Will 'Ransom Canyon' Be Netflix's Next 'Virgin River'?

Netflix's new contemporary Western/romance 'Ransom Canyon' has some similarities to 'Virgin River.'

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Are Staten and Quinn the next Mel and Jack?

by Megan Elliott

Published on April 17, 2025

Netflix might have another hit on its hands. 

Ransom Canyon, the streamer’s new Texas-set romantic drama, is already drawing comparisons to several other popular shows, including fan-favorite series Virgin River. But will the new show – which stars Minka Kelly and Josh Duhamel – be able to match the success of Virgin River, which was renewed last year for a seventh season, making it Netflix’s longest-running current original series? Only time will tell, but we think Ransom Canyon has a chance for a long life at Netflix. 

Ransom Canyon traces the intersecting lives of multiple families in the ranching community of Ransom Canyon, Texas. 

Duhamel plays stoic rancher Staten Kirkland, who is trying to carry on after some devastating personal blows. Kelly plays Quinn O’Grady, who has moved home to Ransom from New York City to run the town’s dance hall. As you might guess, there’s some serious romantic tension between Staten and Quinn, who are old friends. But Staten’s brother-in-law and fellow rancher Davis Collins (Eoin Macken) also has feelings for Quinn, setting up a potentially messy love triangle. More drama comes in the form of a proposal to build a pipeline through local ranchland, putting Davis and Staten at odds over the town’s future. 

Ransom Canyon is based on a series of novels by Jodi Thomas, and the show delivers a hefty dose of soapy small-town drama and romance that definitely recalls Virgin River. But the ranching drama also gives the new show a Yellowstone-esque edge. And the introduction of various high school age characters recalls the Texas-set Friday Night Lights, with scenes of cheerleaders on the sidelines at a football game bringing to mind Kelly’s Lyla Garrity character on that cult favorite series.

Will Netflix viewers fall in love with Ransom Canyon the same way the did with Virgin River? On paper, the show ticks all the boxes: attractive, compelling characters, a gorgeous setting, juicy plotlines, and a rich well of source material. (Thomas has written nine Ransom Canyon books.) Staten and Quinn certainly have the potential to be the next Mel and Jack, and the host of side characters means there are plenty of opportunities for other stories to tell and mysteries to unravel. But despite some similarities with Virgin River and other shows, the team behind Ransom Canyon stresses that’s it’s its own thing. 

“[The goal] is to create something that isn’t a knockoff. It is something that exists on its own in its own world,” cast member Jack Schumacher, who plays the mysterious Yancy Grey, told Us Weekly. 

Creator, writer, and executive producer April Blair said she hopes audiences fall in love with the world of Ransom Canyon, and that they’re eager to come back for more.  

My favorite feeling is when a show ends, and you don’t want it to end,” Blair told Netfix’s Tudum. “It makes you feel warm and familiar, and you don’t want to let go. It’s how I feel about the show watching it. I want them to feel joy and love, but also excitement about the mysteries and the drama that we have going.”

Ransom Canyon is streaming on Netflix. 

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