How The Ranch Gets Rid of Danny Masterson’s Rooster

The Ranch has proven to be a successful series for Netflix since its inception on the streaming service in 2016, but turmoil behind the scenes has forever altered the show. Late last year, one of the show’s lead actors, Danny Masterson, saw his name hit the headlines due to multiple sexual assault allegations against him. Because of the seriousness of the accusations, the decision was made to remove Masterson from the series. Having shot some material for the third season already, Masterson’s character Rooster was only shown in the first half of the season. He will not be coming back to reprise the role, and with this week’s release of the second set of episodes for season 3, we now know the fate of his character.

Previously, Rooster was written out when he was threatened by his ex-girlfriend’s new boyfriend. Told he’d be killed if he didn’t leave town, Rooster gathered some of his belongings and split. In the newest episodes which just premiered on Netflix, what has actually happened to Rooster has since been revealed, and it’s not good news for the character. His motorcycle is located at the bottom of a cliff, prompting his family to investigate the scene. They discover that Rooster has apparently died in the accident, which seems to put a permanent end to Masterson’s time on the show.

Curiously, however, Rooster’s body is missing, which still keeps his fate slightly ambiguous. Because of this, his brother Colt (Ashton Kutcher) is convinced that Rooster is merely faking his death. He’s so sure he’ll see his brother again that Colt refuses to go to the memorial service for the character. It’s only after he received a surprise package from Rooster, apparently sent before the motorcycle accident, that Colt realizes his brother is gone. The lack of a body does suffice for viewers preferring to believe the character indeed faked his death and is now living it up on an island somewhere. In any case, however, it’s extremely unlikely we’ll see Masterson written back into the series at this point.

In response to his character’s alleged demise, Masterson offered support for the show on Instagram. He calls The Ranch “incredible,” urging his followers to support the series. Masterson spoke about how it would have been much easier for the writers to simply end the show once he was fired, but instead, they buckled down to “create new heartbreaking and hysterical storylines.” It seems Masterson harbors no ill will towards the people still working on The Ranch over his unplanned exit, and even though he’s no longer involved, the actor is still watching and supporting the series.

On Halloween of this year, Netflix put in the order for a fourth season of The Ranch. There’s still plenty of story left to tell with the Bennett family with Rooster no longer there, and the show will likely return in 2019 with many more all new episodes. The first three seasons of the series are all now available in full to binge on Netflix. You can take a look at Masterson’s response to his character being written out from his official Danny Masterson Instagram.