Throughout the first season of Dutton Ranch, I’ve had the passive belief that Beulah Jackson’s granddaughter Oreana was a scheming and dreaming teenager with only the slightest of age gaps between her and Finn Little’s Carter. I guess I hadn’t put that much thought into it, but her living situation and general behavior were enough to convince me that she was still too young to buy alcohol. Boy, was I wrong.
Season 1 set to potentially get deadly with its finale when it hits the 2026 TV schedule, but before all that, co-star Natalie Alyn Lind is amassing her own body count by shooting down any and all misguided understandings about how hold Oreana is, and how much older she actually is than Rip and Beth’s woeful ward. Speaking with People, the 26-year-old Lind addressed the confusion and cleared it all up, saying:
Everybody keeps on making these references to the fact that they think my character is supposed to be a high school student. A huge part of our storyline is that my character is supposed to be years older than Finn's. My character is supposed to be 24, and his character's supposed to be 19.
In hindsight, knowing that Oreana is in her mid-20s does shed some logical light on past sequences. I never thought she was in high school, to be sure, but anytime she was referenced as being an Aggie, I guess I just thought she was a current college student who just never goes to class, and not someone who'd already graduated. (Assumedly.)
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On the other hand, knowing that she's 24 makes her situation with Beulah and Rob-Will all the more baffling. You'd think she'd be skimming the family's wealth in order to pay for her own apartment somewhere. Maybe it's just a lot easier not worrying about paying rent, though.
As well, it's interesting to learn that Carter is now considered to be 19, and I'm sure there are some timeline issues that could be addressed. But I'll just take that detail in stride without thinking about it too much, or else we might be here all day.
Natalie Alyn Lind continued, pointing out that the already confirmed second season could be a source of background info for her character. As she put it:
I always find it really funny when [fans are] like, 'She's supposed to be playing high school.' I'm like, no, not really, but you'll see more about that later. I feel like — hopefully, fingers crossed — Season 2 will be able to dive more into her background and her story to show who she is as a person.
Lind also shared that the hope is that Season 2 will peel back the layers to show audiences what led to her and her dear old dad Rob-Will becoming such "messed up" people. I guess I hadn't thought about either of them having an influential impact on the other in years past, but it sounds like that could be the case, for better or worse. I'm just glad he's not my dad. And my dad is dead, so what does that tell you?
WIll Carter remain butt-hurt by Oreana's actions throught the Season 1 finale? Find out when it streams via Paramount+ subscription on Friday, July 3, and then later on Paramount Network at 8:00 p.m. ET.
