‘Marshals’ Did Monican Dutton – and ‘Yellowstone’ Fans

You’d have thought the creative team behind Yellowstone and Marshals would have learned their lesson.

Nope. The biggest mistake in franchise history just repeated itself. You bet this article contains spoilers about Ep. 1 of Marshals on CBS.

• The series premiere of Marshals was on Sunday (March 1).
• Luke Grimes returns as Kayce Dutton, who joins an elite team of U.S. Marshals in Montana.
• Actor Brecken Merrill (Tate Dutton), Gil Birmingham (Thomas Rainwater) and Mo Brings Plenty (Mo) are three Yellowstone characters announced as cast members of Marshals.

READ MORE: Here’s How to Watch Marshals, the Yellowstone Spinoff Based on Kayce Dutton

Before beginning, I’d like to make it clear that, overall, I felt the premiere was strong. Network procedurals are often clumsy to start, but Marshals really wasn’t.

The action was captivating and the dialogue felt as natural as possible, given the premier’s larger goal of introducing a half dozen new characters to us while simultaneously trying to remind us how Season 5 of Yellowstone ended.

My criticism is laser-focused on the handling of Monica, as played by Kelsey Asbille.

What Happened to Monica from Yellowstone?

Hopefully you watched Ep. 1 of Marshals, because I’m about to reveal what happened to Monica Dutton.

Short version: she died in the space between the end of Yellowstone and the beginning of Marshals.

It takes a few minutes for viewers to get all the details, but eventually we learn that she was diagnosed with cancer and died fairly quickly. I say quickly because it would seem about one year passed between the two shows and her gravesite indicates the burial wasn’t fresh (more plants than dirt etc …).

Her death wasn’t too surprising. Monica / Asbille was absent from the show’s trailer and all promotional events. Additionally, a clip from the official trailer featured a body being covered up by a sheet.

Zoom in on the nightstand to find a half dozen or so pill bottles. If you squinted, you knew whoever died in Kayce’s bed was very sick.

The creative team explained Monica’s death as a necessary turning point to get Kayce Dutton to re-join a law enforcement agency so soon after he gave up the badge to protect his family at the end of Yellowstone S5.

This makes sense. Sure, one could argue a more creative solution that involved Monica is out there, but I couldn’t think of one …

How Marshals Did Monica Dirty

… at first. Why rush Kayce’s commitment to the Marshals? A short Season 1 could have featured a recruitment period and his emotional torment. The show did this anyway, but it was all boiled down to one episode.

Then, Monica dies — could you imagine the buzz and the cliff hanger! — and a switch flips. He’s out to avenge her death as much as he is to bring peace to Montana. Perhaps he’s chasing the same villain across two seasons. It works!

Kevin Costner‘s failure to reach an agreement with Paramount led to John Dutton’s off screen death during Season 5 of Yellowstone. That was disappointing, but understandable. The footage wasn’t there to kill him on camera, and the show could hardly switch actors at that point.

Producers had time and a willing Kelsey Asbille ahead of Marshals. In fact, Luke Grimes recalls having to tell his friend and on-screen wife she’d been fired.

“In true Kelsey fashion, she handled it like a pro and totally understood. She’s going to do just fine,” he told TV Insider.

Never mind that it’s absolutely wild that he had to make that phone call. Grimes is being a good soldier in saying he understands the decision, and to a certain extend Asbille is too, via radio silence on social media.

So I’ll say what Yellowstone fans are thinking: The decision to nix Monica is disrespectful to the actor, the character and fans who learned to love her over five seasons of Yellowstone.

READ MORE: 17 Most Stunning Deaths In Yellowstone Franchise History

“Learned to love” is the key phrase there. Early on, Monica was kind of whiney, and Asbille’s acting was a bit flat.

By Seasons 4 and 5 that wasn’t the case. She brought heart and warmth to a show that was at times cold and increasingly abrasive. Kayce and Monica were couple goals by the end.

Will Monica Appear in Flashbacks on Marshals?

There was another clip from the trailer that shows Kayce turning to acknowledge a shrouded woman approaching behind him. The form looked like Monica’s, although you can’t see the face.

Given what we now know — and given Taylor Sheridan’s penchant for flashbacks in the Yellowstone franchise — it seems possible Asbille joins the show as a spirit to help guide Kayce.

Then again, nobody is teasing that this could happen, and if the promotion of Marshals to date has taught us anything, it’s that this new show is allergic to surprises.