Ransom Canyon

On paper, Ransom Canyon could have been just another modern TV Western misfire. On the screen, however, Ransom Canyon executes its simple premise at a high level, balancing at least a dozen great characters that will win audiences over with their storybook earnestness and Southern charm.

There is no reason on Earth not to enjoy this well-made, nicely acted, soapy, soap-bubble show, whose 10 episodes have been laid out whole for you to binge. Come for the messy lives, the promise of love, the old-fashioned values.

“Ransom Canyon” doesn’t offer anything viewers haven’t seen or experienced on television (or between the pages of a romance novel). However, this is what makes it such a delightful watch.

There’s nothing brand new here, but there didn’t really need to be. “Ransom Canyon” is a totally competent and delightful cowboy-themed soap that might give you a bit of what “Yellowstone” failed to bring in its final seasons.

No one is going to mistake Ransom Canyon for prestige television. But it’s certainly a soapy, guilty pleasure, anchored by performances from Duhamel and Kelly that make you want to see both of their characters get what they want, which is each other.

Maybe Ransom Canyon’s more vibey elements are all that matter to the show’s intended audience anyway. .... If they do notice the themes echoing through the show—the dubious ethnic representation, say, or the stagnant gender politics—maybe these things can be brushed aside as they watch a woman almost have it all, if only one mopey man could see her worth. But that doesn’t make it any less of a bummer.

There may be enough romance novel enthusiasts to keep “Ransom Canyon” afloat — I can’t claim to be one — but it’s hard to see anyone else flocking to these hills. After rushing to set its narrative stakes in the first 30 minutes, it forgoes urgency. The love triangles muddle the skullduggery, and vice versa.

It is featureless and formulaic, happy to borrow just a fraction of your attention while you mostly focus on other things. This is not entirely a net negative, or at least not for everyone; background shows can have their place in an omnivorous TV diet. But it can, the longer and more closely you try to watch it, make for a stultifying experience.

Romance fans will lap it up. Everyone else may wonder if they aren’t watching a comedy that has misplaced its laugh track. The dialogue is often guffaw-out-loud funny.