EXCLUSIVE: Staten and Quinn will be staying together forever as Netflix has opted not to proceed with a third season of the Texas romantic drama Ransom Canyon starring Josh Duhamel and Minka Kelly.
The decision comes a month and a half after Season 2 was released on July 23.
Ransom Canyon, an adaptation of the Jodi Thomas novels, already was on borrowed time.
After a respectable but not massive viewership for Season 1, the series found itself somewhat on the bubble last year. It was eventually renewed for Season 2 more than two months after the premiere with a reduced order (eight episodes vs. 10) and a creative overhaul that included a supporting cast shakeup.
With the storyline reset and other major changes, I hear the second installment was creatively better received internally. But, following a similar trajectory as many Netflix sophomore shows recently, Ransom Canyon returned below Season 1 levels, logging 4.1 million views for its first week of release, down 43% from its 2025 opening week, which collected 7.2 million views.
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The drama managed to bring Season 1 back into Netflix’s weekly Top 10 for a week, which is important to the streamer, but the new installment fell off the Top 10 after only three weeks vs. four for Season 1.
With Netflix weighing cost vs. performance for its renewal decisions, the Season 2 viewership likely was not enough to secure another season for a show that has considerable budget given its marquee-name leads.
One of the things for which Ransom Canyon will be remembered is that Kelly stood her ground and asked for pay parity with Duhamel when she was offered the co-lead opposite him in 2022. It was a bold move amid a post-pandemic, post-peak TV industry contraction but it paid off — as Deadline reported last year, while she did not achieve full parity, Kelly came close to it and praised Netflix for their response to her request.
Other sophomore Netflix series this year with similar or bigger year-to-year premiere week viewership slides that have managed to secure third seasons include Running Point (-43%), The Four Seasons (-63%) and several shows that had been renewed ahead of their Season 2 debuts including The Gentlemen (-45%), Avatar: The Last Airbender (-59%) and A Good Girl’s Guide To Murder (-76%).
Netflix series to recently score a renewal also include Tires, My Life With the Walter Boys, Free Bert and Big Mistakes.
Ransom Canyon follows childhood friends-turned-star-crossed lovers Staten Kirkland (Duhamel) and Quinn O’Grady (Kelly) who never seem to be able to get their timing right.
The duo were tested again in the second season with Quinn getting briefly engaged to someone else but by the end, unlike the Season 1 finale which saw Staten and Quinn split up, they were in a good place — and very much together. In fact, as opposed as Season 1, the Season 2 closer of Random Canyon did not drop any jaw-dropping cliffhangers, which would bring some consolation to fans who had invested in the series and its characters for two seasons.
The finale did set up a potential love triangle for Ellie (Marianly Tejada) and a possible larger Season 3 presence for Staten’s half-brother Levi, played by Steve Howey, who deserved more than the single scene he was in.
In Season 2 of Ransom Canyon, the titular Texas town hangs in the balance as ranching dynasties unravel, hearts switch allegiances and the overall future of small town culture built on ranching and agriculture comes under scrutiny.
April Blair served as showrunner, creator and executive producer. Executive producers included stars Duhamel and Kelly as well as Dan Angel, Bradley Gardner and Joe Fazzio.
