Denim Richards) — tend to meet with the most unkind endings. So it is with Dwight, and so it might be for any number of characters.

For instance, fans are terribly worried about the future of ex-jailbird Zachariah (Marc Menchaca). The actor admitted to TVLine that anything is possible when it comes to killing people off the show. "I think anything is up for grabs," he said. "Sometimes killing off people's favorite characters is a popular thing to do." He quickly added, however, that killing Zachariah himself would probably be a bad move. But in a show like "Dutton Ranch," where the law has no meaning and teenagers quickly lose their innocence, just about anything can occur.