[This story contains spoilers from the second episode of Marshals and the series finale of Yellowstone.]
How much of Yellowstone will loom over Marshals? The second episode of the new CBS series starring Luke Grimes gave viewers a good idea of how Marshals plans to walk that line.
The sequel-spinoff that premiered March 1 sees Grimes reprising his role as Kayce Dutton, the surviving son to the late Dutton patriarch played by Kevin Costner on the megahit Paramount Network series. Yellowstone was the most popular show on television when it signed off in December 2024. So, when we recently asked showrunner Spencer Hudnut if he will be servicing the fans of Yellowstone or catering to a potentially new audience, he had an easy answer.
“It would be really foolish to turn our back on that,” he told The Hollywood Reporter heading into the premiere, citing not only the flagship show’s uber-success but also the richness of the Dutton backstory. He also noted that Kayce is still living on the Montana land of the Dutton family’s ranch — just now in the corner of it that he calls home with his son Tate (Brecken Merrill) following the unexpected death of his wife Monica Dutton (played by Kelsey Asbille in Yellowstone). Monica’s death was revealed in the premiere, and it’s the tragic hook that convinced Grimes to reprise the role, and co-creator Taylor Sheridan to jump on board and executive produce Marshals, which Hudnut wrote.
“The balancing act was building off of Yellowstone, but in a way where people who didn’t watch that show can still follow along. And then over time, as we get to know the non-Yellowstone characters more, they can carry the story more,” said Hudnut. “But I think we will always have that connective tissue to Yellowstone. It’s what makes the show unique, so I think we will always try to service that.”
Even viewers who have never seen Yellowstone will have caught wind of Kayce squirming in this week’s second episode at the mention of the “Zone of Death,” which is the real Idaho section of Yellowstone National Park just outside of Wyoming where there are no citizens and no law enforcement so, therefore, crimes committed there go unpunished.
“Local legend has it that it’s been a dumping ground for the region’s most depraved criminals,” says Harry (Brett Cullen), the chief of the Montana U.S. Marshals unit that Kayce has taken up with, in the episode. When Harry then asked Kayce if he’s heard the tale, since his family has been in the area for a century, Kayce said this: “First I’m hearing of it.”
Yellowstone viewers know that’s a lie.
In Yellowstone proper, the Zone of Death was called “the train station.” Over the series’ five seasons, the violent Dutton family dumped many dead bodies there and would communicate with each other by saying they had taken someone to the train station. Most notably, Kayce and his sister Beth Dutton — played by Kelly Reilly, who will be starring in the upcoming Dutton Ranch spinoff with Cole Hauser‘s Rip — dumped the dead body of their brother, Jamie Dutton (Wes Bentley), in the Zone of Death in the series finale, leaving a big Dutton cliffhanger for any series that would continue to follow this Montana family.
So now comes Marshals, where Jamie’s “disappearance” is mentioned several times in the second episode that aired Sunday night. Harry, who is clearly not a fan of the vengeful Dutton family, pressed Pete (Logan Marshall-Green), Kayce’s former Navy SEAL buddy who brought him on, about what Kayce knows about his fugitive brother. Even fellow agent Andrea (Ash Santos) questioned Kayce on the whereabouts of Jamie, who seems to have just vanished.
Kayce remains a man of few words when asked, but time will tell how he can continue to evade the question over the course of this first season’s 13 episodes. “We certainly end the season in a propulsive way that paints us into a corner and demands us coming back for season two,” Hudnut had teased to THR, also saying he was open to a Beth Dutton crossover — should the spinoff shows’ stars align.
Marshals releases new episodes Sundays at 8 p.m. on CBS, streaming on Paramount+ the next day.
