One of the most revealing takeaways from recent interviews with Natalie Alyn Lind and Jai Courtney is their shared belief that the Jackson family’s toxic dynamic didn’t begin with Rob-Will Jackson alone.

Instead, both actors point to one person at the center of the family’s emotional damage:

Beulah Jackson.

For much of Season 1, viewers have blamed Rob-Will for the family’s collapse. His reckless decisions, unstable behavior, and repeated failures as a husband and father have made him an easy target. However, both Lind and Courtney argue that the situation is far more complicated than simply labeling Rob-Will as the source of every problem.

According to Natalie Alyn Lind, Beulah has always been a controlling figure whose need to dominate everyone around her shaped the family long before the events of the series.

She describes Beulah as someone who constantly imposes her own expectations on others, rarely allowing family members the freedom to make their own choices. Throughout Oreana’s life, Beulah has been the parent who says “no,” sets strict rules, and attempts to control every aspect of her daughter’s future.

Jai Courtney expands that idea even further.

The actor believes Beulah didn’t just control Oreana—she also raised Rob-Will under the same pressure.

According to Courtney, the way Beulah currently treats Joaquin mirrors the way she once treated Rob-Will himself. Rather than encouraging independence, Beulah relies on authority, criticism, and control, creating an environment where emotional wounds are passed from one generation to the next.

In that sense, Rob-Will isn’t simply the villain of the Jackson family.

He’s also a product of it.

Both actors suggest that the Jackson family’s tragedy is best understood as a cycle that has repeated itself for decades.

The pattern looks something like this:

Beulah shapes and emotionally scars Rob-Will.

Rob-Will, carrying those unresolved wounds, unintentionally passes much of that pain on to Oreana.

Now, the next generation finds itself struggling with the same emotional baggage.

Rather than depicting one person as entirely responsible, Dutton Ranch presents a story about generational trauma—how unhealthy relationships, emotional neglect, and controlling behavior continue to echo through a family unless someone finally breaks the cycle.

This interpretation also helps explain why none of the Jackson family members are portrayed as completely good or completely evil. Beulah may genuinely believe she’s protecting her family, Rob-Will may sincerely love his daughter despite repeatedly failing her, and Oreana may create chaos while still longing for acceptance from both parents.

Their relationships are messy because every character has inherited emotional scars from the generation before them.

As Season 2 approaches, Natalie Alyn Lind and Jai Courtney’s comments suggest that the future of the Jackson family won’t simply revolve around choosing sides between Beulah and Rob-Will. Instead, the series appears poised to continue exploring how years of control, resentment, and unresolved pain have created a cycle that now threatens to consume yet another generation.