The first “Yellowstone” spinoff is here.
Airing Sunday, March 1 on CBS (8 p.m.) and Paramount+, “Marshalls” follows Casey Dutton (Luke Grimes) as he joins a team of U.S. Marshals led by his old friend Pete Calvin (Logan Marshall-Green), a new twist that combines Casey’s cowboy talents with his military background.
The obvious question is, how does it differ from “Yellowstone”? It’s a mixed bag, but it has a lot to offer fans of the original show.
As a quick review, “Yellowstone” is a hit TV show created by Taylor Sheridan that aired on Paramount from 2018 to 2024. It was essentially a cowboy “Succession” that followed patriarch John Dutton (Kevin Costner, who was allegedly involved in some behind-the-scenes drama) and his adult children, Casey, Beth (Kelly Reilly), and Jamie (Wes Bentley). As Pete notes in “Marshals,” the Dutton family was more or less the Rockefeller family of Montana.
After the events of the series, Beth and her husband Rip (Cole Hauser) are the only surviving members of Casey’s Dutton family (and are also set to have their own spin-off).
Now Casey has moved on.
If “Yellowstone” was the “Succession” of cowboys, this new show is the “SEAL Team” of cowboys (which makes sense, since “Marshalls” is produced by Sheridan, but Spencer Hudnut, an alum of that show).
The main problem plaguing “The Marshalls” is that it exists not because Casey is a compelling character, but because “Yellowstone” was a hit. He has always been the most boring member of the Dutton family. Audiences tuned in to “Yellowstone” to watch Costner play a bratty cowboy, Beth do outrageous antics and Jamie hatch a plan. Casey was always just… there.
Wisely, the “Marshal” seems to be aware of this. While Casey lacks the charisma to carry his own show, Marshall Green, co-leader of the “Marshalls,” has more than enough.
We’re also adding new characters to the team, including Belle Skinner (Ariel Kebbell), Andrea Cruz (Ash Santos), and Miles Kittle (Tatanka Means), further enriching the ensemble.
They’re all fairly standard characters, such as newcomers and stoic career women, but they all have glimmers of interest that could move the story forward. They carry out missions such as busting drug deals in remote areas (conveniently requiring gangsters to ride horses). It also revisits “Yellowstone”‘s plotline about corporate greed and local Native American reservations threatening the environment.
When it comes to the show’s “Yellowstone” connection, that’s both a strength and a weakness.
Viewers who skipped “Yellowstone” may get lost in the frequent references to Casey’s past and the Dutton family. However, you can watch it as a standalone show if you’re willing to go through some confusion. But die-hard Yellowstone fans will also see some familiar faces like Chief Thomas Rainwater (Gil Birmingham) and Moe (Moe Brings Plenty). However, the obvious crossover characters are Beth and Rip, who, although name-dropped, are nowhere to be seen, so they may feel underwhelming.
“Marshall” is not deep. It’s meat and potatoes, not a Michelin star meal. There are already better shows about federal marshals (FX’s “Justified,” starring Timothy Olyphant and Walton Goggins), but they don’t reach those heights.
It’s a fundamentally gritty drama that should appeal to CBS’ core audience of Gen Xers and baby boomer dads, or to viewers who enjoy shows like “SWAT” and “SEAL Team.” That’s not a criticism. It’s a legitimate entertainment category.
If you’re not into the hybrid genre, which combines elements of crime drama, military, and procedural with elements of cowboy action, you probably won’t find much to enjoy. But if you enjoy that, “Marshals” offers it.
It’s not high art, nor is it trying to be. This is a solid sequel series that captures the tone of “Yellowstone” but does something different. You will succeed at that level. That’s what a spin-off show should be like.
