Netflix's neo-western drama Ransom Canyon returns for its second season on Thursday, 23 July, less than two years after the streamer began testing the genre with a mix of gritty and cosier offerings. The series, starring Josh Duhamel and Minka Kelly, has proved a solid streaming performer despite a mixed critical reception, and its return continues Netflix's push to build out a Western slate alongside titles such as Little House on the Prairie, American Primeval and Godless.

Set in a Texas ranching town, Ransom Canyon follows Duhamel's Staten Kirkland and Kelly's Quinn O'Grady, whose romance has repeatedly stalled, most recently when Quinn was offered a music opportunity in New York at the end of season one. The show leans heavily on familiar neo-western tropes, including rivalries and double-crossing, which left critics unmoved — season one holds just a 45% score on Rotten Tomatoes — but audiences responded far more positively, rating it 72%. Season two promises more of the same dynamic with "some new energy" as Staten and Quinn's storyline continues.