Dutton Ranch Season 2 Reveals New Showrunner: SEAL Team’s Benjamin Cavell

Just three days ahead of the “Dutton Ranch” Season 1 finale, Paramount+ has announced a new showrunner for the “Yellowstone” spin-off, following the departure of original showrunner Chad Feehan, TVLine has learned.

Benjamin Cavell, who created the CBS-turned-Paramount+ drama “SEAL Team,” will take over as “Dutton Ranch” showrunner for Season 2. In addition to “SEAL Team,” Cavell created the Stephen King MGM+ horror series “The Institute,” and co-created “The Stand” for Paramount+.

Cavell also worked on all six seasons of FX’s “Justified,” ending the show’s run as an executive producer; he wrote and co-executive produced Showtime’s “Homeland” and “Sneaky Pete”; and he served as a consulting producer on the drama series “Godfather of Harlem.”

And this isn’t the first time someone from the “SEAL Team” world has made their way to the “Yellowstone” universe. Spencer Hudnut, who served as showrunner for “SEAL Team,” is currently the showrunner of CBS’ “Yellowstone” spin-off “Marshals.”

“Dutton Ranch” was officially renewed for Season 2 earlier this month. A return date has not yet been announced.

As for the reason behind Feehan’s departure from “Dutton Ranch,” Puck News reports that Feehan —who previously created “Lawmen: Bass Reeves,” another Taylor Sheridan-produced series for Paramount+ — left the show amid alleged behind-the-scenes friction with stars Cole Hauser and Kelly Reilly, along with “other key players.”

Puck reports that Hauser, Riley, Sheridan, and his producing partner David Glasser were unhappy with how Feehan ran the production, though they were not unhappy with the actual scripts.

Feehan’s work as showrunner officially ends with the upcoming Season 1 finale, set to debut Friday July 3 on Paramount+ (3 am ET) and Paramount Network (8/7c). The episode will feature the return of Joaquin’s father Mariano, someone who will shake things up in Rio Paloma like never before.

“He knows that making that call will change everyone’s life, just one phone call,” actor Juan Pablo Reyes told TVLine of Joaquin turning to his father for help. “He knows that, and it’s really hard to make it. So what comes for Joaquin is a lot of heartbreak, because every single second after that phone call, he knows that it’s his responsibility. It’s like pressing a nuke. You know everything’s going to end, but you don’t see any other way of doing it.”