‘Dutton Ranch': Rip’s In HUGE Trouble! – Episode 8 Preview [DUTTON RULES PODCAST]

Dutton Ranch fans had a feeling this would happen. A Season 1 fight between Rip Wheeler and Rob Will tampered with evidence that could incriminate the wrong man.

A new trailer for Episode 8 finds Joaquin handing that evidence over to the sheriff.

• Episode 8 of Dutton Ranch begins streaming on Paramount+ this Friday (June 26).
• Last week's Episode 7 included three stunning moments, all involving Beulah Jackson.
• Season 1 is nine episodes and on schedule to wrap on July 3.

This is your spoiler alert warning as we're going to talk in detail about what happened during last week's ep. of Dutton Ranch.

The Dutton Rules podcast team will break down Ep. 7 and preview Rip's troubles and the attack that's coming during this week's live episode (2PM CT on June 16).

Dutton Ranch, Episode 8 Preview

The most pressing question for Ep. 8 is if Beulah Jackson will live to see the end of it. She suffered a severe medical event at the end of Ep. 7, and the trailer shows her being rushed through the emergency room.

Let's assume she survives. What becomes of her empire?

READ MORE: 10 Burning Questions Dutton Ranch Must Answer Before Season 1 Ends

Rob Will threatened to kill Joaquin if she chose to pass the ranch to him as planned. She capitulated, but now her deal with Frontier Hospitality (and Beth Dutton) is in jeopardy because CEO Zane Nash knows Rob Will is an addict.

Meanwhile, Joaquin isn't going to leave without a fight. The second most dangerous thing on the horizon comes 18 seconds into the trailer (see below) when Kino lays the gun Rob Will used to kill (10 Petal ranch foreman at the start of the season) Wes on the sheriff's desk.

The problem is, Rip's fingerprints are all over the weapon because he took the gun away from Rob Will during the gas station fight.

Emerson Miller/Paramount+

Viewers have been predicting this would come back to haunt Rip for weeks, but here's why it may not matter.

Rip is a man with no identity. As far as we know, he's never been arrested, and he has no form of identification having grown up on John Dutton's property without state recognition. This means his fingerprints wouldn't be in police databases.

At worst, the cops might acknowledge a second (or third, because Chet held the gun too) set of prints on the gun and Rob Will will be exonerated. Prints on a gun wouldn't condemn a man, anyway, because there's no body to prove Wes is actually dead.

Only one man knows where that body is, and Rip's not talking.

Dutton Ranch Episode 8 Trailer

I called the murder weapon evidence the second most dangerous thing in the preview because the bulk of the 30-second clip finds both Jackson and Dutton bunkhouses preparing for a siege. See for yourself.

While these scenes don't illustrate who's coming, a few context clues from episodes past draw a pretty clear picture.

Mariano (heard on the phone with Beulah during Ep. 3 and seen in a flashback during Ep. 7) said he was planning to move a lot of cattle this month in a way that led everyone to think he meant drugs. Could Rip and Beth be planning to stand up to him?

That sounds dangerous and foolish, because they don't really know what they're dealing with and who they can trust. Perhaps they're only securing the ranch to allow for Mariano's safe entry?

This plot line has lurked in the shadows since Ep. 1, but it promises to be the centerpiece of the final two episodes and maybe even Season 2, if there is a Season 2.