The new CBS series Marshals brings Kayce Dutton back to television, but it arrives with a different heartbeat than its parent show. Showrunner Spencer Hudnut faced a unique challenge when he took on the job of continuing the story of Taylor Sheridan’s beloved character. He had to honor the weight of Yellowstone while building a weekly procedural for network TV. In recent interviews ahead of the show’s March 1 premiere, Hudnut broke down exactly how the original series influences every decision in the writers’ room.
Hudnut, who spent years running SEAL Team, knew that copying Sheridan’s exact writing style would be a mistake. Instead, he focused on capturing the emotional core that made Yellowstone resonate with millions. He describes his approach as trying to serve the audience the same way the original did, just in a different format.
“I think it’s less about trying to follow his writing style per se, but always being true to the universe and to the characters,” Hudnut explained to Parade . He acknowledged that a CBS procedural cannot linger the way a Sheridan drama does. “Not every scene in a CBS procedural can be John Dutton talking to his daughter at the corral about her dead mother. There are moments where you just need to get out that shoe leather and get the case moving along.”
But Hudnut insists the goal remains the same. The team works hard to tap into the themes that connected with the Yellowstone audience. Violence, grief, family, and the struggle between man and nature all carry over. “So we’re really trying to be true to the world and those themes,” he said, “knowing full well that there are moments that will not necessarily feel like a Yellowstone show.”
The Reluctant Hero Returns Only Because His World Crumbles
Getting Luke Grimes back on board was not automatic. The actor loved how Kayce’s story ended in the Yellowstone finale. Kayce rode away with Monica and Tate, finally at peace after years of trauma. Grimes told USA TODAY that he was “really on the fence” when the idea first came up .
It took a personal call from Taylor Sheridan to get Grimes to listen. Sheridan told him to hear the pitch, even if he decided against it. When Grimes finally spoke with Hudnut, the conversation clicked immediately.
“I quickly realized that Luke is a very smart guy. He is also a true artist,” Hudnut told The Hollywood Reporter . “We both knew from the jump that Kayce had such a great ending on Yellowstone that, as Luke said in that conversation, ‘What are we going to do, watch him be happy? That’s pretty boring.’”
The answer came when the team learned that Kelsey Asbille, who played Monica, was unavailable for the series. That news cleared the path for the show’s central conflict. Monica dies of cancer before the events of Marshals, a death linked to toxic exposure on the reservation. This loss flips Kayce’s entire world and gives him a reason to stop ranching and pick up a badge.
“It wasn’t like Luke and I were sitting there saying, ‘We should kill Monica,’” Hudnut clarified. “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?’” .
A Non-Traditional Procedural That Leans Heavy on Character
Marshals follows Kayce as he joins an elite unit of U.S. Marshals in Montana. His old Navy SEAL team leader, Pete Calvin (Logan Marshall-Green), recruits him for his local knowledge and combat skills. The team includes Andrea Cruz (Ash Santos), Miles Kittle (Tatanka Means), and Belle Skinner (Arielle Kebbel).
Hudnut describes the show as a “non-traditional procedural” . Each episode features a case, but the character work drives the story. The team must balance the psychological cost of their jobs with their personal lives. For Kayce, that means raising his son Tate (Brecken Merrill) while processing grief and learning to trust new people.
The showrunner emphasized that he tries to make even the necessary exposition feel meaningful. “Hopefully those moments where you have to get that exposition out are also rooted in a character moment, or revealing something about one of our characters,” he explained .
Grimes, who also serves as a producer on the series, admitted he had no interest in a standard case-of-the-week show. He called procedurals “low on the totem pole” in his mind before this experience . But Hudnut assured him that Marshals would carry longer arcs and deep character work. The pitch worked.
Familiar Faces Ground the Story in Yellowstone Lore
While Monica is gone, Marshals does not abandon the Yellowstone universe. Gil Birmingham returns as Thomas Rainwater, the chief of the Broken Rock Reservation. Mo Brings Plenty also reprises his role as Mo, Rainwater’s right-hand man. Their presence connects Kayce to his past and to the land.
Hudnut told Parade that the relationship between Kayce and Rainwater will be a major focus of season one . The Yellowstone finale showed these two men becoming brothers in a powerful scene. Marshals explores that bond further. Rainwater becomes a surrogate father figure to Kayce, who has lost nearly everyone he loves.
The show also introduces new characters who know nothing about the Dutton family. This allows the writers to feed information to the audience naturally. As Kayce’s teammates learn about his past, viewers who never watched Yellowstone can catch up.
“What’s super helpful is that Kayce’s joined a team where some of them are from different parts of the country and don’t know all the Dutton legends,” Hudnut said .
Country singer Riley Green joins the cast in a recurring guest role. He plays Garrett, a former Navy SEAL who shows up at the ranch hoping to lean on Kayce and Cal for support. This marks Green’s acting debut .
How Taylor Sheridan Helped Without Writing a Single Script
Sheridan remains an executive producer on Marshals, but he is not involved in the day-to-day writing. This marks the first time a Yellowstone-universe show has launched without Sheridan penning the first season.
Hudnut admitted the situation intimidated him at first. Pitching ideas to the man who created these characters felt daunting. “Whenever you’re pitching someone, you want to be the best writer in the conversation. If you have a better writer with you, you want them to be next to you, not across from you,” he told The Hollywood Reporter .
Sheridan made himself available during the early stages and helped Hudnut nail down the show’s direction. But once production started, Hudnut took full control. “He made himself available to me and was super helpful in kind of getting this off the ground and really nailing down what the show should be,” Hudnut said. “If anything ever comes up and we need him, he’s there for us. But he has so much on his plate that I really sort of view it as my job to keep from adding to that” .
Hudnut eventually realized he could not try to be Taylor Sheridan. He had to trust his own instincts. “Part of the work was really getting under the hood of the character and Taylor’s writing style, and eventually realizing that all I’m going to be doing if I’m trying to be Taylor is doing a Taylor Sheridan cover band, which is not great for anybody” .
The Look and Feel Remain Authentic to the Yellowstone Brand
Despite the shift to network television, Marshals maintains the visual language of its predecessor. Grimes told The Globe and Mail that the production team used the same “visual bible” as Yellowstone . The lenses, the lighting style, and the sweeping landscape shots all carry over.
Grimes also brings a personal touch to the premiere. His original song “Haunted” plays during the emotional final moments of episode one. He wrote the song about losing someone close to him and sent it to Hudnut, hoping it would elevate the scene . Hudnut agreed immediately.
The series filmed in Utah, returning to the same soundstage where early seasons of Yellowstone were shot. Grimes described the experience as surreal. “So eight years later, I was wearing the same costume on the same soundstage with a completely different cast and crew,” he recalled . “It was like a fever dream, so bizarre. But also comforting.”
Release Schedule and Where to Watch Marshals
Marshals premiered Sunday, March 1, at 8 p.m. ET on CBS in the United States . The series also streams on Paramount+ for viewers who prefer on-demand watching.
For fans in the United Kingdom, new episodes arrive on Paramount+ every Monday starting March 2 . The show follows a weekly release pattern rather than dropping all episodes at once.
The first season consists of 13 episodes. CBS has announced titles for the first four installments :
- Episode 1: “Piya Wiconi” – March 1
- Episode 2: “Zone of Death” – March 8
- Episode 3: “Road to Nowhere” – March 15
- Episode 4: “The Gathering Storm” – March 22
Amy Reisenbach, president of CBS Entertainment, explained that the network wanted the show to work for both linear and streaming audiences. She assured viewers that the production value would match fan expectations. “We don’t do cheap,” she said when asked about the budget .
The series marks a significant shift for the Yellowstone franchise. Previous shows like 1883 and 1923 launched on Paramount+. Marshals represents the first attempt to bring this universe to a broadcast network audience.
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