Joaquin actor says he didn’t shoot Rob-Will
SPOILER ALERT: This post contains spoilers from the ninth episode of ‘Dutton Ranch’, ‘El Padrino,‘ which is now streaming on Paramount+.
The season finale of “Dutton Ranch” ends with a bang when Rob-Will (Jai Courtney) is gunned down on his front doorstep. Although we didn’t see the trigger being pulled, it seems likely that the shooter was his adoptive brother Joaquin (Juan Pablo Raba), who was ordered by his father, Mariano (Raoul Max Trujillo), to carry out the murder in order to regain control of the 10 Petal Ranch.
The murder throws Rob-Will’s daughter Oreana (Natalie Alyn Lind) and his mother, 10 Petal matriarch Beulah (Annette Bening), into hysterics, and will obviously be a crucial chess piece as Rip (Cole Hauser) and Beth (Kelly Reilly) try to get Carter (Finn Little) back from the Mexican cartel.
But in a post-final interview with Raba, the actor revealed he isn’t convinced Joaquin was the one who actually pulled the trigger.
“Let me ask you a question: do it You Do you think Joaquin killed Rob-Will? he asks during the interview. “I mean, here’s the deal, and I’m not being brutal here. I don’t think he did it! No way. If you follow the timeline of the scene, you can watch it again, but Rob-Will says “Bye” to Oreana. 15 or 20 seconds later you hear a shot and there is no cut. So whoever did it, literally: Ding-dong, the door opens, shoot the guy. Are you telling me Joaquin did that? That? He’s not drunk. He’s not drugged. And why? Because a man, his father, who he must honestly hate in so many ways, asked? I think there are still a lot of questions that need to be answered.”
Raba says this season’s arc completely changed Joaquin and the way he portrayed him.
“He is completely out of his element,” he says. “This man is not a cowboy. This man is not a murderer. This man, for God’s sake, he’s a college boy! His most prized possession is his A&M ring. His education, that’s the one thing no one’s going to take away from him. Now suddenly he’s got a gun to his head; now that he’s dealing with murderers, he has to call his father. He doesn’t want to be like his father. He wants to be a Texas rancher. He could have made that call Twenty years ago, but he didn’t want to. So everything that happened to him happens is just so bizarre, and he doesn’t act like he has things under control anymore.
As for next season, Raba says he doesn’t know what to expect, but he’s eager to see what new challenges Joaquin will face.
“I’m eager to get a new script and hopefully star in it,” says Raba. “Here’s the deal: I think one of the most interesting things about any Taylor Sheridan-related universe is that there are no good guys or bad guys. It’s the circumstances that ultimately make the characters. Can you say at this point that Rip and Beth are completely good characters? You support them, right? So my question now for Joaquin is, ‘Where does he go from here?’ I’ve played bad guys, and all those bad guys came from very ordinary places: money, drugs, power, revenge. I’ve never played a villain, or a guy in general, who’s from there heartache.
“I think Joaquin’s heartbreak is what prompted that phone call,” he continues. “What ultimately changes everything, the lives of everyone around him, is heartbreak. It’s because you don’t fit in. It’s because you tell people, ‘Hey mom, I did everything right. Your real son is a Real fuckup, but I did everything right. I went to college, I got my degree. I’ve been cleaning up your mess for years and years. I don’t even have a family of my own. And you’re not giving me this? What is it, my blood? Is it my color? Is it my culture?’ I think that translates very well to this particular historical moment that we’re living in, not just in the US, but in the world. Why won’t you love me? I didn’t do anything wrong. I think it’s great motivation for whatever comes next for Joaquin in a potentially different season. I think it is a wonderful place to work.”
