Marshals Is Fighting Against A Dark Yellowstone Trend It Started In The First Place
by Joe Roberts · /FilmThis article contains spoilers for "Marshals" season 1, episode 6, "Out of the Shadows."
"Marshals" announced its arrival by killing off a controversial character in the worst way possible. When the CBS series debuted, we learned that Kelsey Asbille's Monica Dutton had died prior to the start of the season. Not a lot of detail was provided at the time, but "Marshals" has slowly revealed what happened to Kayce Dutton's (Luke Grimes) wife, confirming she died of cancer from a polluted river. We've also seen the show try to honor the character as much as it can, which is a strange thing to witness when "Marshals" literally started out by giving Monica such a dishonorable death. In that sense, by making Monica's passing so unceremonious, "Marshals" seems to have continued a dark trend from "Yellowstone" while simultaneously doing all it can to make up for it.
A recent report claims Monica was killed off to help differentiate "Marshals" from "Yellowstone." Why? Because Paramount has a deal with NBCUniversal whereby "Yellowstone" and any continuation series must stream on the NBC-owned Peacock service. In order to keep "Marshals" in-house, then, Paramount had to ensure it wasn't a direct continuation of the mothership show. An off-screen death helped indicate that this was less of a continuation and more of a spin-off.The trouble is that Monica has always gotten short shrift, and her death felt like the continuation of a dark trend that began on "Yellowstone" and is continuing in "Marshals."
Monica has always felt like somewhat of a punching bag for the "Yellowstone" universe. Despite being one of the only characters with any sense, she was routinely subjected to harrowing ordeals, from physical assault to the kidnapping of her son. Now, after six episodes, we're in the strange position of witnessing "Marshals" try to honor Kayce's late wife and even add to her backstory after having dispatched her off-screen.
Monica Dutton endured untold tragedy and trauma on Yellowstone
"Marshals" showrunner Spencer Hudnut explained Monica Dutton's death as a way to propel the new series, robbing Kayce Dutton of his quiet life and pushing him towards a new career in law enforcement. But Hudnut's explanations elsewhere have been a little perplexing at times, with the showrunner telling The Hollywood Reporter:
"Tying her death to a real-life issue that we could shine a little bit of a spotlight on [was right]. Our reservations have really high cancer rates, and it's because of all the terrible things that have been done to them. So that felt like a way to honor that character."
Committing the cardinal sin of crime thriller/procedural writing by fridging the wife and then trying to paint it as a noble sacrifice that brings attention to a real world issue is a bold choice. I'm not sure it worked, especially given Monica's prior treatment on "Yellowstone."
The character endured enough in five seasons to reduce the average person to a quivering wreck, from the aforementioned physical assault and kidnapping of her son to being strangled by a serial murderer and rapist and witnessing the violent death of that same killer. Monica even lost a child in the final season. As IndieWire's Kristen Lopez wrote back in 2022, the character is "routinely traumatized, threatened, and injured for what the series presumes is impact and significance but feels like cheap television theatrics." With "Marshals" killing Monica off-screen after five seasons of this protracted trauma, the show seemed to be continuing a similar trend, which didn't exactly bode well. Ever since, however, the writers seem to be obsessed with apologizing for it, which is very weird.
Marshals is trying to make up for something it helped perpetuate
Monica Dutton was broken after just one season of "Yellowstone" despite her attempts to push back against the Duttons and the vortex of drama in which they live. Meanwhile, fans were turning against Monica, in yet another ugly trend that has seeped from "Yellowstone" to Taylor Sheridan's "Landman." Kelsey Asbille's character became controversial, seemingly because she wasn't willing to go along with the dangerous nonsense surrounding her and her family. For that, she somehow became known as a boring scold by less discerning members of the audience.
In reality, her and Kayce's heartfelt love story was as important to "Yellowstone" as the criminal activity. It seems "Marshals" at least knows that, given how it's been trying to honor Monica's legacy with its most recent episodes. In the fifth installment of season 1, for instance, after girls go missing from the Broken Rock Reservation, we learn that Monica previously worked for an advocacy group raising awareness about this very real issue. As episode 5 and 6 play out, the story becomes about Kayce doing right by his wife by finding those girls and ultimately attending a remembrance ceremony for his late wife, where several members of the reservation also pay their respects.
It's all about making the best of Monica, and perhaps even fighting back against the view of her as a controversial figure in the "Yellowstone" universe. That's all well and good, but given how this show killed her off so swiftly and with so little explanation, it all just feels incongruous at the very least and disingenuous at worst.