*Marshals* represents a new type of *Yellowstone* spin-off. Rather than being a prequel series tracing the Dutton family lineage through generations of westward migration and land disputes, it is a contemporary series following an actual *Yellowstone* character—Kayce Dutton (Luke Grimes), the youngest son of the late patriarch John (Kevin Costner)—beyond the events of the flagship series. And instead of being a streaming series boasting sumptuous period detail and movie stars like Harrison Ford, *Marshals* is a broadcast police procedural drama that bears only a vague family resemblance to *1923*, *1883*, *Yellowstone*, or even other series in executive producer Taylor Sheridan’s extensive portfolio.
For starters, *Marshals* is one of the rare Sheridan shows not created by Sheridan himself—a writer notoriously hands-on in the creative process who once claimed to have no idea what a script coordinator actually does. (The series was originally titled *Y: Marshals*, but dropped that explicit link during the course of its development.) Instead, this CBS series is merely "based on characters created by" Sheridan and *Yellowstone* co-creator John Linson, and is primarily steered by Spencer Hudnut, whose credits include *SEAL Team* and *The Blacklist: Redemption*. *Marshals* aligns as much with Hudnut’s résumé as it does with Sheridan’s megapopular neo-western—often described, reductively but not entirely inaccurately, as a *Succession* for "red states."
Creators: Spencer Hudnut, Taylor Sheridan
Stars: Luke Grimes, Logan Marshall-Green, Arielle Kebbel
Compared to those serialized dramas, *Marshals* features the lower production values and "case-of-the-week" structure typical of more conventional, functional broadcast programming—that is, the hallmark of CBS ("The Eye"). *Yellowstone* has shape-shifted to adapt to its new habitat. Of all the Duttons, Kayce has long been the closest thing to a conventional hero: a military veteran and loving husband to Monica (Kelsey Asbille)—a Native woman from the fictional Broken Rock Reservation in Montana—whose marriage often places him at odds with his own family. When Pete Calvin (Logan Marshall-Green), an old comrade-in-arms of Kayce’s, asks him to join the tactical unit he leads within the U.S. Marshals Service, it makes the Dutton family’s prodigal son a far more suitable candidate for hunting down villains than, say, his sister Beth (Kelly Reilly)—who is set to get her own spin-off on Paramount+ sometime this year.
In addition to the loss of his father—who was abruptly written out of the storyline in what appeared to be a gesture of defiance toward Costner, following public disputes with Sheridan over filming schedules and other conflicts—Kayce is mourning another recent loss. CBS has forbidden me from revealing the details of Kayce’s grief—an absurdity, given that this sudden absence in his life effectively serves as the catalyst for the *Marshals* series and permeates the entire storyline; suffice it to say, however, that this event makes him even more protective of his teenage son, Tate (Brecken Merrill), and leaves him longing for *Piya Wiconi*—a Lakota phrase meaning "a new beginning," which also serves as the title of the series’ premiere episode.
*Marshals* never quite manages to overcome the jarring abruptness of this turn in Kayce’s life, nor the lack of any real explanation for it. (In the three episodes provided to critics, the specific cause of death is merely hinted at, never explicitly stated.) Nevertheless, this context renders Kayce an even more stripped-down, solitary figure—ready to integrate into a new environment carrying the bare minimum of baggage from his past on *Yellowstone*.
Kayce’s new team is—as one might expect—a most motley crew: Belle (Arielle Kebbel), a former ATF undercover agent whose personality is as reserved as her tight-fitting attire is revealing; Andrea (Ash Cruz), a cop’s daughter who irritates the local cowboys by playing Latin hip-hop on the jukebox at the *country* bar; and Miles (Tatanka Means), a member of the Broken Rock police force who decides to join the federal authorities. Between missions—such as crowd control at an anti-mining protest or busting a fentanyl deal between neo-Nazis and a Latino gang (naturally!)—the group drinks beers and forges bonds of camaraderie—in the strictly platonic sense of the term, of course—in a field office that resembles a hangout spot more than a workplace. Although they themselves represent authority, the squad is nonetheless assigned a father figure to roll their eyes at and rebel against: U.S. Marshal Harry Gifford.
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