Marshals Is Missing One Key Yellowstone Ingredient And It's Badly Hurting The Taylor Sheridan Series

Only three episodes in, it's clear Marshals is missing one important element from Yellowstone. Marshals is the latest entry in Taylor Sheridan's Yellowstone spinoff saga, though the show is taking a different tack than past offshoots. The show is more of a classic CBS procedural, following Kayce Dutton (Luke Grimes) as he joins a band of U.S. Marshals.

Since it's a network series, Marshals drops the salty language and bloody violence of other Yellowstone outings. In contrast to those other series, Sheridan is largely hands-off with Marshals. The showrunner is famed for having heavy involvement with his other projects, to the point that he wrote every single episode of Yellowstone.

Marshals Is Badly Missing Taylor Sheridan's Writing

CBS

Sheridan has a very distinct voice, and his writing can range from downright poetic (such as in 1883) to hilarious, like Beth Dutton's (Kelly Reilly) most scathing one-liners. Sad to say, Marshals is lacking when it comes to the screenwriting department, and it's truly missing Sheridan's touch.

The show is one part a standard-issue CBS crime procedural, and one that feels the need to push at least one big gunfight into each episode. The other half is a lukewarm Yellowstone sequel that's missing most of the cast. It's nice to see Grimes share scenes with Gil Birmingham's Rainwater again, but their dialogue just isn't as punchy.

That's not to say everything Sheridan pens turns to gold. He's become so prolific since Yellowstone took off that some of his scripts feel like first drafts lacking in polish. The final season of Yellowstone, in particular, felt rushed and somewhat episodic. Even in the show's weaker outings, though, there still was a sense of consistency.

Marshals Needs To Fix Its Identity Crisis

Marshals is trying to walk a tightrope between being a case of the week procedural and a Yellowstone follow-up, but it's not as satisfying as either. The procedural side feels very rote and generic, and laced with clichéd dialogue and characterization.

The action sequences are well-shot, but they also feel a tad overblown for a Yellowstone spinoff. The show's handling of Monica Dutton's (Kelsey Asbille) death has been rightfully critiqued by critics and fans, and while Kayce's links to Broken Rock reservation are the more interesting parts of Marshals, they feel oddly disconnected from the procedural side.

In short, it's a show with an identity crisis. It's not quite NCIS: Yellowstone (as some have mockingly dubbed the show), but it's a strange blend of ingredients that aren't meshing. The lack of overt violence to make it fit for CBS has also defanged the show.

Taylor Sheridan Should Take A Bigger Creative Hand In Marshals

Sheridan is still attached to Marshals as producer, but he doesn't appear to be very involved on a creative level. For now, the spinoff is getting solid ratings and will return for a second season, but what it needs is Sheridan's voice.

He's obviously not going to pen every script like he used to, but the spinoff would benefit if he took a more hands-on role. This could be giving in-depth script notes to directing the occasional episode himself. The Yellowstone saga is Sheridan's brainchild after all, and his absence from Marshals is being keenly felt.

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  Marshals

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    Logan Marshall-Green

    Pete Calvin

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  Created by Taylor Sheridan

  First TV Show Yellowstone

  Latest TV Show 1923

  Upcoming TV Shows The Madison

  First Episode Air Date June 20, 2018

  Cast Kevin Costner, Luke Grimes, Kelly Reilly, Wes Bentley, Cole Hauser, Kelsey Asbille, Gil Birmingham, Brecken Merrill, Jefferson White, Danny Huston

  Yellowstone is a neo-Western drama series created by Taylor Sheridan and John Linson, centered on the Dutton family and their fight to protect the Yellowstone Dutton Ranch from various adversaries, including land developers and nearby reservations. Premiering in 2018 on Paramount Network, the show has been praised for its depiction of power struggles, family loyalty, and rural conflicts. It has expanded into a franchise with spin-offs such as 1883 and 1923, and an upcoming sequel series is in development.

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  Birthdate May 21, 1970

  Birthplace Cranfills Gap, Texas, USA

  Notable Projects Sicario, Wind River, Hell or High Water