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[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/e4f6e1a302a19633e910de2c3a92fc0f0dd38e97.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:The Bennett Family]]
''The Ranch'' is a Netflix original series starring Creator/AshtonKutcher as Colt Bennett, a semi-pro football player who returns to his dad's Colorado ranch when his career goes south. He has to contend with his unambitious brother Jameson "Rooster" Bennett (Creator/DannyMasterson), his gruff father Beau Bennett (Creator/SamElliott), his equally tough mother Maggie (Creator/DebraWinger) and re-adjusting to small-town life.
The show uses the traditional, multi-camera sitcom format that was popular in the 1980s and 1990s and is even shot in front of a StudioAudience. But taking advantage of not being on traditional network television, it includes harsh profanity and adult humor.
The show ended up organizing its episodes by "Part" instead of the traditional seasons. The first 10 episodes of Part 1 were released on Netflix April 2016. Part 7 was released September 2019. The eighth and final season was released January 24, 2020.
!!Tropes in the series include:
* AbhorrentAdmirer: Hank, to Maggie. Colt, to Abby at first
* AboveTheInfluence: When drunk Abby tries to kiss Colt, who pulls away. Immediately after he admits he wanted to but says he didn't want her to regret it.
* AbsurdlyYouthfulMother: Megyn Price, who plays Heather's mom Mary, is only 19 years older than Kelli Goss. Discussed in-universe, as Mary was only 17 when she had her first child.
* TheAlcoholic: Both Colt and Rooster have shades of this. While it's PlayedForLaughs, it's a little depressing.
--> When I sit on the porch and drink alone I'm an alcoholic, but when you're here, it's just two brothers bonding.
* AffectionateParody: Of Middle America.
* AmicablyDivorced: Maggie and Beau have been living apart for years, [[FriendsWithBenefits still sleep together]] whenever [[SlapSlapKiss they run into each other and argue]]. After a fire in Maggie's trailer, the boys invite Maggie to stay at the ranch until it's fixed. Beau thinks he and Maggie should re-marry, but Maggie likes her life away from the ranch. In the second half of the first season, they figure they spend too much time trying to make it work and decide to get divorced. Their lives are far too intertwined to completely ignore each other, and share a hug after signing their papers.
* ArtEvolution: The first few seasons the show had a standard "outdoor set in an indoor sound stage" design, but it gradually came to use modern CGI to spruce up the backdrop, with birds and cows seen moving in the distance while characters talk. It lead to a sequence in Part 5 where a wildfire approaches the ranch especially striking.
* ArtisticLicense: In one episode, a calf dies from a bacterial infection and the Bennett men bury it. In real-life, the dead calf would have likely been sold to a rendering plant.
* BasementDweller: Lampshaded by Abby.
--> Am I the only one here who doesn't live with their parents?
* BetterThanSex: How Rooster describes a really great pee.
* BettyAndVeronica: Abby and Heather, to Colt. Kenny and Colt, to Abby.
* BitingTheHandHumor: This exchange between Beau and Rooster:
-->'''Rooster:''' Wanna watch something on TV tonight?
-->'''Beau:''' Like what?
-->'''Rooster:''' I dunno. Something on Netflix?
-->'''Beau:''' What the fuck is Netflix?
-->'''Rooster:''' Never mind.
* BreakingTheFourthWall : Played with, along with some CelebrityParadox. Colt runs into a woman who's a big fan...of [[Series/That70sShow Michael Kelso]], whom she thinks Colt looks like.
* BrickJoke:
** Happens at least once an episode. Something is mentioned early on, and returns later in the episode, such as Beau making fun of Maggie for reading ''Literature/TheBridgesOfMadisonCounty'' and thinking she's a relationship expert.
** At the end of the episode "Got A Little Crazy", Heather walks out of the Bennett's house wearing only a bra and no shirt. Two episodes later, we find out that the reason is because Abby (who was very drunk) threw up all over Heather's shirt.
** In the Season One finale, Beau tries on Colt's Uggs, and Colt asks him "What the fuck are you wearing?"
* BrokeEpisode: While a backdrop of the series is that the ranch is failing due to the drought, in the tenth episode Beau decides the market is so bad he won't sell the calves. He also cuts the power. At the last minute, a DeusExMachina disaster befalls the competition.
* CanadaEh: Colt's last job was on the "Saskatoon Cold," which is like the Miami Heat only, you know, cold. Also a bit of ArtisticLicense, as Saskatoon doesn't have a CFL team. The closest would be the junior Saskatoon Hilltops, or the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
* CaptainMorganPose: Colt puts his foot up on the coffee table, revealing his "lady boots" to Beau.
* CareerEndingInjury: Colt hasn't quite given up football, but three concussions and a sore knee and shoulder (shown packed in ice) have blown his chances at an NFL career.
* CasanovaWannabe: Rooster.
* CaughtWithYourPantsDown: In the very first episode, Beau barges into Colt's room when he's just about to have sex with Heather.
* CerebusSyndrome: [[spoiler:Rooster's death completely shifted the tone of the show further into drama than comedy, and had long-term impact on the characters and the direction of the story.]]
* CharacterDevelopment: Colt came back home hoping to get one last shot at a minor league team, but ended up sticking around to work on the ranch. He has a lot of bad history in his home town and unresolved issues at home, but he resolves to step up and do better. After the first season, most of the problems he gets into is trying to fix [[NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished the problems everyone else drags him into]].
* ChristianityIsCatholic: The Bennett, Roth and the Phillips families are all Roman Catholic. They even go to Midnight Mass for Christmas.
* ConvenientMiscarriage: Discussed in a quite heavy scene after [[spoiler:Heather has a miscarriage. She and Colt are both devastated, as they were preparing to be parents, even if they weren't a couple anymore, and Colt was genuinely excited. However, they both admit to being relieved, since not throwing a baby into the mix solves a ''lot'' of problems for them both. This of course makes them both, Colt in particular, feel extremely guilty. But, as Heather points out, they can't beat themselves up for feeling that way forever.]]
* CookingShow: Rooster pretends to be narrating one while he cooks breakfast.
--> Making scrambled eggs is like making love to a beautiful woman. You want to gentle, you want to take your time, you want to last. But most importantly, you want to use a shit-ton of butter.
* CoolOldGuy: Beau can be quite charming when he wants to.
* CoolOldLady: Maggie is liked by everyone in town. Running the local bar might have something to do with that.
* CorruptCorporateExecutive: Neumann’s Hill CEO Lisa Neumann is introduced as being just a shrewed business owner, but eventually betrays herself as being far more ruthless than she needed to be. In Part 7 she put a dam on a stream used by a half dozen independent ranchers, Colt included, which later made them more willing to just sell their ranch rather than fight her in court or spend more money to drill a well. Even though he was one of the few unaffected, Beau is also upset with her behavior.
* CosmicPlaything: Colt is genuinely trying to do better and be more honest with others, but nearly every step he takes ends up putting himself into an impossible situations where someone is going to be pissed at him.
* CountryMusic: Not only are the individual episodes named after Music/KennyChesney songs, but the show's soundtrack features songs by country artists like Music/TravisTritt, Music/GeorgeStrait, and Music/BrooksAndDunn.
* CPRCleanPrettyReliable: Colt delivers a calf who appears to be stillborn. After a few seconds of breathing into its mouth, not only is the calf revived, Colt is so good it's dried and blow-brushed of all its birth goo!
* CrazyPrepared: Beau keeps gun racks everywhere, including two in the bathroom.
* DadTheVeteran: Beau is a Vietnam veteran.
* DatingWhatDaddyHates: Abby's parents never liked Colt, according to her even before they were high school sweethearts. They adored Kenny, which made the transition to her and Colt getting together even more difficult. And even that is made much worse with [[spoiler:Heather being pregnant with Colt's child]].
* DeadpanSnarker: Most of the cast, but especially Rooster.
--> Beau: When you say stupid shit like that all day, do you go to bed proud of yourself?
--> Rooster: Yes, I do sir. [[ADateWithRosiePalms Then I do something else in bed]], and I feel ashamed.
* DeliveryGuy: Downplayed. Colt has to help birth a breech calf, but it's old hat to him.
* DietEpisode: Played with. In the third episode, Beau is diagnosed with high blood pressure and has to change his eating habits, including giving up alcohol and cutting back on red meat.
--> Doctor: What do you do to relieve stress?
--> Beau: Eat steak and drink whiskey.
* DudeNotFunny: An InUniverse example. In one episode, Colt steals Beer Pong Billy's taser. Billy does not find it funny at all, and explains that if he loses another taser he'll be kicked off the police force. Which begs the question of [[NoodleIncident how he lost the last one, and how many he's already lost]].
** Colt gives a similar reaction when Hank mistakes(?) Luke for Rooster and compliments him on how he looks without the beard. Colt glares at him and says “What the fuck is wrong with you?”
* EarnYourHappyEnding: [[spoiler:Colt & Abby get back together and he proves that the Trich outbreak amongst Neumann’s Hill’s cattle didn’t start at Iron River, forcing Lisa to drop the lawsuit against him; on top of that, he leverages Lisa into buying his herd for the price of Iron River.]]
* EstablishingSeriesMoment: The series starts out with a fairly typical sitcom set, pacing and premise. Near the end of the first scene Beau notices Colt's ugg boots and says "What the fuck are you wearing?" uncensored. Sets the tone for the characters and the format of the show, it's rated TV-MA on Netflix.
* EthicalSlut: Heather is one of the nicest characters in the show. She also happens to enjoy sex ''quite a lot''.
* EvenTheGirlsWantHer: Tonya Showers is so sexy, even Abby admits to being attracted to her.
* EverytownAmerica: ''The Ranch'' is set in Garrison, a fictional small town located in southwest Colorado near the famous ski town Telluride. The town's population is only 512 people, it has one stoplight, and a single high school [[spoiler:which gets closed down on Part 4.]]
* EverybodyHasLotsOfSex: The people of Garrison have quite overactive libidos, and the Bennetts more than anyone.
* {{Expy}}: Colt and Rooster are basically grown-up versions of Kelso and Hyde from ''Series/That70sShow'', and Beau is basically a cowboy version of Red Foreman.
** The fact that all of Season 1's episodes are named after Music/KennyChesney songs is similar to ''That '70s Show'' having seasons where all episodes are named after songs by Music/TheWho, Music/LedZeppelin, Music/{{The Rolling Stones|Band}}, or Music/{{Queen}}.
* ExtremelyShortTimespan: Each Part is generally over the span of only a few months, with a number of episodes covering mere days at a time. Part 1 begins mid summer while Part 2 ends around Christmas. The show ended up using a couple {{Time Skip}}s to catch up with the real world.
* FaceHeelTurn: [[spoiler:Mary Roth as of the episode, "Changes Comin' On," when it was revealed that she had been stealing money from Maggie's bar to fund her drug habit.]]
* FailureIsTheOnlyOption: Rooster felt he didn't have a choice but to stay and help on the ranch when Colt was accepted into college.
** Also applies to Colt's football career, in a roundabout way. He's not good enough to be a professional football player, but it seems to be the only thing he can do, so he keeps trying.
** Colt eventually calls Beau out on raising them like this, that he always berated them for whatever they did as the wrong option, while also berating them ahead of time for thinking of doing anything else, leaving them with nothing to do but fail in his eyes. Sadly he never seems to realize that Abby treats him the exact same way, constantly blaming him for never getting everything done to her satisfaction without giving any suggestion of exactly how he's supposed to do that.
* FamilyThemeNaming: Colt and Rooster are both animals; using Rooster's real name then it's Colt and Jameson -- a kind of horse and liquor, some of cowboy Beau's favorite things.
* FoolishSiblingResponsibleSibling: While both Bennett boys drink and sleep around a lot, Rooster stayed on the ranch to work while Colt pursued (and screwed up) a football career. As the series progresses, this is flipped - Colt [[spoiler:takes over the Peterson Ranch]] & gets his personal life in order, whilst Rooster gets fired from Neumann’s Hill for not taking his work seriously & remains in an on-off relationship that [[spoiler:ultimately leads to his death after being threatened into leaving town]].
* {{Foreshadowing}}: Colt says "Don't worry. I got all the unregistered guns I need." Season 7, Episode 10 ends with a gunshot.
* FormerTeenRebel: Implied that Beau used to be one as a young man, though it's not clear if he was still a teenager then. [[spoiler:Until his dad died after a bad argument they had. That convinced Beau it was time to focus on being a good rancher.]]
* GenreShift: The show was always about comedy and drama, but the show can be split into two sections: parts 1-5 which focused more on comedy with the Bennett family, and parts 6-8 which focused more on the drama following [[spoiler:Rooster's death]] and its long-term impact on the family and their friends. While the first section naturally had dramatic and serious moments it still resembled a sitcom, while the second section noticeably has the characters be in more life-threatening situations as well as dealing heavily with drug abuse and abusive relationships which made it look more like a drama with comedic moments.
* TheGhost: Beau used to have a hired ranch hand named Pedro that he had to let go due to financial hardship. Pedro is mentioned in a few episodes, but never seen.
* GossipyHens: It is almost impossible to keep a secret in Garrison, on account of how gossipy everyone is.
* GranolaGirl: Maggie reveals herself to be one, moreso than the family even expected. Especially compared to Beau, she's an environmentalist who wanted to do a lot more traveling and even has some tendencies towards being TheStoner.
* GroinAttack: Colt punches Rooster in the nuts for joking about sleeping with Abby.
* HappyEndingOverride: In the mid-season finale for Season One [[spoiler:the Bennett ranch is saved from going under, Colt and Rooster are both happy in their new relationships, and Maggie agrees to move back in with Beau. But in the final minutes of the episode, Maggie skips town and Abby breaks off her engagement with Kenny because she wants to be with Colt.]]
* HasAType: The only two girls Colt has had serious relationships with, Heather and Abby, look so much alike they could be related.
* HatesSmallTalk: Beau. Colt, to some extent
* HeadTurningBeauty: Whenever the hot weather girl on the local news station, Tonya Showers, is on TV, the Bennett men stop what they're doing to watch her.
* TheHedonist: Colt. As Beau explains, he's either drank, smoked, or screwed away every opportunity he's ever had. Rooster comments that if Colt inherited the ranch and sold it off, a lot of strippers in Denver would have money to buy new boobs.
* HeelFaceRevolvingDoor: Lisa Neumann routinely switches between friendly & serving an antagonistic role. It’s somewhat subverted, as she’s never malicious in doing so, but looking after her company’s interests. [[spoiler:Part 7 settles with her as a Heel, as she forces Beau to sell Iron River to her in exchange for dropping charges against Colt for destroying a dam that Neumann’s Hill were using to keep preserve water for their cattle at the cost of the local ranchers not having enough water for theirs.]]
* HiddenDepths: Heather at first appears to be TheDitz who ReallyGetsAround and merely a RomanticFalseLead getting in the way of Colt being with Abby. Abby tries to convince Colt to break up with her because she is so much younger (He's 35 and she's 22) and are [[FriendsWithBenefits barely even dating]]. When he tries to break up with her, she takes it maturely and they start to actually talk to each other, with Colt finding she's actually a championship rodeo participant and participated in 4-H. By the end Beau likes her more than Colt.
* IdiosyncraticEpisodeNaming:
** All of the episodes in Part 1 are named after songs by country music artist Music/KennyChesney. (See entry for {{Expy}})
** All of the episodes in Part 2 are named after Music/GeorgeStrait songs.
** For Part 3, the episode titles are named after Music/TimMcGraw songs.
** In Part 4 the episode titles are Music/GarthBrooks songs.
* InnocentFanserviceGirl: Described, but not seen. When a wealthy Hollywood celebrity buys one of the ranches in Garrison, Berto mentions that the owner's wife frequently relaxes in the hot tub while topless, and she doesn't mind if the ranch hands look at her.
* IronicEcho: Colt repeats his mom's words.
--> If it helps, we weren't facing each other.
* JadedWashout: Colt. Technically many of the cast members could fit this, but Colt's the one who had the most promise in high school. And played with, as Colt did manage to earn a championship ring as a 3rd string quarterback, but he screwed himself over with his poor behavior more than just not getting a chance.
* JerkJock: Colt. He's also very much a DumbJock.
* TheLastDJ: Part Two explores this as Iron River Ranch is among a dwindling number of family owned ranches, and Beau refuses any sort of deal with a corporate group because they would lose all bargaining power selling their livestock. Subsequently, the struggle of keeping Iron River afloat in the face of Neumann’s Hill expanding their monopoly is one of the core conflicts of the rest of the series.
* LawOfInverseFertility: In the second half of season one, [[spoiler:Colt and Heather have a sexual encounter after breaking up. At the end of the season finale, we learn that Heather became pregnant from that encounter.]]
* LimitedWardrobe: Colt usually wears a hat backwards along with a t-shirt and jacket. Rooster typically wears flannel. Beau wears denim and long johns. Maggie often has a shirt with Native American styling on it.
* LocalHangout: Maggie's Bar seems to be social hub of Garrison. TruthInTelevision, by the way; in small ranching and farming towns, the town bar is often where everybody gathers to unwind after hard day's work.
* LongLostRelative: In part 6 the Bennett family is visited by Luke Matthews, the son of Beau's brother who died years ago.
* LoveTriangle: Colt is still interested in Abby, who's dating Kenny.
* ManChild: Both the Bennett sons are this, in different ways.
* ManlyMenCanHunt: All three of the Bennett men enjoy hunting (and so does Maggie).
* ManlyTears: Colt has a heart-to-heart with Beau in Episode 3. Quickly subverted when Beau tells him he'll end up eating quinoa, "whatever the fuck that is."
* MathematiciansAnswer: Used as a running gag in one single scene, where Beau answers several of Maggie's this-or-that questions with "Yes", all of them showing his grumpy old man personality being heightened. Colt also [[BookDumb (ironically)]] gets in on this when Abby asks if Colt was sorry she saw Heather at his house during a hook up or if he was sorry he hooked up in the first place.
* MayDecemberRomance: Played with. Colt is 12 years older than Heather. Then Rooster picks up Heather's mom Mary, but points out that they're closer in age (4 years' difference) than Colt is to Heather.
* {{Metrosexual}}: Colt is critical of others' fashion choices (though he dresses like a fratboy himself) and is awfully attached to his hair care regime.
* MirrorCharacter:
** Colt and Beau are both stubborn, proud, and unwilling to admit being wrong. This frequently leads to heated arguments between them that almost turn into physical fights.
** Beau meets Lisa Neumann, owner of the Neumann‘s hill corporate ranches. They turn out to have a number of things in common, as Lisa also grew up on a ranch. She started her business because of an opportunity to buy the neighboring ranch, which was what Beau was looking to do with the Peterson Ranch.
* MistakenForCheating: When Beau's relationship with Maggie started falling apart, he befriended a widow named Brenda Sanders. Although their relationship never turned physical, rumors began circulating that the two of them were having an affair.
* MistakenForPedophile: Rooster.
--> If I avoided every girl I tried to kiss, I'd have to avoid the bank, the dentist, middle school. (Beat) Relax, you pervert, it was the crossing guard.
--> Colt: You tried to kiss a woman holding a big red stop sign?
** It's creepier when he asks a high school girl if she's a senior, and seems interested in a young woman who had her prom a year ago. He's 35.
** Pre-empted by Colt, when he is trying to have sex with Heather he confirms her age as 22. When [[InterruptedIntimacy his Dad barges in]] the first thing he exclaims is "She's 22!"
* MoodWhiplash: Although the show is primarily a comedy, it has moments where it becomes surprisingly dark and serious, usually in situations involving family conflicts or falling short of your goals.
* MsFanservice: Heather spends most of her scenes running around in cute underwear. It's even lampshaded by Colt.
--> Colt: What happened to your shirt?
--> Heather: Do you really care?
* NeverFoundTheBody: [[spoiler: After Rooster is run out of town, the police find his motorcycle at the bottom of a cliff after hitting a guard rail. They found his wallet and some clothing down the river, which made them declare him dead even though they never actually found him]].
* NeverMyFault: Colt won't accept responsibility for his screw-ups.
* NoSmoking: Averted in Part 3. Abby starts smoking again to deal with stress. The more aggravated she gets the likelier she is to smoke a cigarette.
* NotSoStoic: Beau has his moments of being more sensitive than he likes to let on. When Maggie left town he was more angry than anything else, but by the end of the episode was crying for her. In the first season finale he tries on Colt's Uggs and finds himself rather liking them.
* OneSteveLimit: Subverted. Rooster dates two girls named Linda.
--> Colt: Linda Miller? Is that Cute Linda or Pregnant Linda?
--> Rooster: They're both cute.
* OohMeAccentsSlipping: Abby, who's played by Canadian actress Creator/ElishaCuthbert, says "aboot" when agitated.
* OneHeadTaller: Colt is a whole foot taller than Abby and a little over 8 inches taller than Heather.
* OutlivingOnesOffspring: [[spoiler:Rooster’s disappearance & presumed death]] at the start of Part 6, with Beau & Maggie having to face the possibility of [[spoiler:outliving their eldest son]].
* {{Rancher}}: Beau, who's struggling due to the drought and depressed economy.
* PerpetualPoverty: The strained finances of the Bennett and their ranch play a central role in the story. The only point where they are flush with cash is just after selling their calves at market.
* ThePeterPrinciple: Rooster was hired by a corporation to run one of their ranches because he is an experienced rancher. Unfortunately he is from a family ranch and not accustomed to running an actual business. He puts off paperwork, ignores e-mails, brushes off project deadlines and tried to use company money taking employees to a strip club. He is eventually fired just as he starts trying to take the job more seriously.
* PoliceAreUseless: If "Beer Pong" is any indication. He leaves his gun in the refrigerator at one point.
* ProductPlacement:
** Maggie's trailer is always referred to by its brand name: Airstream.
** If somebody is drinking a beer, it's going to be Budweiser (which is a little strange because the show is set in Colorado where Coors is king), and if they're drinking whiskey, it will probably be Jim Beam.
** In Part 3 Colt gets a job as a stock-boy as Safeway.
* PutOnABus:
** Heather was a prominent character in parts 1-3, but after [[spoiler: she miscarries with Colts child]] she only shows up once in part 4. She makes more sporadic appearances in part 5 as she never actually left town, but not to the same degree as before.
** In Part 5 Rooster is forced to leave town because [[spoiler: Mary's [[PsychoExBoyfriend psychotic ex husband]] Nick approaches him with a gun and tells him to leave, threatening his family in the process]]. This is because Danny Masterson [[RoleEndingMisdemeanor was accused of sexual assault by multiple women and was officially fired from from the show]].
** Nick is PutOnABus after Beau threatens him, but then TheBusCameBack as of the last two episodes of Part 7.
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech:
** In the pilot, Beau delivers one to Colt, who has squandered every opportunity he's had.
--> They'll put that on your tombstone: Here lies Colt Bennett. Next time, it'll be different.
** In episode 15 of Season 1, [[spoiler:Kenny gives one to Colt after Colt confesses that Abby dumped Kenny to be with him.]]
** Colt finally gets to return the favor to Beau in a later season, calling him out for the fact that while he was always quick to shout at the boys for failing, he not only didn't acknowledge it when they succeeded, but refused to give them an option for success, blaming both Colt and Rooster for the mere existence of unwinnable situations that Beau himself often created.
* RecklessGunUsage: Colt and Rooster are quite cavalier with their guns, shooting at bottles with a revolver while drinking. [[spoiler:A ricochet almost hits Beau and ends up wrecking the living room TV]].
* RedemptionInTheRain: When Beau and Colt are arguing, about to come to blows, it suddenly starts raining (for the first time in a year). Colt claims to have brought the rain with him.
* RunningGag: Abby's snide remarks about Heather's age every time she runs into her and Colt.
* ShellShockedVeteran: A long lost cousin, Luke, got back from Iraq and is affirmed as having PTSD, being very quick to jump at sudden noises. Beau can relate, as he is reminded of Vietnam whenever he fills up the tractors with diesel.
* ShootTheShaggyDog: An in-universe example. Heather tells the story of a calf she owned called Dairy Potter. The calf became very sick and nearly died, but Heather managed to nurse it back to health. Shortly afterward, the calf was killed by a mountain lion.
* ShownTheirWork: The Animas River Spill, a real-life event that happened in the summer of 2015, is incorporated into the plotline of the show.
* SiblingRivalry: Colt and Rooster's relationship is mostly this.
* SnarkToSnarkCombat: Frequently happens when Beau and Rooster are talking to one another.
* SpiritualSuccessor: ''The Ranch'' is perhaps the first television sitcom since ''Series/{{Roseanne}}'' that seriously deals with the plight of working-class Americans instead of affluent urbanites (although unlike ''Roseanne'', ''The Ranch'' has a conservative slant rather than a liberal one).
* StacysMom: Mary, hot mom to both Heather and her sister Darlene, Rooster's blind date.
* StandardizedSitcomHousing: The show plays with it, as a lot of sets are in outdoor locations. Although parodied somewhat in one episode where a gas company employee came by to talk about a business opportunity, we first see her enter through the normal entrance as she wraps up talking with Beau, says her goodbyes and walks to the far end of the set, and the boys mention how weird it is for someone to use the ''front entrance'' of the house.
* StrongFamilyResemblance: Mary, along with her two daughters Heather and Darlene, are all very attractive blondes.
* TheStoner: Maggie, who tried to microwave a frying pan while high.
* StudioAudience: The show is shot in front of a live audience because it helps energize the actors.
* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: Dax Shepard joins the cast as LongLostRelative Luke Matthews after Rooster was written off due to legal problems with Danny Masterson. The series tries to temper it by waiting a few episodes and including a TimeSkip, but you can still catch the similarities.
* TakeThat: To Al Gore.
** Also to Barack Obama, and Democrats in general.
** In an interview with ''E! Entertainment News'', Danny Masterson (who plays Rooster) mentioned "It's usually Hollywood making fun of Middle America and we wanted to be Middle America making fun of Hollywood."
** Colt defends his Ugg boots by declaring that Tom Brady wears them. Beau’s response: "Yeah, well, Tom Brady gets away with a lotta shit."
** A real sly one to a fellow Netflix original show. With regards to Rooster staying at her place Mary tells him "I already have a ''Series/FullHouse'', I don't think I can handle a ''Series/FullerHouse''." It's actually rather innocuous, but the LaughTrack indicates it's intended as a dig. Part 5 outright mentions the show itself, saying it was like a disaster you can't stop watching.
* TherapyIsForTheWeak: Beau isn't interested in marriage counselling.
* TimeSkip: The second half of the first season takes place in the winter, several months after the end of the first half of the season.
* ToughLove: Beau thinks he is doing this to his boys as they have a long history of bad behavior, but it always results in a big argument that takes weeks to resolve and no lesson is really learned. This comes to a head in Part 5, as he [[spoiler: tells Lisa Neumann ''not'' to drop charges on Colt for stealing a generator (which Rooster actually stole, Colt was caught trying to get rid of it) and is also ready to sell the Peterson Ranch away from Colt all in the name of "teaching him a lesson." As it could result in jail time and he has a baby on the way]], Colt is furious and calls out Beau on how instead of encouraging him to do better all he sees is his father seemingly tormenting him. Beau ends up taking it to heart, and comes to admit how horribly he's treated his sons.
* TrollingTranslator: Colt tries to get Abby to break up with Heather via text. She sends a text telling Heather they have to meet in person.
* TheUnfairSex: Colt realizes he is being [[MasterOfTheMixedMessage strung along by Abby]] while she says she was trying to break up with Kenny. After an altercation he thinks they are done for and ends up backsliding with Heather. Abby finally breaks up with Kenny and goes to Colt to tell him the news, and both girls end up meeting. They turn all their anger on him and he accepts it, when in truth he was making an effort to do right by everyone and had horrible timing.
* TheUnfavorite: Both the Bennett boys seem to be this, depending on who's talking.
* {{Unperson}}: Due to Danny Masterson's controversial departure from the show, all of Rooster's photos are covered up in the Part 6 intro, replaced by photos of Abby and [[spoiler:her daughter with Colt.]]
* UnplannedCrossdressing: Colt likes wearing Uggs, and accidentally tries to put on Heather's.
* UnusualEuphemism: Beau refers to the cow's "address."
* UnsympatheticComedyProtagonist: All three of the Bennett men are assholes, to each other and to everyone in town, even their friends.
* TheVietnamVet: It's mentioned that Beau fought in the Vietnam War.
* ViewersAreGeniuses: The fact that Heather and Beau both used to belong to a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4-H 4-H club]] is brought up without explaining what the 4-H is and expecting the viewer to know.
* WellDoneSonGuy: Both Colt and Rooster long for their father's approval.
** Subverted with Beau, who says that while his dad was tough on him, the family was just glad he'd made it out of Vietnam alive.
* WhamEpisode: The Part 6 episode "Reckless," where [[spoiler:it is revealed that Rooster's motorcycle was found at the bottom of a cliff, with no sign of Rooster.]]
** Season 7's 10th episode ends with a gunshot.
* WhamLine: In the first season finale. [[spoiler:Heather: I'm pregnant.]]
** Rooster ends up drawing Colt and Umberto into a BarBrawl and are taken to jail. Beer Pong tells them [[spoiler:Umberto will be deported for being an illegal immigrant]].
** In part 8, we have this regarding [[spoiler: Nick's death]]:
-->[[spoiler:'''Heather''': I did it.]]
* WhamShot: In the first season mid-finale. [[spoiler:Maggie left town with her RV]].
* WhatTheHellIsThatAccent: The show is set in Colorado, yet the main cast seems to have vague, disappearing Texan accents.
[[caption-width-right:350:The Bennett Family]]
''The Ranch'' is a Netflix original series starring Creator/AshtonKutcher as Colt Bennett, a semi-pro football player who returns to his dad's Colorado ranch when his career goes south. He has to contend with his unambitious brother Jameson "Rooster" Bennett (Creator/DannyMasterson), his gruff father Beau Bennett (Creator/SamElliott), his equally tough mother Maggie (Creator/DebraWinger) and re-adjusting to small-town life.
The show uses the traditional, multi-camera sitcom format that was popular in the 1980s and 1990s and is even shot in front of a StudioAudience. But taking advantage of not being on traditional network television, it includes harsh profanity and adult humor.
The show ended up organizing its episodes by "Part" instead of the traditional seasons. The first 10 episodes of Part 1 were released on Netflix April 2016. Part 7 was released September 2019. The eighth and final season was released January 24, 2020.
!!Tropes in the series include:
* AbhorrentAdmirer: Hank, to Maggie. Colt, to Abby at first
* AboveTheInfluence: When drunk Abby tries to kiss Colt, who pulls away. Immediately after he admits he wanted to but says he didn't want her to regret it.
* AbsurdlyYouthfulMother: Megyn Price, who plays Heather's mom Mary, is only 19 years older than Kelli Goss. Discussed in-universe, as Mary was only 17 when she had her first child.
* TheAlcoholic: Both Colt and Rooster have shades of this. While it's PlayedForLaughs, it's a little depressing.
--> When I sit on the porch and drink alone I'm an alcoholic, but when you're here, it's just two brothers bonding.
* AffectionateParody: Of Middle America.
* AmicablyDivorced: Maggie and Beau have been living apart for years, [[FriendsWithBenefits still sleep together]] whenever [[SlapSlapKiss they run into each other and argue]]. After a fire in Maggie's trailer, the boys invite Maggie to stay at the ranch until it's fixed. Beau thinks he and Maggie should re-marry, but Maggie likes her life away from the ranch. In the second half of the first season, they figure they spend too much time trying to make it work and decide to get divorced. Their lives are far too intertwined to completely ignore each other, and share a hug after signing their papers.
* ArtEvolution: The first few seasons the show had a standard "outdoor set in an indoor sound stage" design, but it gradually came to use modern CGI to spruce up the backdrop, with birds and cows seen moving in the distance while characters talk. It lead to a sequence in Part 5 where a wildfire approaches the ranch especially striking.
* ArtisticLicense: In one episode, a calf dies from a bacterial infection and the Bennett men bury it. In real-life, the dead calf would have likely been sold to a rendering plant.
* BasementDweller: Lampshaded by Abby.
--> Am I the only one here who doesn't live with their parents?
* BetterThanSex: How Rooster describes a really great pee.
* BettyAndVeronica: Abby and Heather, to Colt. Kenny and Colt, to Abby.
* BitingTheHandHumor: This exchange between Beau and Rooster:
-->'''Rooster:''' Wanna watch something on TV tonight?
-->'''Beau:''' Like what?
-->'''Rooster:''' I dunno. Something on Netflix?
-->'''Beau:''' What the fuck is Netflix?
-->'''Rooster:''' Never mind.
* BreakingTheFourthWall : Played with, along with some CelebrityParadox. Colt runs into a woman who's a big fan...of [[Series/That70sShow Michael Kelso]], whom she thinks Colt looks like.
* BrickJoke:
** Happens at least once an episode. Something is mentioned early on, and returns later in the episode, such as Beau making fun of Maggie for reading ''Literature/TheBridgesOfMadisonCounty'' and thinking she's a relationship expert.
** At the end of the episode "Got A Little Crazy", Heather walks out of the Bennett's house wearing only a bra and no shirt. Two episodes later, we find out that the reason is because Abby (who was very drunk) threw up all over Heather's shirt.
** In the Season One finale, Beau tries on Colt's Uggs, and Colt asks him "What the fuck are you wearing?"
* BrokeEpisode: While a backdrop of the series is that the ranch is failing due to the drought, in the tenth episode Beau decides the market is so bad he won't sell the calves. He also cuts the power. At the last minute, a DeusExMachina disaster befalls the competition.
* CanadaEh: Colt's last job was on the "Saskatoon Cold," which is like the Miami Heat only, you know, cold. Also a bit of ArtisticLicense, as Saskatoon doesn't have a CFL team. The closest would be the junior Saskatoon Hilltops, or the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
* CaptainMorganPose: Colt puts his foot up on the coffee table, revealing his "lady boots" to Beau.
* CareerEndingInjury: Colt hasn't quite given up football, but three concussions and a sore knee and shoulder (shown packed in ice) have blown his chances at an NFL career.
* CasanovaWannabe: Rooster.
* CaughtWithYourPantsDown: In the very first episode, Beau barges into Colt's room when he's just about to have sex with Heather.
* CerebusSyndrome: [[spoiler:Rooster's death completely shifted the tone of the show further into drama than comedy, and had long-term impact on the characters and the direction of the story.]]
* CharacterDevelopment: Colt came back home hoping to get one last shot at a minor league team, but ended up sticking around to work on the ranch. He has a lot of bad history in his home town and unresolved issues at home, but he resolves to step up and do better. After the first season, most of the problems he gets into is trying to fix [[NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished the problems everyone else drags him into]].
* ChristianityIsCatholic: The Bennett, Roth and the Phillips families are all Roman Catholic. They even go to Midnight Mass for Christmas.
* ConvenientMiscarriage: Discussed in a quite heavy scene after [[spoiler:Heather has a miscarriage. She and Colt are both devastated, as they were preparing to be parents, even if they weren't a couple anymore, and Colt was genuinely excited. However, they both admit to being relieved, since not throwing a baby into the mix solves a ''lot'' of problems for them both. This of course makes them both, Colt in particular, feel extremely guilty. But, as Heather points out, they can't beat themselves up for feeling that way forever.]]
* CookingShow: Rooster pretends to be narrating one while he cooks breakfast.
--> Making scrambled eggs is like making love to a beautiful woman. You want to gentle, you want to take your time, you want to last. But most importantly, you want to use a shit-ton of butter.
* CoolOldGuy: Beau can be quite charming when he wants to.
* CoolOldLady: Maggie is liked by everyone in town. Running the local bar might have something to do with that.
* CorruptCorporateExecutive: Neumann’s Hill CEO Lisa Neumann is introduced as being just a shrewed business owner, but eventually betrays herself as being far more ruthless than she needed to be. In Part 7 she put a dam on a stream used by a half dozen independent ranchers, Colt included, which later made them more willing to just sell their ranch rather than fight her in court or spend more money to drill a well. Even though he was one of the few unaffected, Beau is also upset with her behavior.
* CosmicPlaything: Colt is genuinely trying to do better and be more honest with others, but nearly every step he takes ends up putting himself into an impossible situations where someone is going to be pissed at him.
* CountryMusic: Not only are the individual episodes named after Music/KennyChesney songs, but the show's soundtrack features songs by country artists like Music/TravisTritt, Music/GeorgeStrait, and Music/BrooksAndDunn.
* CPRCleanPrettyReliable: Colt delivers a calf who appears to be stillborn. After a few seconds of breathing into its mouth, not only is the calf revived, Colt is so good it's dried and blow-brushed of all its birth goo!
* CrazyPrepared: Beau keeps gun racks everywhere, including two in the bathroom.
* DadTheVeteran: Beau is a Vietnam veteran.
* DatingWhatDaddyHates: Abby's parents never liked Colt, according to her even before they were high school sweethearts. They adored Kenny, which made the transition to her and Colt getting together even more difficult. And even that is made much worse with [[spoiler:Heather being pregnant with Colt's child]].
* DeadpanSnarker: Most of the cast, but especially Rooster.
--> Beau: When you say stupid shit like that all day, do you go to bed proud of yourself?
--> Rooster: Yes, I do sir. [[ADateWithRosiePalms Then I do something else in bed]], and I feel ashamed.
* DeliveryGuy: Downplayed. Colt has to help birth a breech calf, but it's old hat to him.
* DietEpisode: Played with. In the third episode, Beau is diagnosed with high blood pressure and has to change his eating habits, including giving up alcohol and cutting back on red meat.
--> Doctor: What do you do to relieve stress?
--> Beau: Eat steak and drink whiskey.
* DudeNotFunny: An InUniverse example. In one episode, Colt steals Beer Pong Billy's taser. Billy does not find it funny at all, and explains that if he loses another taser he'll be kicked off the police force. Which begs the question of [[NoodleIncident how he lost the last one, and how many he's already lost]].
** Colt gives a similar reaction when Hank mistakes(?) Luke for Rooster and compliments him on how he looks without the beard. Colt glares at him and says “What the fuck is wrong with you?”
* EarnYourHappyEnding: [[spoiler:Colt & Abby get back together and he proves that the Trich outbreak amongst Neumann’s Hill’s cattle didn’t start at Iron River, forcing Lisa to drop the lawsuit against him; on top of that, he leverages Lisa into buying his herd for the price of Iron River.]]
* EstablishingSeriesMoment: The series starts out with a fairly typical sitcom set, pacing and premise. Near the end of the first scene Beau notices Colt's ugg boots and says "What the fuck are you wearing?" uncensored. Sets the tone for the characters and the format of the show, it's rated TV-MA on Netflix.
* EthicalSlut: Heather is one of the nicest characters in the show. She also happens to enjoy sex ''quite a lot''.
* EvenTheGirlsWantHer: Tonya Showers is so sexy, even Abby admits to being attracted to her.
* EverytownAmerica: ''The Ranch'' is set in Garrison, a fictional small town located in southwest Colorado near the famous ski town Telluride. The town's population is only 512 people, it has one stoplight, and a single high school [[spoiler:which gets closed down on Part 4.]]
* EverybodyHasLotsOfSex: The people of Garrison have quite overactive libidos, and the Bennetts more than anyone.
* {{Expy}}: Colt and Rooster are basically grown-up versions of Kelso and Hyde from ''Series/That70sShow'', and Beau is basically a cowboy version of Red Foreman.
** The fact that all of Season 1's episodes are named after Music/KennyChesney songs is similar to ''That '70s Show'' having seasons where all episodes are named after songs by Music/TheWho, Music/LedZeppelin, Music/{{The Rolling Stones|Band}}, or Music/{{Queen}}.
* ExtremelyShortTimespan: Each Part is generally over the span of only a few months, with a number of episodes covering mere days at a time. Part 1 begins mid summer while Part 2 ends around Christmas. The show ended up using a couple {{Time Skip}}s to catch up with the real world.
* FaceHeelTurn: [[spoiler:Mary Roth as of the episode, "Changes Comin' On," when it was revealed that she had been stealing money from Maggie's bar to fund her drug habit.]]
* FailureIsTheOnlyOption: Rooster felt he didn't have a choice but to stay and help on the ranch when Colt was accepted into college.
** Also applies to Colt's football career, in a roundabout way. He's not good enough to be a professional football player, but it seems to be the only thing he can do, so he keeps trying.
** Colt eventually calls Beau out on raising them like this, that he always berated them for whatever they did as the wrong option, while also berating them ahead of time for thinking of doing anything else, leaving them with nothing to do but fail in his eyes. Sadly he never seems to realize that Abby treats him the exact same way, constantly blaming him for never getting everything done to her satisfaction without giving any suggestion of exactly how he's supposed to do that.
* FamilyThemeNaming: Colt and Rooster are both animals; using Rooster's real name then it's Colt and Jameson -- a kind of horse and liquor, some of cowboy Beau's favorite things.
* FoolishSiblingResponsibleSibling: While both Bennett boys drink and sleep around a lot, Rooster stayed on the ranch to work while Colt pursued (and screwed up) a football career. As the series progresses, this is flipped - Colt [[spoiler:takes over the Peterson Ranch]] & gets his personal life in order, whilst Rooster gets fired from Neumann’s Hill for not taking his work seriously & remains in an on-off relationship that [[spoiler:ultimately leads to his death after being threatened into leaving town]].
* {{Foreshadowing}}: Colt says "Don't worry. I got all the unregistered guns I need." Season 7, Episode 10 ends with a gunshot.
* FormerTeenRebel: Implied that Beau used to be one as a young man, though it's not clear if he was still a teenager then. [[spoiler:Until his dad died after a bad argument they had. That convinced Beau it was time to focus on being a good rancher.]]
* GenreShift: The show was always about comedy and drama, but the show can be split into two sections: parts 1-5 which focused more on comedy with the Bennett family, and parts 6-8 which focused more on the drama following [[spoiler:Rooster's death]] and its long-term impact on the family and their friends. While the first section naturally had dramatic and serious moments it still resembled a sitcom, while the second section noticeably has the characters be in more life-threatening situations as well as dealing heavily with drug abuse and abusive relationships which made it look more like a drama with comedic moments.
* TheGhost: Beau used to have a hired ranch hand named Pedro that he had to let go due to financial hardship. Pedro is mentioned in a few episodes, but never seen.
* GossipyHens: It is almost impossible to keep a secret in Garrison, on account of how gossipy everyone is.
* GranolaGirl: Maggie reveals herself to be one, moreso than the family even expected. Especially compared to Beau, she's an environmentalist who wanted to do a lot more traveling and even has some tendencies towards being TheStoner.
* GroinAttack: Colt punches Rooster in the nuts for joking about sleeping with Abby.
* HappyEndingOverride: In the mid-season finale for Season One [[spoiler:the Bennett ranch is saved from going under, Colt and Rooster are both happy in their new relationships, and Maggie agrees to move back in with Beau. But in the final minutes of the episode, Maggie skips town and Abby breaks off her engagement with Kenny because she wants to be with Colt.]]
* HasAType: The only two girls Colt has had serious relationships with, Heather and Abby, look so much alike they could be related.
* HatesSmallTalk: Beau. Colt, to some extent
* HeadTurningBeauty: Whenever the hot weather girl on the local news station, Tonya Showers, is on TV, the Bennett men stop what they're doing to watch her.
* TheHedonist: Colt. As Beau explains, he's either drank, smoked, or screwed away every opportunity he's ever had. Rooster comments that if Colt inherited the ranch and sold it off, a lot of strippers in Denver would have money to buy new boobs.
* HeelFaceRevolvingDoor: Lisa Neumann routinely switches between friendly & serving an antagonistic role. It’s somewhat subverted, as she’s never malicious in doing so, but looking after her company’s interests. [[spoiler:Part 7 settles with her as a Heel, as she forces Beau to sell Iron River to her in exchange for dropping charges against Colt for destroying a dam that Neumann’s Hill were using to keep preserve water for their cattle at the cost of the local ranchers not having enough water for theirs.]]
* HiddenDepths: Heather at first appears to be TheDitz who ReallyGetsAround and merely a RomanticFalseLead getting in the way of Colt being with Abby. Abby tries to convince Colt to break up with her because she is so much younger (He's 35 and she's 22) and are [[FriendsWithBenefits barely even dating]]. When he tries to break up with her, she takes it maturely and they start to actually talk to each other, with Colt finding she's actually a championship rodeo participant and participated in 4-H. By the end Beau likes her more than Colt.
* IdiosyncraticEpisodeNaming:
** All of the episodes in Part 1 are named after songs by country music artist Music/KennyChesney. (See entry for {{Expy}})
** All of the episodes in Part 2 are named after Music/GeorgeStrait songs.
** For Part 3, the episode titles are named after Music/TimMcGraw songs.
** In Part 4 the episode titles are Music/GarthBrooks songs.
* InnocentFanserviceGirl: Described, but not seen. When a wealthy Hollywood celebrity buys one of the ranches in Garrison, Berto mentions that the owner's wife frequently relaxes in the hot tub while topless, and she doesn't mind if the ranch hands look at her.
* IronicEcho: Colt repeats his mom's words.
--> If it helps, we weren't facing each other.
* JadedWashout: Colt. Technically many of the cast members could fit this, but Colt's the one who had the most promise in high school. And played with, as Colt did manage to earn a championship ring as a 3rd string quarterback, but he screwed himself over with his poor behavior more than just not getting a chance.
* JerkJock: Colt. He's also very much a DumbJock.
* TheLastDJ: Part Two explores this as Iron River Ranch is among a dwindling number of family owned ranches, and Beau refuses any sort of deal with a corporate group because they would lose all bargaining power selling their livestock. Subsequently, the struggle of keeping Iron River afloat in the face of Neumann’s Hill expanding their monopoly is one of the core conflicts of the rest of the series.
* LawOfInverseFertility: In the second half of season one, [[spoiler:Colt and Heather have a sexual encounter after breaking up. At the end of the season finale, we learn that Heather became pregnant from that encounter.]]
* LimitedWardrobe: Colt usually wears a hat backwards along with a t-shirt and jacket. Rooster typically wears flannel. Beau wears denim and long johns. Maggie often has a shirt with Native American styling on it.
* LocalHangout: Maggie's Bar seems to be social hub of Garrison. TruthInTelevision, by the way; in small ranching and farming towns, the town bar is often where everybody gathers to unwind after hard day's work.
* LongLostRelative: In part 6 the Bennett family is visited by Luke Matthews, the son of Beau's brother who died years ago.
* LoveTriangle: Colt is still interested in Abby, who's dating Kenny.
* ManChild: Both the Bennett sons are this, in different ways.
* ManlyMenCanHunt: All three of the Bennett men enjoy hunting (and so does Maggie).
* ManlyTears: Colt has a heart-to-heart with Beau in Episode 3. Quickly subverted when Beau tells him he'll end up eating quinoa, "whatever the fuck that is."
* MathematiciansAnswer: Used as a running gag in one single scene, where Beau answers several of Maggie's this-or-that questions with "Yes", all of them showing his grumpy old man personality being heightened. Colt also [[BookDumb (ironically)]] gets in on this when Abby asks if Colt was sorry she saw Heather at his house during a hook up or if he was sorry he hooked up in the first place.
* MayDecemberRomance: Played with. Colt is 12 years older than Heather. Then Rooster picks up Heather's mom Mary, but points out that they're closer in age (4 years' difference) than Colt is to Heather.
* {{Metrosexual}}: Colt is critical of others' fashion choices (though he dresses like a fratboy himself) and is awfully attached to his hair care regime.
* MirrorCharacter:
** Colt and Beau are both stubborn, proud, and unwilling to admit being wrong. This frequently leads to heated arguments between them that almost turn into physical fights.
** Beau meets Lisa Neumann, owner of the Neumann‘s hill corporate ranches. They turn out to have a number of things in common, as Lisa also grew up on a ranch. She started her business because of an opportunity to buy the neighboring ranch, which was what Beau was looking to do with the Peterson Ranch.
* MistakenForCheating: When Beau's relationship with Maggie started falling apart, he befriended a widow named Brenda Sanders. Although their relationship never turned physical, rumors began circulating that the two of them were having an affair.
* MistakenForPedophile: Rooster.
--> If I avoided every girl I tried to kiss, I'd have to avoid the bank, the dentist, middle school. (Beat) Relax, you pervert, it was the crossing guard.
--> Colt: You tried to kiss a woman holding a big red stop sign?
** It's creepier when he asks a high school girl if she's a senior, and seems interested in a young woman who had her prom a year ago. He's 35.
** Pre-empted by Colt, when he is trying to have sex with Heather he confirms her age as 22. When [[InterruptedIntimacy his Dad barges in]] the first thing he exclaims is "She's 22!"
* MoodWhiplash: Although the show is primarily a comedy, it has moments where it becomes surprisingly dark and serious, usually in situations involving family conflicts or falling short of your goals.
* MsFanservice: Heather spends most of her scenes running around in cute underwear. It's even lampshaded by Colt.
--> Colt: What happened to your shirt?
--> Heather: Do you really care?
* NeverFoundTheBody: [[spoiler: After Rooster is run out of town, the police find his motorcycle at the bottom of a cliff after hitting a guard rail. They found his wallet and some clothing down the river, which made them declare him dead even though they never actually found him]].
* NeverMyFault: Colt won't accept responsibility for his screw-ups.
* NoSmoking: Averted in Part 3. Abby starts smoking again to deal with stress. The more aggravated she gets the likelier she is to smoke a cigarette.
* NotSoStoic: Beau has his moments of being more sensitive than he likes to let on. When Maggie left town he was more angry than anything else, but by the end of the episode was crying for her. In the first season finale he tries on Colt's Uggs and finds himself rather liking them.
* OneSteveLimit: Subverted. Rooster dates two girls named Linda.
--> Colt: Linda Miller? Is that Cute Linda or Pregnant Linda?
--> Rooster: They're both cute.
* OohMeAccentsSlipping: Abby, who's played by Canadian actress Creator/ElishaCuthbert, says "aboot" when agitated.
* OneHeadTaller: Colt is a whole foot taller than Abby and a little over 8 inches taller than Heather.
* OutlivingOnesOffspring: [[spoiler:Rooster’s disappearance & presumed death]] at the start of Part 6, with Beau & Maggie having to face the possibility of [[spoiler:outliving their eldest son]].
* {{Rancher}}: Beau, who's struggling due to the drought and depressed economy.
* PerpetualPoverty: The strained finances of the Bennett and their ranch play a central role in the story. The only point where they are flush with cash is just after selling their calves at market.
* ThePeterPrinciple: Rooster was hired by a corporation to run one of their ranches because he is an experienced rancher. Unfortunately he is from a family ranch and not accustomed to running an actual business. He puts off paperwork, ignores e-mails, brushes off project deadlines and tried to use company money taking employees to a strip club. He is eventually fired just as he starts trying to take the job more seriously.
* PoliceAreUseless: If "Beer Pong" is any indication. He leaves his gun in the refrigerator at one point.
* ProductPlacement:
** Maggie's trailer is always referred to by its brand name: Airstream.
** If somebody is drinking a beer, it's going to be Budweiser (which is a little strange because the show is set in Colorado where Coors is king), and if they're drinking whiskey, it will probably be Jim Beam.
** In Part 3 Colt gets a job as a stock-boy as Safeway.
* PutOnABus:
** Heather was a prominent character in parts 1-3, but after [[spoiler: she miscarries with Colts child]] she only shows up once in part 4. She makes more sporadic appearances in part 5 as she never actually left town, but not to the same degree as before.
** In Part 5 Rooster is forced to leave town because [[spoiler: Mary's [[PsychoExBoyfriend psychotic ex husband]] Nick approaches him with a gun and tells him to leave, threatening his family in the process]]. This is because Danny Masterson [[RoleEndingMisdemeanor was accused of sexual assault by multiple women and was officially fired from from the show]].
** Nick is PutOnABus after Beau threatens him, but then TheBusCameBack as of the last two episodes of Part 7.
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech:
** In the pilot, Beau delivers one to Colt, who has squandered every opportunity he's had.
--> They'll put that on your tombstone: Here lies Colt Bennett. Next time, it'll be different.
** In episode 15 of Season 1, [[spoiler:Kenny gives one to Colt after Colt confesses that Abby dumped Kenny to be with him.]]
** Colt finally gets to return the favor to Beau in a later season, calling him out for the fact that while he was always quick to shout at the boys for failing, he not only didn't acknowledge it when they succeeded, but refused to give them an option for success, blaming both Colt and Rooster for the mere existence of unwinnable situations that Beau himself often created.
* RecklessGunUsage: Colt and Rooster are quite cavalier with their guns, shooting at bottles with a revolver while drinking. [[spoiler:A ricochet almost hits Beau and ends up wrecking the living room TV]].
* RedemptionInTheRain: When Beau and Colt are arguing, about to come to blows, it suddenly starts raining (for the first time in a year). Colt claims to have brought the rain with him.
* RunningGag: Abby's snide remarks about Heather's age every time she runs into her and Colt.
* ShellShockedVeteran: A long lost cousin, Luke, got back from Iraq and is affirmed as having PTSD, being very quick to jump at sudden noises. Beau can relate, as he is reminded of Vietnam whenever he fills up the tractors with diesel.
* ShootTheShaggyDog: An in-universe example. Heather tells the story of a calf she owned called Dairy Potter. The calf became very sick and nearly died, but Heather managed to nurse it back to health. Shortly afterward, the calf was killed by a mountain lion.
* ShownTheirWork: The Animas River Spill, a real-life event that happened in the summer of 2015, is incorporated into the plotline of the show.
* SiblingRivalry: Colt and Rooster's relationship is mostly this.
* SnarkToSnarkCombat: Frequently happens when Beau and Rooster are talking to one another.
* SpiritualSuccessor: ''The Ranch'' is perhaps the first television sitcom since ''Series/{{Roseanne}}'' that seriously deals with the plight of working-class Americans instead of affluent urbanites (although unlike ''Roseanne'', ''The Ranch'' has a conservative slant rather than a liberal one).
* StacysMom: Mary, hot mom to both Heather and her sister Darlene, Rooster's blind date.
* StandardizedSitcomHousing: The show plays with it, as a lot of sets are in outdoor locations. Although parodied somewhat in one episode where a gas company employee came by to talk about a business opportunity, we first see her enter through the normal entrance as she wraps up talking with Beau, says her goodbyes and walks to the far end of the set, and the boys mention how weird it is for someone to use the ''front entrance'' of the house.
* StrongFamilyResemblance: Mary, along with her two daughters Heather and Darlene, are all very attractive blondes.
* TheStoner: Maggie, who tried to microwave a frying pan while high.
* StudioAudience: The show is shot in front of a live audience because it helps energize the actors.
* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: Dax Shepard joins the cast as LongLostRelative Luke Matthews after Rooster was written off due to legal problems with Danny Masterson. The series tries to temper it by waiting a few episodes and including a TimeSkip, but you can still catch the similarities.
* TakeThat: To Al Gore.
** Also to Barack Obama, and Democrats in general.
** In an interview with ''E! Entertainment News'', Danny Masterson (who plays Rooster) mentioned "It's usually Hollywood making fun of Middle America and we wanted to be Middle America making fun of Hollywood."
** Colt defends his Ugg boots by declaring that Tom Brady wears them. Beau’s response: "Yeah, well, Tom Brady gets away with a lotta shit."
** A real sly one to a fellow Netflix original show. With regards to Rooster staying at her place Mary tells him "I already have a ''Series/FullHouse'', I don't think I can handle a ''Series/FullerHouse''." It's actually rather innocuous, but the LaughTrack indicates it's intended as a dig. Part 5 outright mentions the show itself, saying it was like a disaster you can't stop watching.
* TherapyIsForTheWeak: Beau isn't interested in marriage counselling.
* TimeSkip: The second half of the first season takes place in the winter, several months after the end of the first half of the season.
* ToughLove: Beau thinks he is doing this to his boys as they have a long history of bad behavior, but it always results in a big argument that takes weeks to resolve and no lesson is really learned. This comes to a head in Part 5, as he [[spoiler: tells Lisa Neumann ''not'' to drop charges on Colt for stealing a generator (which Rooster actually stole, Colt was caught trying to get rid of it) and is also ready to sell the Peterson Ranch away from Colt all in the name of "teaching him a lesson." As it could result in jail time and he has a baby on the way]], Colt is furious and calls out Beau on how instead of encouraging him to do better all he sees is his father seemingly tormenting him. Beau ends up taking it to heart, and comes to admit how horribly he's treated his sons.
* TrollingTranslator: Colt tries to get Abby to break up with Heather via text. She sends a text telling Heather they have to meet in person.
* TheUnfairSex: Colt realizes he is being [[MasterOfTheMixedMessage strung along by Abby]] while she says she was trying to break up with Kenny. After an altercation he thinks they are done for and ends up backsliding with Heather. Abby finally breaks up with Kenny and goes to Colt to tell him the news, and both girls end up meeting. They turn all their anger on him and he accepts it, when in truth he was making an effort to do right by everyone and had horrible timing.
* TheUnfavorite: Both the Bennett boys seem to be this, depending on who's talking.
* {{Unperson}}: Due to Danny Masterson's controversial departure from the show, all of Rooster's photos are covered up in the Part 6 intro, replaced by photos of Abby and [[spoiler:her daughter with Colt.]]
* UnplannedCrossdressing: Colt likes wearing Uggs, and accidentally tries to put on Heather's.
* UnusualEuphemism: Beau refers to the cow's "address."
* UnsympatheticComedyProtagonist: All three of the Bennett men are assholes, to each other and to everyone in town, even their friends.
* TheVietnamVet: It's mentioned that Beau fought in the Vietnam War.
* ViewersAreGeniuses: The fact that Heather and Beau both used to belong to a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4-H 4-H club]] is brought up without explaining what the 4-H is and expecting the viewer to know.
* WellDoneSonGuy: Both Colt and Rooster long for their father's approval.
** Subverted with Beau, who says that while his dad was tough on him, the family was just glad he'd made it out of Vietnam alive.
* WhamEpisode: The Part 6 episode "Reckless," where [[spoiler:it is revealed that Rooster's motorcycle was found at the bottom of a cliff, with no sign of Rooster.]]
** Season 7's 10th episode ends with a gunshot.
* WhamLine: In the first season finale. [[spoiler:Heather: I'm pregnant.]]
** Rooster ends up drawing Colt and Umberto into a BarBrawl and are taken to jail. Beer Pong tells them [[spoiler:Umberto will be deported for being an illegal immigrant]].
** In part 8, we have this regarding [[spoiler: Nick's death]]:
-->[[spoiler:'''Heather''': I did it.]]
* WhamShot: In the first season mid-finale. [[spoiler:Maggie left town with her RV]].
* WhatTheHellIsThatAccent: The show is set in Colorado, yet the main cast seems to have vague, disappearing Texan accents.
to:
[[caption-width-right:350:The Bennett Family]]
''The Ranch'' is a Netflix original series starring Creator/AshtonKutcher as Colt Bennett, a semi-pro football player who returns to his dad's Colorado ranch when his career goes south. He has to contend with his unambitious brother Jameson "Rooster" Bennett (Creator/DannyMasterson), his gruff father Beau Bennett (Creator/SamElliott), his equally tough mother Maggie (Creator/DebraWinger) and re-adjusting to small-town life.
The show uses the traditional, multi-camera sitcom format that was popular in the 1980s and 1990s and is even shot in front of a StudioAudience. But taking advantage of not being on traditional network television, it includes harsh profanity and adult humor.
The show ended up organizing its episodes by "Part" instead of the traditional seasons. The first 10 episodes of Part 1 were released on Netflix April 2016. Part 7 was released September 2019. The eighth and final season was released January 24, 2020.
!!Tropes in the series include:
* AbhorrentAdmirer: Hank, to Maggie. Colt, to Abby at first
* AboveTheInfluence: When drunk Abby tries to kiss Colt, who pulls away. Immediately after he admits he wanted to but says he didn't want her to regret it.
* AbsurdlyYouthfulMother: Megyn Price, who plays Heather's mom Mary, is only 19 years older than Kelli Goss. Discussed in-universe, as Mary was only 17 when she had her first child.
* TheAlcoholic: Both Colt and Rooster have shades of this. While it's PlayedForLaughs, it's a little depressing.
--> When I sit on the porch and drink alone I'm an alcoholic, but when you're here, it's just two brothers bonding.
* AffectionateParody: Of Middle America.
* AmicablyDivorced: Maggie and Beau have been living apart for years, [[FriendsWithBenefits still sleep together]] whenever [[SlapSlapKiss they run into each other and argue]]. After a fire in Maggie's trailer, the boys invite Maggie to stay at the ranch until it's fixed. Beau thinks he and Maggie should re-marry, but Maggie likes her life away from the ranch. In the second half of the first season, they figure they spend too much time trying to make it work and decide to get divorced. Their lives are far too intertwined to completely ignore each other, and share a hug after signing their papers.
* ArtEvolution: The first few seasons the show had a standard "outdoor set in an indoor sound stage" design, but it gradually came to use modern CGI to spruce up the backdrop, with birds and cows seen moving in the distance while characters talk. It lead to a sequence in Part 5 where a wildfire approaches the ranch especially striking.
* ArtisticLicense: In one episode, a calf dies from a bacterial infection and the Bennett men bury it. In real-life, the dead calf would have likely been sold to a rendering plant.
* BasementDweller: Lampshaded by Abby.
--> Am I the only one here who doesn't live with their parents?
* BetterThanSex: How Rooster describes a really great pee.
* BettyAndVeronica: Abby and Heather, to Colt. Kenny and Colt, to Abby.
* BitingTheHandHumor: This exchange between Beau and Rooster:
-->'''Rooster:''' Wanna watch something on TV tonight?
-->'''Beau:''' Like what?
-->'''Rooster:''' I dunno. Something on Netflix?
-->'''Beau:''' What the fuck is Netflix?
-->'''Rooster:''' Never mind.
* BreakingTheFourthWall : Played with, along with some CelebrityParadox. Colt runs into a woman who's a big fan...of [[Series/That70sShow Michael Kelso]], whom she thinks Colt looks like.
* BrickJoke:
** Happens at least once an episode. Something is mentioned early on, and returns later in the episode, such as Beau making fun of Maggie for reading ''Literature/TheBridgesOfMadisonCounty'' and thinking she's a relationship expert.
** At the end of the episode "Got A Little Crazy", Heather walks out of the Bennett's house wearing only a bra and no shirt. Two episodes later, we find out that the reason is because Abby (who was very drunk) threw up all over Heather's shirt.
** In the Season One finale, Beau tries on Colt's Uggs, and Colt asks him "What the fuck are you wearing?"
* BrokeEpisode: While a backdrop of the series is that the ranch is failing due to the drought, in the tenth episode Beau decides the market is so bad he won't sell the calves. He also cuts the power. At the last minute, a DeusExMachina disaster befalls the competition.
* CanadaEh: Colt's last job was on the "Saskatoon Cold," which is like the Miami Heat only, you know, cold. Also a bit of ArtisticLicense, as Saskatoon doesn't have a CFL team. The closest would be the junior Saskatoon Hilltops, or the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
* CaptainMorganPose: Colt puts his foot up on the coffee table, revealing his "lady boots" to Beau.
* CareerEndingInjury: Colt hasn't quite given up football, but three concussions and a sore knee and shoulder (shown packed in ice) have blown his chances at an NFL career.
* CasanovaWannabe: Rooster.
* CaughtWithYourPantsDown: In the very first episode, Beau barges into Colt's room when he's just about to have sex with Heather.
* CerebusSyndrome: [[spoiler:Rooster's death completely shifted the tone of the show further into drama than comedy, and had long-term impact on the characters and the direction of the story.]]
* CharacterDevelopment: Colt came back home hoping to get one last shot at a minor league team, but ended up sticking around to work on the ranch. He has a lot of bad history in his home town and unresolved issues at home, but he resolves to step up and do better. After the first season, most of the problems he gets into is trying to fix [[NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished the problems everyone else drags him into]].
* ChristianityIsCatholic: The Bennett, Roth and the Phillips families are all Roman Catholic. They even go to Midnight Mass for Christmas.
* ConvenientMiscarriage: Discussed in a quite heavy scene after [[spoiler:Heather has a miscarriage. She and Colt are both devastated, as they were preparing to be parents, even if they weren't a couple anymore, and Colt was genuinely excited. However, they both admit to being relieved, since not throwing a baby into the mix solves a ''lot'' of problems for them both. This of course makes them both, Colt in particular, feel extremely guilty. But, as Heather points out, they can't beat themselves up for feeling that way forever.]]
* CookingShow: Rooster pretends to be narrating one while he cooks breakfast.
--> Making scrambled eggs is like making love to a beautiful woman. You want to gentle, you want to take your time, you want to last. But most importantly, you want to use a shit-ton of butter.
* CoolOldGuy: Beau can be quite charming when he wants to.
* CoolOldLady: Maggie is liked by everyone in town. Running the local bar might have something to do with that.
* CorruptCorporateExecutive: Neumann’s Hill CEO Lisa Neumann is introduced as being just a shrewed business owner, but eventually betrays herself as being far more ruthless than she needed to be. In Part 7 she put a dam on a stream used by a half dozen independent ranchers, Colt included, which later made them more willing to just sell their ranch rather than fight her in court or spend more money to drill a well. Even though he was one of the few unaffected, Beau is also upset with her behavior.
* CosmicPlaything: Colt is genuinely trying to do better and be more honest with others, but nearly every step he takes ends up putting himself into an impossible situations where someone is going to be pissed at him.
* CountryMusic: Not only are the individual episodes named after Music/KennyChesney songs, but the show's soundtrack features songs by country artists like Music/TravisTritt, Music/GeorgeStrait, and Music/BrooksAndDunn.
* CPRCleanPrettyReliable: Colt delivers a calf who appears to be stillborn. After a few seconds of breathing into its mouth, not only is the calf revived, Colt is so good it's dried and blow-brushed of all its birth goo!
* CrazyPrepared: Beau keeps gun racks everywhere, including two in the bathroom.
* DadTheVeteran: Beau is a Vietnam veteran.
* DatingWhatDaddyHates: Abby's parents never liked Colt, according to her even before they were high school sweethearts. They adored Kenny, which made the transition to her and Colt getting together even more difficult. And even that is made much worse with [[spoiler:Heather being pregnant with Colt's child]].
* DeadpanSnarker: Most of the cast, but especially Rooster.
--> Beau: When you say stupid shit like that all day, do you go to bed proud of yourself?
--> Rooster: Yes, I do sir. [[ADateWithRosiePalms Then I do something else in bed]], and I feel ashamed.
* DeliveryGuy: Downplayed. Colt has to help birth a breech calf, but it's old hat to him.
* DietEpisode: Played with. In the third episode, Beau is diagnosed with high blood pressure and has to change his eating habits, including giving up alcohol and cutting back on red meat.
--> Doctor: What do you do to relieve stress?
--> Beau: Eat steak and drink whiskey.
* DudeNotFunny: An InUniverse example. In one episode, Colt steals Beer Pong Billy's taser. Billy does not find it funny at all, and explains that if he loses another taser he'll be kicked off the police force. Which begs the question of [[NoodleIncident how he lost the last one, and how many he's already lost]].
** Colt gives a similar reaction when Hank mistakes(?) Luke for Rooster and compliments him on how he looks without the beard. Colt glares at him and says “What the fuck is wrong with you?”
* EarnYourHappyEnding: [[spoiler:Colt & Abby get back together and he proves that the Trich outbreak amongst Neumann’s Hill’s cattle didn’t start at Iron River, forcing Lisa to drop the lawsuit against him; on top of that, he leverages Lisa into buying his herd for the price of Iron River.]]
* EstablishingSeriesMoment: The series starts out with a fairly typical sitcom set, pacing and premise. Near the end of the first scene Beau notices Colt's ugg boots and says "What the fuck are you wearing?" uncensored. Sets the tone for the characters and the format of the show, it's rated TV-MA on Netflix.
* EthicalSlut: Heather is one of the nicest characters in the show. She also happens to enjoy sex ''quite a lot''.
* EvenTheGirlsWantHer: Tonya Showers is so sexy, even Abby admits to being attracted to her.
* EverytownAmerica: ''The Ranch'' is set in Garrison, a fictional small town located in southwest Colorado near the famous ski town Telluride. The town's population is only 512 people, it has one stoplight, and a single high school [[spoiler:which gets closed down on Part 4.]]
* EverybodyHasLotsOfSex: The people of Garrison have quite overactive libidos, and the Bennetts more than anyone.
* {{Expy}}: Colt and Rooster are basically grown-up versions of Kelso and Hyde from ''Series/That70sShow'', and Beau is basically a cowboy version of Red Foreman.
** The fact that all of Season 1's episodes are named after Music/KennyChesney songs is similar to ''That '70s Show'' having seasons where all episodes are named after songs by Music/TheWho, Music/LedZeppelin, Music/{{The Rolling Stones|Band}}, or Music/{{Queen}}.
* ExtremelyShortTimespan: Each Part is generally over the span of only a few months, with a number of episodes covering mere days at a time. Part 1 begins mid summer while Part 2 ends around Christmas. The show ended up using a couple {{Time Skip}}s to catch up with the real world.
* FaceHeelTurn: [[spoiler:Mary Roth as of the episode, "Changes Comin' On," when it was revealed that she had been stealing money from Maggie's bar to fund her drug habit.]]
* FailureIsTheOnlyOption: Rooster felt he didn't have a choice but to stay and help on the ranch when Colt was accepted into college.
** Also applies to Colt's football career, in a roundabout way. He's not good enough to be a professional football player, but it seems to be the only thing he can do, so he keeps trying.
** Colt eventually calls Beau out on raising them like this, that he always berated them for whatever they did as the wrong option, while also berating them ahead of time for thinking of doing anything else, leaving them with nothing to do but fail in his eyes. Sadly he never seems to realize that Abby treats him the exact same way, constantly blaming him for never getting everything done to her satisfaction without giving any suggestion of exactly how he's supposed to do that.
* FamilyThemeNaming: Colt and Rooster are both animals; using Rooster's real name then it's Colt and Jameson -- a kind of horse and liquor, some of cowboy Beau's favorite things.
* FoolishSiblingResponsibleSibling: While both Bennett boys drink and sleep around a lot, Rooster stayed on the ranch to work while Colt pursued (and screwed up) a football career. As the series progresses, this is flipped - Colt [[spoiler:takes over the Peterson Ranch]] & gets his personal life in order, whilst Rooster gets fired from Neumann’s Hill for not taking his work seriously & remains in an on-off relationship that [[spoiler:ultimately leads to his death after being threatened into leaving town]].
* {{Foreshadowing}}: Colt says "Don't worry. I got all the unregistered guns I need." Season 7, Episode 10 ends with a gunshot.
* FormerTeenRebel: Implied that Beau used to be one as a young man, though it's not clear if he was still a teenager then. [[spoiler:Until his dad died after a bad argument they had. That convinced Beau it was time to focus on being a good rancher.]]
* GenreShift: The show was always about comedy and drama, but the show can be split into two sections: parts 1-5 which focused more on comedy with the Bennett family, and parts 6-8 which focused more on the drama following [[spoiler:Rooster's death]] and its long-term impact on the family and their friends. While the first section naturally had dramatic and serious moments it still resembled a sitcom, while the second section noticeably has the characters be in more life-threatening situations as well as dealing heavily with drug abuse and abusive relationships which made it look more like a drama with comedic moments.
* TheGhost: Beau used to have a hired ranch hand named Pedro that he had to let go due to financial hardship. Pedro is mentioned in a few episodes, but never seen.
* GossipyHens: It is almost impossible to keep a secret in Garrison, on account of how gossipy everyone is.
* GranolaGirl: Maggie reveals herself to be one, moreso than the family even expected. Especially compared to Beau, she's an environmentalist who wanted to do a lot more traveling and even has some tendencies towards being TheStoner.
* GroinAttack: Colt punches Rooster in the nuts for joking about sleeping with Abby.
* HappyEndingOverride: In the mid-season finale for Season One [[spoiler:the Bennett ranch is saved from going under, Colt and Rooster are both happy in their new relationships, and Maggie agrees to move back in with Beau. But in the final minutes of the episode, Maggie skips town and Abby breaks off her engagement with Kenny because she wants to be with Colt.]]
* HasAType: The only two girls Colt has had serious relationships with, Heather and Abby, look so much alike they could be related.
* HatesSmallTalk: Beau. Colt, to some extent
* HeadTurningBeauty: Whenever the hot weather girl on the local news station, Tonya Showers, is on TV, the Bennett men stop what they're doing to watch her.
* TheHedonist: Colt. As Beau explains, he's either drank, smoked, or screwed away every opportunity he's ever had. Rooster comments that if Colt inherited the ranch and sold it off, a lot of strippers in Denver would have money to buy new boobs.
* HeelFaceRevolvingDoor: Lisa Neumann routinely switches between friendly & serving an antagonistic role. It’s somewhat subverted, as she’s never malicious in doing so, but looking after her company’s interests. [[spoiler:Part 7 settles with her as a Heel, as she forces Beau to sell Iron River to her in exchange for dropping charges against Colt for destroying a dam that Neumann’s Hill were using to keep preserve water for their cattle at the cost of the local ranchers not having enough water for theirs.]]
* HiddenDepths: Heather at first appears to be TheDitz who ReallyGetsAround and merely a RomanticFalseLead getting in the way of Colt being with Abby. Abby tries to convince Colt to break up with her because she is so much younger (He's 35 and she's 22) and are [[FriendsWithBenefits barely even dating]]. When he tries to break up with her, she takes it maturely and they start to actually talk to each other, with Colt finding she's actually a championship rodeo participant and participated in 4-H. By the end Beau likes her more than Colt.
* IdiosyncraticEpisodeNaming:
** All of the episodes in Part 1 are named after songs by country music artist Music/KennyChesney. (See entry for {{Expy}})
** All of the episodes in Part 2 are named after Music/GeorgeStrait songs.
** For Part 3, the episode titles are named after Music/TimMcGraw songs.
** In Part 4 the episode titles are Music/GarthBrooks songs.
* InnocentFanserviceGirl: Described, but not seen. When a wealthy Hollywood celebrity buys one of the ranches in Garrison, Berto mentions that the owner's wife frequently relaxes in the hot tub while topless, and she doesn't mind if the ranch hands look at her.
* IronicEcho: Colt repeats his mom's words.
--> If it helps, we weren't facing each other.
* JadedWashout: Colt. Technically many of the cast members could fit this, but Colt's the one who had the most promise in high school. And played with, as Colt did manage to earn a championship ring as a 3rd string quarterback, but he screwed himself over with his poor behavior more than just not getting a chance.
* JerkJock: Colt. He's also very much a DumbJock.
* TheLastDJ: Part Two explores this as Iron River Ranch is among a dwindling number of family owned ranches, and Beau refuses any sort of deal with a corporate group because they would lose all bargaining power selling their livestock. Subsequently, the struggle of keeping Iron River afloat in the face of Neumann’s Hill expanding their monopoly is one of the core conflicts of the rest of the series.
* LawOfInverseFertility: In the second half of season one, [[spoiler:Colt and Heather have a sexual encounter after breaking up. At the end of the season finale, we learn that Heather became pregnant from that encounter.]]
* LimitedWardrobe: Colt usually wears a hat backwards along with a t-shirt and jacket. Rooster typically wears flannel. Beau wears denim and long johns. Maggie often has a shirt with Native American styling on it.
* LocalHangout: Maggie's Bar seems to be social hub of Garrison. TruthInTelevision, by the way; in small ranching and farming towns, the town bar is often where everybody gathers to unwind after hard day's work.
* LongLostRelative: In part 6 the Bennett family is visited by Luke Matthews, the son of Beau's brother who died years ago.
* LoveTriangle: Colt is still interested in Abby, who's dating Kenny.
* ManChild: Both the Bennett sons are this, in different ways.
* ManlyMenCanHunt: All three of the Bennett men enjoy hunting (and so does Maggie).
* ManlyTears: Colt has a heart-to-heart with Beau in Episode 3. Quickly subverted when Beau tells him he'll end up eating quinoa, "whatever the fuck that is."
* MathematiciansAnswer: Used as a running gag in one single scene, where Beau answers several of Maggie's this-or-that questions with "Yes", all of them showing his grumpy old man personality being heightened. Colt also [[BookDumb (ironically)]] gets in on this when Abby asks if Colt was sorry she saw Heather at his house during a hook up or if he was sorry he hooked up in the first place.
* MayDecemberRomance: Played with. Colt is 12 years older than Heather. Then Rooster picks up Heather's mom Mary, but points out that they're closer in age (4 years' difference) than Colt is to Heather.
* {{Metrosexual}}: Colt is critical of others' fashion choices (though he dresses like a fratboy himself) and is awfully attached to his hair care regime.
* MirrorCharacter:
** Colt and Beau are both stubborn, proud, and unwilling to admit being wrong. This frequently leads to heated arguments between them that almost turn into physical fights.
** Beau meets Lisa Neumann, owner of the Neumann‘s hill corporate ranches. They turn out to have a number of things in common, as Lisa also grew up on a ranch. She started her business because of an opportunity to buy the neighboring ranch, which was what Beau was looking to do with the Peterson Ranch.
* MistakenForCheating: When Beau's relationship with Maggie started falling apart, he befriended a widow named Brenda Sanders. Although their relationship never turned physical, rumors began circulating that the two of them were having an affair.
* MistakenForPedophile: Rooster.
--> If I avoided every girl I tried to kiss, I'd have to avoid the bank, the dentist, middle school. (Beat) Relax, you pervert, it was the crossing guard.
--> Colt: You tried to kiss a woman holding a big red stop sign?
** It's creepier when he asks a high school girl if she's a senior, and seems interested in a young woman who had her prom a year ago. He's 35.
** Pre-empted by Colt, when he is trying to have sex with Heather he confirms her age as 22. When [[InterruptedIntimacy his Dad barges in]] the first thing he exclaims is "She's 22!"
* MoodWhiplash: Although the show is primarily a comedy, it has moments where it becomes surprisingly dark and serious, usually in situations involving family conflicts or falling short of your goals.
* MsFanservice: Heather spends most of her scenes running around in cute underwear. It's even lampshaded by Colt.
--> Colt: What happened to your shirt?
--> Heather: Do you really care?
* NeverFoundTheBody: [[spoiler: After Rooster is run out of town, the police find his motorcycle at the bottom of a cliff after hitting a guard rail. They found his wallet and some clothing down the river, which made them declare him dead even though they never actually found him]].
* NeverMyFault: Colt won't accept responsibility for his screw-ups.
* NoSmoking: Averted in Part 3. Abby starts smoking again to deal with stress. The more aggravated she gets the likelier she is to smoke a cigarette.
* NotSoStoic: Beau has his moments of being more sensitive than he likes to let on. When Maggie left town he was more angry than anything else, but by the end of the episode was crying for her. In the first season finale he tries on Colt's Uggs and finds himself rather liking them.
* OneSteveLimit: Subverted. Rooster dates two girls named Linda.
--> Colt: Linda Miller? Is that Cute Linda or Pregnant Linda?
--> Rooster: They're both cute.
* OohMeAccentsSlipping: Abby, who's played by Canadian actress Creator/ElishaCuthbert, says "aboot" when agitated.
* OneHeadTaller: Colt is a whole foot taller than Abby and a little over 8 inches taller than Heather.
* OutlivingOnesOffspring: [[spoiler:Rooster’s disappearance & presumed death]] at the start of Part 6, with Beau & Maggie having to face the possibility of [[spoiler:outliving their eldest son]].
* {{Rancher}}: Beau, who's struggling due to the drought and depressed economy.
* PerpetualPoverty: The strained finances of the Bennett and their ranch play a central role in the story. The only point where they are flush with cash is just after selling their calves at market.
* ThePeterPrinciple: Rooster was hired by a corporation to run one of their ranches because he is an experienced rancher. Unfortunately he is from a family ranch and not accustomed to running an actual business. He puts off paperwork, ignores e-mails, brushes off project deadlines and tried to use company money taking employees to a strip club. He is eventually fired just as he starts trying to take the job more seriously.
* PoliceAreUseless: If "Beer Pong" is any indication. He leaves his gun in the refrigerator at one point.
* ProductPlacement:
** Maggie's trailer is always referred to by its brand name: Airstream.
** If somebody is drinking a beer, it's going to be Budweiser (which is a little strange because the show is set in Colorado where Coors is king), and if they're drinking whiskey, it will probably be Jim Beam.
** In Part 3 Colt gets a job as a stock-boy as Safeway.
* PutOnABus:
** Heather was a prominent character in parts 1-3, but after [[spoiler: she miscarries with Colts child]] she only shows up once in part 4. She makes more sporadic appearances in part 5 as she never actually left town, but not to the same degree as before.
** In Part 5 Rooster is forced to leave town because [[spoiler: Mary's [[PsychoExBoyfriend psychotic ex husband]] Nick approaches him with a gun and tells him to leave, threatening his family in the process]]. This is because Danny Masterson [[RoleEndingMisdemeanor was accused of sexual assault by multiple women and was officially fired from from the show]].
** Nick is PutOnABus after Beau threatens him, but then TheBusCameBack as of the last two episodes of Part 7.
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech:
** In the pilot, Beau delivers one to Colt, who has squandered every opportunity he's had.
--> They'll put that on your tombstone: Here lies Colt Bennett. Next time, it'll be different.
** In episode 15 of Season 1, [[spoiler:Kenny gives one to Colt after Colt confesses that Abby dumped Kenny to be with him.]]
** Colt finally gets to return the favor to Beau in a later season, calling him out for the fact that while he was always quick to shout at the boys for failing, he not only didn't acknowledge it when they succeeded, but refused to give them an option for success, blaming both Colt and Rooster for the mere existence of unwinnable situations that Beau himself often created.
* RecklessGunUsage: Colt and Rooster are quite cavalier with their guns, shooting at bottles with a revolver while drinking. [[spoiler:A ricochet almost hits Beau and ends up wrecking the living room TV]].
* RedemptionInTheRain: When Beau and Colt are arguing, about to come to blows, it suddenly starts raining (for the first time in a year). Colt claims to have brought the rain with him.
* RunningGag: Abby's snide remarks about Heather's age every time she runs into her and Colt.
* ShellShockedVeteran: A long lost cousin, Luke, got back from Iraq and is affirmed as having PTSD, being very quick to jump at sudden noises. Beau can relate, as he is reminded of Vietnam whenever he fills up the tractors with diesel.
* ShootTheShaggyDog: An in-universe example. Heather tells the story of a calf she owned called Dairy Potter. The calf became very sick and nearly died, but Heather managed to nurse it back to health. Shortly afterward, the calf was killed by a mountain lion.
* ShownTheirWork: The Animas River Spill, a real-life event that happened in the summer of 2015, is incorporated into the plotline of the show.
* SiblingRivalry: Colt and Rooster's relationship is mostly this.
* SnarkToSnarkCombat: Frequently happens when Beau and Rooster are talking to one another.
* SpiritualSuccessor: ''The Ranch'' is perhaps the first television sitcom since ''Series/{{Roseanne}}'' that seriously deals with the plight of working-class Americans instead of affluent urbanites (although unlike ''Roseanne'', ''The Ranch'' has a conservative slant rather than a liberal one).
* StacysMom: Mary, hot mom to both Heather and her sister Darlene, Rooster's blind date.
* StandardizedSitcomHousing: The show plays with it, as a lot of sets are in outdoor locations. Although parodied somewhat in one episode where a gas company employee came by to talk about a business opportunity, we first see her enter through the normal entrance as she wraps up talking with Beau, says her goodbyes and walks to the far end of the set, and the boys mention how weird it is for someone to use the ''front entrance'' of the house.
* StrongFamilyResemblance: Mary, along with her two daughters Heather and Darlene, are all very attractive blondes.
* TheStoner: Maggie, who tried to microwave a frying pan while high.
* StudioAudience: The show is shot in front of a live audience because it helps energize the actors.
* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: Dax Shepard joins the cast as LongLostRelative Luke Matthews after Rooster was written off due to legal problems with Danny Masterson. The series tries to temper it by waiting a few episodes and including a TimeSkip, but you can still catch the similarities.
* TakeThat: To Al Gore.
** Also to Barack Obama, and Democrats in general.
** In an interview with ''E! Entertainment News'', Danny Masterson (who plays Rooster) mentioned "It's usually Hollywood making fun of Middle America and we wanted to be Middle America making fun of Hollywood."
** Colt defends his Ugg boots by declaring that Tom Brady wears them. Beau’s response: "Yeah, well, Tom Brady gets away with a lotta shit."
** A real sly one to a fellow Netflix original show. With regards to Rooster staying at her place Mary tells him "I already have a ''Series/FullHouse'', I don't think I can handle a ''Series/FullerHouse''." It's actually rather innocuous, but the LaughTrack indicates it's intended as a dig. Part 5 outright mentions the show itself, saying it was like a disaster you can't stop watching.
* TherapyIsForTheWeak: Beau isn't interested in marriage counselling.
* TimeSkip: The second half of the first season takes place in the winter, several months after the end of the first half of the season.
* ToughLove: Beau thinks he is doing this to his boys as they have a long history of bad behavior, but it always results in a big argument that takes weeks to resolve and no lesson is really learned. This comes to a head in Part 5, as he [[spoiler: tells Lisa Neumann ''not'' to drop charges on Colt for stealing a generator (which Rooster actually stole, Colt was caught trying to get rid of it) and is also ready to sell the Peterson Ranch away from Colt all in the name of "teaching him a lesson." As it could result in jail time and he has a baby on the way]], Colt is furious and calls out Beau on how instead of encouraging him to do better all he sees is his father seemingly tormenting him. Beau ends up taking it to heart, and comes to admit how horribly he's treated his sons.
* TrollingTranslator: Colt tries to get Abby to break up with Heather via text. She sends a text telling Heather they have to meet in person.
* TheUnfairSex: Colt realizes he is being [[MasterOfTheMixedMessage strung along by Abby]] while she says she was trying to break up with Kenny. After an altercation he thinks they are done for and ends up backsliding with Heather. Abby finally breaks up with Kenny and goes to Colt to tell him the news, and both girls end up meeting. They turn all their anger on him and he accepts it, when in truth he was making an effort to do right by everyone and had horrible timing.
* TheUnfavorite: Both the Bennett boys seem to be this, depending on who's talking.
* {{Unperson}}: Due to Danny Masterson's controversial departure from the show, all of Rooster's photos are covered up in the Part 6 intro, replaced by photos of Abby and [[spoiler:her daughter with Colt.]]
* UnplannedCrossdressing: Colt likes wearing Uggs, and accidentally tries to put on Heather's.
* UnusualEuphemism: Beau refers to the cow's "address."
* UnsympatheticComedyProtagonist: All three of the Bennett men are assholes, to each other and to everyone in town, even their friends.
* TheVietnamVet: It's mentioned that Beau fought in the Vietnam War.
* ViewersAreGeniuses: The fact that Heather and Beau both used to belong to a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4-H 4-H club]] is brought up without explaining what the 4-H is and expecting the viewer to know.
* WellDoneSonGuy: Both Colt and Rooster long for their father's approval.
** Subverted with Beau, who says that while his dad was tough on him, the family was just glad he'd made it out of Vietnam alive.
* WhamEpisode: The Part 6 episode "Reckless," where [[spoiler:it is revealed that Rooster's motorcycle was found at the bottom of a cliff, with no sign of Rooster.]]
** Season 7's 10th episode ends with a gunshot.
* WhamLine: In the first season finale. [[spoiler:Heather: I'm pregnant.]]
** Rooster ends up drawing Colt and Umberto into a BarBrawl and are taken to jail. Beer Pong tells them [[spoiler:Umberto will be deported for being an illegal immigrant]].
** In part 8, we have this regarding [[spoiler: Nick's death]]:
-->[[spoiler:'''Heather''': I did it.]]
* WhamShot: In the first season mid-finale. [[spoiler:Maggie left town with her RV]].
* WhatTheHellIsThatAccent: The show is set in Colorado, yet the main cast seems to have vague, disappearing Texan accents.
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* CerebusSyndrome: [[spoiler:Rooster's death completely shifted the tone of the show further into drama than comedy, and had long-term impact on the characters and the direction of the story.]]
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* GenreShift: The show was always about comedy and drama, but the show can be split into two sections: parts 1-5 which focused more on comedy with the Bennett family, and parts 6-8 which focused more on the drama following [[spoiler:Rooster's death]] and its long-term impact on the family and their friends. While the first section naturally had dramatic and serious moments it still resembled a sitcom, while the second section noticeably has the characters be in more life-threatening situations as well as dealing heavily with drug abuse and abusive relationships which made it look more like a drama with comedic moments.
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** The fact that all of Season 1's episodes are named after Music/KennyChesney songs is similar to ''That '70s Show'' having seasons where all episodes are named after songs by Music/TheWho, Music/LedZeppelin, Music/TheRollingStones, or Music/{{Queen}}.
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** The fact that all of Season 1's episodes are named after Music/KennyChesney songs is similar to ''That '70s Show'' having seasons where all episodes are named after songs by Music/TheWho, Music/LedZeppelin, Music/TheRollingStones, Music/{{The Rolling Stones|Band}}, or Music/{{Queen}}.
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* ExtremelyShortTimespan: Each Part is generally over the span of only a few months, with a number of episodes covering mere days at a time. Part 1 begins mid summer while Part 2 ends around Christmas. The show ended up using a couple {{Time Skip}}s to catch up with the real world.
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TRS cleanup
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* AbsenteeActor: Maggie is gone for three episodes in Part Two.
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* AdultFear: [[spoiler:Rooster’s disappearance & presumed death]] at the start of Part 6, with Beau & Maggie having to face the possibility of [[spoiler:outliving their eldest son]].
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* OutlivingOnesOffspring: [[spoiler:Rooster’s disappearance & presumed death]] at the start of Part 6, with Beau & Maggie having to face the possibility of [[spoiler:outliving their eldest son]].
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Badass Mustache and Badass Beard are being merged into Manly Facial Hair. Examples that don't fit or are zero-context are removed. To qualify for Manly Facial Hair, the facial hair must be associated with masculinity in some way. Please read the trope description before readding to make sure the example qualifies.
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* BadassMustache: Beau, of course. Discussed when one of the boys suggests Creator/BurtReynolds has the all-time greatest mustache.
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Dewicking per TRS.
* MirrorCharacter:
** Colt and Beau are both stubborn, proud, and unwilling to admit being wrong. This frequently leads to heated arguments between them that almost turn into physical fights.
** Beau meets Lisa Neumann, owner of the Neumann‘s hill corporate ranches. They turn out to have a number of things in common, as Lisa also grew up on a ranch. She started her business because of an opportunity to buy the neighboring ranch, which was what Beau was looking to do with the Peterson Ranch.
** Colt and Beau are both stubborn, proud, and unwilling to admit being wrong. This frequently leads to heated arguments between them that almost turn into physical fights.
** Beau meets Lisa Neumann, owner of the Neumann‘s hill corporate ranches. They turn out to have a number of things in common, as Lisa also grew up on a ranch. She started her business because of an opportunity to buy the neighboring ranch, which was what Beau was looking to do with the Peterson Ranch.
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* NotSoDifferent: Colt and Beau are both stubborn, proud, and unwilling to admit being wrong. This frequently leads to heated arguments between them that almost turn into physical fights.
** Beau meets Lisa Neumann, owner of the Neumann‘s hill corporate ranches. They turn out to have a number of things in common, as Lisa also grew up on a ranch. She started her business because of an opportunity to buy the neighboring ranch, which was what Beau was looking to do with the Peterson Ranch.
** Beau meets Lisa Neumann, owner of the Neumann‘s hill corporate ranches. They turn out to have a number of things in common, as Lisa also grew up on a ranch. She started her business because of an opportunity to buy the neighboring ranch, which was what Beau was looking to do with the Peterson Ranch.
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* BandGeek: Kenny was in the band in high school.
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"It's" is a contractino of "It is." "Its" is possessive.
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The show ended up organizing it's episodes by "Part" instead of the traditional seasons. The first 10 episodes of Part 1 were released on Netflix April 2016. Part 7 was released September 2019. The eighth and final season was released January 24, 2020.
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The show ended up organizing it's its episodes by "Part" instead of the traditional seasons. The first 10 episodes of Part 1 were released on Netflix April 2016. Part 7 was released September 2019. The eighth and final season was released January 24, 2020.
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''The Ranch'' is a Netflix original series starring Creator/AshtonKutcher as Colt Bennett, a semi-pro football player who returns to his dad's Colorado ranch when his career goes south. He has to contend with his unambitious brother Jameson "Rooster" Bennett (Danny Masterson), his gruff father Beau Bennett (Creator/SamElliott), his equally tough mother Maggie (Debra Winger) and re-adjusting to small-town life.
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''The Ranch'' is a Netflix original series starring Creator/AshtonKutcher as Colt Bennett, a semi-pro football player who returns to his dad's Colorado ranch when his career goes south. He has to contend with his unambitious brother Jameson "Rooster" Bennett (Danny Masterson), (Creator/DannyMasterson), his gruff father Beau Bennett (Creator/SamElliott), his equally tough mother Maggie (Debra Winger) (Creator/DebraWinger) and re-adjusting to small-town life.
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Redlink removal
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''The Ranch'' is a Netflix original series starring Creator/AshtonKutcher as Colt Bennett, a semi-pro football player who returns to his dad's Colorado ranch when his career goes south. He has to contend with his unambitious brother Jameson "Rooster" Bennett (Creator/DannyMasterson), his gruff father Beau Bennett (Creator/SamElliott), his equally tough mother Maggie (Debra Winger) and re-adjusting to small-town life.
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''The Ranch'' is a Netflix original series starring Creator/AshtonKutcher as Colt Bennett, a semi-pro football player who returns to his dad's Colorado ranch when his career goes south. He has to contend with his unambitious brother Jameson "Rooster" Bennett (Creator/DannyMasterson), (Danny Masterson), his gruff father Beau Bennett (Creator/SamElliott), his equally tough mother Maggie (Debra Winger) and re-adjusting to small-town life.
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** Colt defends his Ugg boots by declaring that Tom Brady wears them. Beau’s response: "Yeah, well, Tom Brady gets away with a lotta shit."
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Dewicking per TRS decision.
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* BiTheWay: Abby ''really'' likes the weather girl.
** Heather also mentions she has experience with women.
** [[spoiler: Maggie]] also has a girlfriend in the last season.
** Heather also mentions she has experience with women.
** [[spoiler: Maggie]] also has a girlfriend in the last season.
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* HeadTurningBeauty: Whenever the hot weather girl on the local new station, Tonya Showers, is on TV, the Bennett men stop what they're doing to watch her.
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* HeadTurningBeauty: Whenever the hot weather girl on the local new news station, Tonya Showers, is on TV, the Bennett men stop what they're doing to watch her.
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* EarnYourHappyEnding: [[spoiler:Colt & Abby get back together and he proves that the Trich outbreak amongst Neumann’s Hill’s cattle didn’t start at Iron River, forcing Lisa to drop the lawsuit against him; on top of that, he leverages Lisa into buying his herd for the price of Iron River.]]
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Renamed to Head Turning Beauty in TRS.
* HeadTurningBeauty: Whenever the hot weather girl on the local new station, Tonya Showers, is on TV, the Bennett men stop what they're doing to watch her.
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* HelloNurse: Whenever the hot weather girl on the local new station, Tonya Showers, is on TV, the Bennett men stop what they're doing to watch her.
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** In part 8, we have this regarding [[spoiler: Nick's death]]:
-->[[spoiler:'''Heather''': I did it.]]
-->[[spoiler:'''Heather''': I did it.]]
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** [[spoiler: Maggie]] also has a girlfriend in the last season.
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* BiTheWay: Abby ''really'' likes the weather girl.
** Heather also mentions she has experience with women.
** Heather also mentions she has experience with women.
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* AbsenteeActor: [[spoiler:Maggie is gone for three episodes]].
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* AbsenteeActor: [[spoiler:Maggie Maggie is gone for three episodes]].episodes in Part Two.
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* FaceHeelTurn: [[spoiler:Mary Roth turned heel in the end of the episode, "Changes Comin' On," when it was revealed that she had been stealing money from Maggie's bar to fund her drug habit.]]
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* FaceHeelTurn: [[spoiler:Mary Roth turned heel in the end as of the episode, "Changes Comin' On," when it was revealed that she had been stealing money from Maggie's bar to fund her drug habit.]]
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* FoolishSiblingResponsibleSibling: While both Bennett boys drink and sleep around a lot, Rooster stayed on the ranch to work while Colt pursued (and screwed up) a football career.
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* FoolishSiblingResponsibleSibling: While both Bennett boys drink and sleep around a lot, Rooster stayed on the ranch to work while Colt pursued (and screwed up) a football career. As the series progresses, this is flipped - Colt [[spoiler:takes over the Peterson Ranch]] & gets his personal life in order, whilst Rooster gets fired from Neumann’s Hill for not taking his work seriously & remains in an on-off relationship that [[spoiler:ultimately leads to his death after being threatened into leaving town]].
* HeelFaceRevolvingDoor: Lisa Neumann routinely switches between friendly & serving an antagonistic role. It’s somewhat subverted, as she’s never malicious in doing so, but looking after her company’s interests. [[spoiler:Part 7 settles with her as a Heel, as she forces Beau to sell Iron River to her in exchange for dropping charges against Colt for destroying a dam that Neumann’s Hill were using to keep preserve water for their cattle at the cost of the local ranchers not having enough water for theirs.]]
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* TheLastDJ: The second half of the first season explores this as Iron River Ranch is among a dwindling number of family owned ranches, and Beau refuses any sort of deal with a corporate group because they would lose all bargaining power selling their livestock.
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* TheLastDJ: The second half of the first season Part Two explores this as Iron River Ranch is among a dwindling number of family owned ranches, and Beau refuses any sort of deal with a corporate group because they would lose all bargaining power selling their livestock.livestock. Subsequently, the struggle of keeping Iron River afloat in the face of Neumann’s Hill expanding their monopoly is one of the core conflicts of the rest of the series.
