Marshals Episode 3 Introduces A Powerful, Previously Unseen Dutton Family Rival

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"Marshals" episode 3 sees Luke Grimes' Kayce Dutton and his Marshals intervene at a standoff on the Broken Rock Reservation. There, they encounter Michael Cudlitz's Randall Clegg, the patriarch of a family which has supposedly been in Montana as long as the Duttons themselves and which looks set to cause trouble for Kayce moving forward.

After two episodes of "Marshals," it's clear this show isn't afraid to embrace its "Yellowstone" heritage (that is, when it isn't severing connections entirely by killing off controversial "Yellowstone" characters in the worst way possible). Otherwise, alongside Kayce we've seen several characters from the mothership series including his son, Tate Dutton (Brecken Merrill), and Gil Birmingham's Chief Thomas Rainwater. We've also seen how the Dutton family's misdeeds might continue to stir up drama, with episode 2 of "Marshals" suggesting Beth Dutton's problems are far from over.

Now, "Marshals" has gone beyond bringing back elements of the mothership series by adding to "Yellowstone" lore. Episode 3, "Road to Nowhere," introduces a new family that basically represents the bargain bin Duttons. This disreputable clan have supposedly been targeted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in the past and are said to have been in Montana as long as Kayce's own family — which is to say, a long, long time. So who are these low-rent Dutton doppelgängers? Well, it's all a bit unclear at this stage, but episode 3 suggests we'll learn a lot more about them very soon.

CBS

In February 2026, we learned that "The Walking Dead" actor Michael Cudlitz had joined "Marshals" in the role of Randall Clegg (via Entertainment Weekly). At the time, it was reported that Cudlitz, who is also one of many actors who have played Lex Luthor in live-action, would appear in multiple episodes throughout season 1, and now he's made his official debut.

"Marshals" episode 3 sees the Broken Rock Reservation take action against a local mine by blowing up a road and forcing mine-bound trucks to divert through their land. Unfortunately for local ranchers, this also makes it impossible to take livestock to auction, causing uproar in the community and bringing out angry locals in droves. Kayce Dutton and the U.S. Marshals are deployed to the ensuing standoff where they're tasked with removing the locals and helping the Broken Rock tribes. When they arrive on the scene, they immediately spot Clegg and his clan. 

As they approach, Kayce tells Arielle Kebbel's Belle Skinner that the Cleggs have been around as long as his own family and are basically the Duttons but, as Skinner puts it, "without the money and the power." She goes on to reveal that their family compound was previously raided by the ATF. Evidently, this raid ended in a "Ruby Ridge"-style standoff, which is a reference to a real-life 1992 event wherein U.S. Marshals laid siege to a cabin owned by the Weaver family in a rural area of Idaho. In "Marshals," Skinner says that the ATF siege of the Clegg compound resulted in law enforcement giving the family a "wide berth" ever since. Why it didn't lead to the whole family spending the rest of their lives in jail is unclear, but it looks like we'll find out more soon.

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Kayce Dutton had one of the best endings on "Yellowstone," wherein he sold the Yellowstone Dutton Ranch to the Broken Rock Reservation and left to lead a quiet life with his family. But it seems Randall Clegg wasn't too pleased with Kayce's decision and it looks as though the consequences will play out on "Marshals," especially after Kayce and his team take out a member of the Clegg family. 

After Kayce and Randall have a brief confrontation at the Broken Rock standoff, a young girl is shot by an unseen shooter. Later, we learn that the Clegg brothers, Wes and Carson, are responsible for that and a separate shooting at a restaurant where Kayce meets with Mo (Mo Brings Plenty) and Chief Thomas Rainwater. This pair of degenerates apparently have the rock blasting contracts for the mine near Broken Rock and aren't too happy with the reservation's attempts to sabotage it.

After Kayce and the Marshals track them to a remote area, Carson is shot off the edge of a cliff and is presumed dead while Wes is taken into custody. But when Logan Marshall-Green's Pete Calvin asks Kayce if he thinks that's the last they'll hear of the Cleggs, Kayce replies that they're "Montana's cockroaches," and later tells Chief Rainwater that the mine is a "big payday for their business." Soon after, Kayce finds a bullet on his doorstep, likely left by a member of the Clegg clan. All of which means we'll be seeing more of this longstanding Dutton family rival very soon.