The following story contains spoilers for the opening moments of Marshals.
THE EVENTS OF Marshals take place approximately one year after the conclusion of the main flagship Yellowstone series. And while viewers are certainly excited to catch back up with Kayce (Luke Grimes), the youngest and arguably most badass member of the Dutton clan, they’re also met almost immediately with a pretty jarring change: his wife throughout the entire Yellowstone series, Monica (Kelsey Asbille), is no longer in the picture. And we learn later in the episode that she’s died during the time-gap after being diagnosed with cancer due to pollution near the Broken Rock Reservation where they live.
This comes as no major surprise to any Yellowstone fan who had been paying attention in the lead-up to Marshals, as Monica was not featured in any of the marketing for the show. This raised eyebrows for fans, considering Kayce and their son, Tate (Brecken Merrill) are both key parts of the show—and Kayce was going to need some kind of motivation to go back into the action that fuels the show. After all, Yellowstone ended with their family unit deciding to go off and live a peaceful life, right?
Marshals is, in many ways, setting the stage for what might come in the Yellowstone expanded universe, as it’s the first of several sequel or spinoff series to hit the air this year (The Madison will launch later this month and Dutton Ranch is expected to release later in 2026). If the show is willing to make a move as significant as killing off an original character, what more could be coming?
As Marshals just now begins its 13-episode first season, we’ll see throughout the run what kind of groove it settles into, and what direction it might take. Given that Marshals lives on CBS while The Madison and Dutton Ranch are on Paramount+, there’s a chance that the former ends up in a more procedural ‘story of the week’ format, while the other two take more of Taylor Sheridan’s signature zigs and zags. But time will tell, and for now, we’ve got to let Kayce and the rest of his Dutton/Broken Rock Reservation clan mourn.
How is Monica dead in Marshals? And why?
Monica is, indeed, dead when we pick things back up in Marshals, having died as a result of cancer brought on by toxins dumped by corporations in the Broken Rock Reservation. The first episode deals with the fallout of this several times, as Kayce feels guilt over her loss, and worries about both how Tate feels in the aftermath, and about his own abilities as a single father. We also see protests against the corporations and pollution that we learn led to her death.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Grimes said that Monica’s death provided a good reason for Kayce to evolve in Marshals and eventually take on the Marshal job with his old friend Cal (Logan Marshall-Green).
“Obviously we can’t just watch this guy have his dream life. There’s no drama,” he said. “Something’s gonna have to happen that gets in the way of him having that. Otherwise, why is he gonna take a badge? The last time we saw him, he was throwing a badge in a field. Is he gonna go pick it up?”
He continued, saying that Monica’s loss could fuel Kayce into doing whatever Marshals wants him to do next. “A person in that kind of pain could do anything,” he said. “There’s something very volatile and very kinetic about that.“
For the sake of clarity, Marshals creator Spencer Hudnut said in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter that Asbille, who played Monica throughout the duration of Yellowstone, wasn’t available for the show. He says he’d been working through ideas for the Kayce spinoff series with executive producer Taylor Sheridan and Paramount, but this helped him lock in on an idea.
“When that happened, it cleared up what that thing was for Kayce,” the showrunner said. “It wasn’t like Luke and I were sitting there saying, ‘We should kill Monica.’ It was more like, ‘If she’s not available for this, then what’s the best way to move on from that character in the least exploitive way?'”
Grimes also said in an interview with TV Insider that he spoke with Asbille about the ultimate decision to kill off Monica.
“I worked up the courage to call,” he said. “I didn’t know how she was going to feel about it… We had a great conversation. In true Kelsey fashion, she handled it like a pro and totally understood. She’s going to do just fine. She is so talented, gorgeous, and awesome. She’s going to work. That’s not an issue.”
Evan is the culture editor for Men’s Health, with bylines in The New York Times, MTV News, Brooklyn Magazine, and VICE. He loves weird movies, watches too much TV, and listens to music more often than he doesn’t.
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