Spoiler Warning Ahead For The First Episode Of Marshals
Luke Grimes leads the new Yellowstone spin-off, Marshals, which premiered on CBS on Sunday (March 1). The series is also available to stream on Paramount+.
Marshals follows Grimes’ Kayce Dutton as he pursues a “new beginning” in life by joining an elite team of U.S. Marshals in Montana. Yellowstone stars Brecken Merrill (Tate Dutton), Gil Birmingham (Chief Rainwater), and Mo Brings Plenty (Mo) all reprise their roles in the new series.
Fans quickly noticed that Kayce’s wife, Monica (played by Kelsey Asbille), wasn’t featured in any announcements or promotional photos for Marshals. Then, when the show’s first trailer referenced a major loss in Kayce’s life, people assumed that something had happened to Monica.
Consider this your spoiler warning; we’re about to reveal a key plot point from the Marshals premiere.
In the first episode of Marshals, we learned that Monica Dutton died of cancer. Later in the episode, it was revealed that her cancer may have been caused by toxins dumped near a mine on the Broken Rock Reservation.
Monica’s death occurred off-screen, so we never actually see her in Marshals.
As expected, Monica’s death had a profound impact on Kayce, pushing him to pursue his new path and purpose in life by working with the Marshals.
Luke Grimes Called Kelsey Asbille To Tell Her About Monica’s Death
After playing a couple on Yellowstone for so many years, Luke Grimes and Kelsey Asbille formed a close bond.
“I was heartbroken for myself and for [Kelsey],” Grimes told TV Insider when describing his initial reaction to learning about Monica’s death. “It felt like, ‘I don’t even know what that would look like doing it without her, what that would feel like.’ Kelsey’s become one of my best friends. She’s the coolest actor I’ve ever worked with. She’s down to earth, sweet, and kind to every other actor and the crew.”
So when Grimes learned about Monica’s tragic fate, he called Asbille to see how she was doing. He told TV Insider how Asbille reacted to the news:
“I worked up the courage to call. I didn’t know how she was going to feel about it. I had to see how she was doing. 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.”
Marshals Creator Shares The True Reason Monica Was Written Out Of The Show
Marshals creator Spencer Hudnut also spoke with TV Insider about Monica’s death.
He said that after she and Kayce “had such a beautiful ending” in Yellowstone, he wondered whether a show about a “happy” Kayce was something people wanted to see.
“We had to shake up his life, to get him off the ranch and into a new position,” Hudnut said when explaining the reason behind their choice to write Monica out of the show.
“Obviously, we can’t just watch this guy have his dream life. There’s no drama. 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?”
Hudnut also hopes that Monica’s death will draw attention to real-life issues. He told TV Insider that reservations have high cancer rates because of the various toxins that have been dumped on them over the years:
“We wanted to make her death about a bigger issue,” he said. “We wanted to be very respectful of that character.“
Although Monica is gone, Hudnut says, “Her spirit is with Kayce throughout the show.”
Stay tuned to see how Monica’s death continues to affect Kayce and the story Marshals has to tell. New episodes air every Sunday at 8 PM ET on CBS.
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