‘The Ranch’: What Happens After Part 5’s Cliffhanger

The Ranch Part 5 ended on a major cliffhanger, and Part 6 picks up right where we left the Bennett family.

Spoilers ahead for The Ranch Parts 5 and 6.

Fan will recall that the ending of Part 5 saw Rooster Bennett (Danny Masterson) being run out of town by Nick (Josh Burrow). Rooster had been hooking up with Nick’s ex-wife and now-girlfriend Mary (Megyn Price), and Nick was not going to let it happen again.

“You got two choices,” Nick told Rooster after breaking into his hunting cabin. “Either take that bag and disappear, or you could just disappear.”

Rooster attempted to stand up to Nick, but was held at gunpoint and forced out of the cabin. As Rooster exits, Nick issued one more threat.

“Rooster, you tell anyone about this, and I’ll start with your family,” Nick said.

Jumping ahead to Part 6, many assumed the plot would fast forward ahead of Rooster’s departure, which was brought on by the real life sexual assault accusations levied against Masterson. However, Part 6 begins the morning after the cabin confrontation.

Rooster’s father Beau (Sam Elliott) is shown drinking coffee in the ranch’s kitchen with his girlfriend, Joanne (Kathy Baker). Rooster’s brother Colt (Ashton Kutcher) soon drops in with coffee and doughnuts, and it is made clear the family has no clue that Rooster has left town.

“You guys seen Rooster?” Colt asks. “He wasn’t at the hunting cabin. The bike’s gone. Joe at the Circle K said he didn’t stop in for his morning Red Bull and nachos.”

Beau and Joanne shrug it off as Rooster just running late for work and Colt moves on. After a few more hours, he looks for Rooster again, this time at the local bar. He asks Mary if she has seen him, and she also has no clue that he is gone.

“I mean, how many places, could he be?” Mary says. “Here, the ranch, Dairy Queen, the strip club, the other Dairy Queen?”

They then discuss Nick’s past threats to Rooster, which worries Colt even more. However, he carries on with his day and meets Beau to hunt down a wolf. They discuss Rooster there, with Beau still not seeming alarmed at the absence.

“He’s only been gone for 12 hours,” Beau says. “That’s not missing, that’s late. If that were you, that’d be early.”

Colt then confronts Nick, who clearly knows more than he is letting on.

“Look Colt, I like you. You’re a good guy. Me and you don’t have a problem. So don’t make one,” Nick says. “The only thing i know about your brother is that he likes to fuck other guys’ girlfriends. And that can get a man in trouble.”

The two then get into a brawl outside Nick’s home as the first episode of Part 6 ends.

In the following episodes, more is divulged about Rooster’s disappearance. His bike is found wrecked with bloody clothes nearby, and a hotel room being charged to his credit card is found abandoned. His body is never found, but the Bennetts decide to assume to worst and mourn Rooster’s presumed death. However, Colt does spend a lot of time theorizing that Rooster could have faked his death, so the possibility of Rooster still being alive out there is still possible.

All episodes of The Ranch are currently streaming on Netflix.