After the conclusion of “Yellowstone” on December 15, 2024, fans were eager for more. With the releases of “1883” in 2021 and “1923” in 2022, fans knew that there was a major possibility of more spin-offs of the “Yellowstone” story. The fans were correct, with five more spin-offs being announced since May 2023, including; “1944,” “Dutton Ranch,” “6666,” “The Madison,” and the latest release, “Marshals.”
The main storyline of “Marshals” centers on character Kayce Dutton and his son, Tate Dutton, after the passing of Monica Dutton, Kayce’s wife and Tate’s mother, which occurs between the events of the finale of “Yellowstone” and the start of “Marshals,” with a little over a year having passed. Kayce joins the Montana State Marshals to help him find a new purpose after the death of his wife.
The first episode of “Marshals” aired on March 1. So far, there have been seven episodes released to mixed reviews. “The acting is terrible, the story lines are predictable, and it’s boring. Every cliche you’ve seen in procedurals, this has them, and it takes itself wayyy too seriously,” states @Dontchu W on Rotten Tomatoes, giving Marshals one out of five stars. In a more positive review, @Gino H on Rotten Tomatoes gives it four out of five stars, stating that “it starts off a bit slow, but stick with it. It really finds its footing. What feels like a slow burn at first ends up paying off, and it’s turning out to be much better than I expected.”
Many people compare “Marshals” to the very popular “NCIS” series, giving the show the nickname of “NCIS: Montana.” @John F gives the show a one out of five star rating: “Calling this mess a ‘western’ is a mean, low down, dirty, crying rotten shame! This is NCIS in Montana with cowboy hats.”
After watching the first seven episodes, I also have mixed feelings about “Marshals.” The first four episodes were not very good. The death of Monica Dutton comes out of the blue. The acting is not very good, since the actors don’t seem like they care very much and show little to no emotion in any scenes. One-episode-long plots contributes to negative reviews. The next three episodes were a little better in terms of the plot, with Episodes 5 and 6 being a two-part plots. The acting throughout all of the episodes is still pretty poor, especially for a few well-known
actors, including the likes of Luke Grimes, Michael Cudlitz, and country star Riley Green.
If you are a fan of “Yellowstone,” I do think that you should watch this to learn more about the story of Kayce and Tate Dutton. Besides that, there isn’t very much to look forward to with this show. The acting is subpar, the plots aren’t very interesting, and it doesn’t really feel like a story that is a-part of the “Yellowstone” story.
As of now, “Marshals” has a “Tomatometer” of 42% (consisting of critic reviews) and a “Popcornmeter” of 28% (consisting of audience reviews). Only six more episodes of Season One are yet to be aired, as well as being renewed for a future Season Two coming out in the fall of 2026. I am clearly not the only viewer who doesn’t have very much hope or excitement for the future of “Marshals,” but only time will tell if the future of this show can prove critics and audiences wrong.
