‘Marshals’ Boss Explains Exactly What Happened to That Missing ‘Yellowstone’ Character

“Marshals” marks the TV return of Kayce Dutton from the world of “Yellowstone,” though this time he is missing a key member of his life.

The CBS spinoff series follows as the youngest son of Kevin Costner’s John Dutton inevitably joins a team of US Marshals to investigate crimes in the Montana region he calls home. Episode 1 picks up his story about around 12-15 months since the events of the “Yellowstone” finale, and find Kayce struggling to move forward while raising his son Tate (Brecken Merrill) — now on his own after the death of the love of his life Monica (Kelsey Asbille).

“Where we meet him [again,] he’s kind of at the end of his emotional road … he loses his soulmate, “ Grimes told reporters during a Television Critics Association virtual press day in February. “I remember thinking, ‘How is this going to work?’

“The really great device of our show is that Kacey finds a purpose and a reason to get up in the morning, and that comes from his old SEAL buddy,” he added. “Obviously he has his son too, but beyond that we find a really lost man.”

The episode keeps mostly mum on the circumstances behind Monica’s death. Other than introducing Kayce and Tate still living at their small ranch in Montana, the cowboy is haunted by dreams where he can’t find his wife only to wake up being alone in his bed.

When he agrees to help the team of marshals monitor a protest against toxic mining in the preservation, Tate’s participation in the demonstration fills in the gaps that Monica died from getting sick after being poisoned by the water.

“She did get sick, got cancer and passed away,” “Marshals” creator Spencer Hudnut said, adding that her illness and death took place in between the months between shows. “For Luke and everyone involved with ‘Yellowstone,’ it was important to use that death to [shine] a light on an issue. On reservations, the cancer rate is actually extremely high.”

“This is what actually pulls Kacey into this world. Monica is kind of guiding Kacey to find his new path,” he added.

By the end of the premiere episode, Kayce begrudgingly agrees to join the team fulltime, kicking off a procedural-style chapter in the “Yellowstone” saga. This marks the first project within the TV universe not to be spearheaded by Taylor Sheridan — though Hudnut said his DNA and influence is ever present on the show, despite not being involved in the day-to-day.

And despite shifting from its flagship cable TV home to a broadcast network, don’t expect “Marshals” to step away from its character-driven franchise history. It also welcomed back Gil Birmingham and Mo Brings Plenty as “Yellowstone” characters who jumped into the new show — and only one of them ended up severely injured by the end of the premiere.

“We use the cases of the week, or the the missions, as a way to reveal something about our characters,” Hudnut said. “This is not a hardcore procedural where by the end of the first act, we’ve been through seven red herrings and are putting clues together. It’s really a character forward show.”

“Marshals” airs Sundays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on CBS and streams the next day on Paramount+.

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