Duane “Dog the Bounty Hunter” Chapman and his late wife Beth may have had a strong marriage, but even they had disagreements. The series premiere of Dog’s Most Wanted featured Beth and Dog searching for an elusive fugitive in Hawaii amid her cancer treatment, leading to a moment of friction between the beloved couple during the first episode.
Spoilers ahead for Dog’s Most Wanted Episode 1: “Like Father, Like Son”
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At the end of Day 1 of their first hunt in the series premiere, Dog and Beth share a tense moment when he dismisses one of her suggestions about next steps as the sun starts to set.
“Let’s call it off, it’s getting dark so here’s the deal,” Dog tells the team, with Beth on his right side. “The son comes once in a while, well, once in a while was today. So, if we catch the dad, we may trade the dad for the son.”
“Wow!,” Beth interrupts, disagreeing with his plan.
“Yeah,” Dog tells his wife. “I’ll let you go. You find your kid.”
“What do you mean? He’s got five warrants. I don’t think you can do that,” Beth says.
Duane responds, getting aggravated: “OK, well I’ll lie to him all right? Like you do to me.”
Dog quickly realizes what he said in the stressful moment and apologizes to Beth, giving her a kiss before the team separates for the night, to continue the search for the fugitive in the morning.
Dog’s Most Wanted follows Beth and Dog working to capture some of the most sought-after fugitives in the U.S., as Beth fights the final months of her battle with lung and throat cancer.
“My wife is, was, and always will be the heart and soul of Dog’s Most Wanted,” he said in a statement in July, when the show’s premiere date was first announced. “Beth wanted nothing more than for the show to go on, and I am so proud of the legacy that she left behind. She lived and died for this show, and she would be so proud of how hard we worked bringing these criminals to justice.”
Dog’s Most Wanted airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET on WGN America. The series is produced by Dorsey Pictures, a Red Arrow Studios company, along with Entertainment by Bonnie and Clyde. Chris Dorsey (“Building Alaska”), and Matt Assmus serve as Executive Producers for Dorsey Pictures. Dog and the late Beth are Executive Producers for Bonnie & Clyde.