'Marshals' Season 2 Has Finally Learned From Its Season 1 Mistakes | Review

Published Oct 4, 2026, 9:00 AM EDT

Michael John Petty is a Senior Author for Collider who spends his days writing, in fellowship with his local church, and enjoying each new day with his wonderful wife and precious daughters. At Collider, he writes features, reviews, recaps, interviews, and breaking news on select occasion. In addition to writing about stories, Michael has told a few of his own, from supernatural thrillers to historical fiction. His Western short story, The Devil's Left Hand, received the Spur Award for "Best Western Short Fiction" in 2025 from the Western Writers of America, of which he is a member. Michael currently resides in North Idaho with his growing family.

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For those who stuck with Marshals throughout the first season, welcome back. The Luke Grimes-led Kayce Dutton series was initially billed as a sequel of sorts to Yellowstone, but truthfully, the series is best described as a spin-off. Not only does the CBS drama depart considerably from the prestige tone and feel of the original Taylor Sheridan program, but, under creator Spencer Hudnut's direction, it has fought to carve out its own identity as a modern network procedural. If you're willing to embrace that model going in, you'll probably enjoy Marshals Season 2 just as much (if not more so) than the first season. If you're still expecting Yellowstone or something akin to Paramount+'s Dutton Ranch, then you best look elsewhere for your neo-Western needs.

'Marshals' Season 2 Takes Some Steps in the Right Direction

With the first three episodes made available for this review, beginning with the premiere, "All Hat No Cattle," we can see that Marshals is wasting no time addressing that controversial cliffhanger. The moment that Kayce realizes his son, Tate (Brecken Merrill), is in trouble, that same fire that was always lit in Yellowstone is ignited once more. It's episodes like this that gradually lean into the unwavering nature of a man like Kayce, who is both tortured and torn between the different sides of himself, all fighting for control. There's a small irony in a show like Marshals that existed last season but is perhaps more apparent in Season 2: For as much as the show tries to divorce itself from Yellowstone, the CBS spin-off nearly falls into the same plot convinces and traps as its predecessor. The only reason it doesn't is that this is still a network procedural, and so there is procedure to be had.

By the second episode, Marshals is back to its usual program, with Kayce, Cal (Logan Marshall-Green), and the crew spending their evenings at the Bullet 'N Barrel Saloon. Even so, the series seems to have learned from some of its overly soapy mistakes last season, allowing plotlines to simmer without bringing every emotional hurdle to a boiling point. Sure, there are still secrets and lies, still demons that each member of the team wrestles with in their downtime, but those aspects are not as strongly telegraphed to the audience the way they were last season. Marshals may still venture into soapy territory, but it's not living there. We perhaps see this best with the direction they're taking Andrea (Ash Santos) and everything going on between Cal and Belle (Arielle Kebbel), who continue to respectfully dance around whatever is going on between them.

In addition, the CBS drama ups the ante on the action this season. The premiere alone boasts some memorable action sequences we've seen from Marshals thus far. While not as bloody or violent as some of Kayce's past dealings, the episode's climax may give casual CBS viewers a run for their money. It's sequences like these that remind us that Hudnut was a driving force behind SEAL Team, and that's certainly a benefit to a show that ought to be more action-heavy than some of the other entries on the network. No matter how hard Kayce is trying to break away from the man he once was, you can't center an entire series around him without some genuine, pulse-pounding gunplay. Here's hoping the season can keep it up.

Luke Grimes Remains the Anchor That Holds 'Marshals' Together

Image via CBS

Speaking of Kayce, Luke Grimes continues to shine as the guiding light of Marshals. While the procedural aesthetic perhaps limits the extent of emotional depth we can get from Grimes — who was easily one of the best parts of Yellowstone — the series still fights to put the former Dutton heir front-and-center. If last season was about moving past Monica's (Kelsey Asbille) death and choosing his own path, then this season is about Kayce learning to be a better father than Kevin Costner's John Dutton ever was. Given all that Tate has been through by just being a Dutton, Kayce is making some tough choices that his father absolutely never would have. Without spoiling it, it's an interesting move for this "Y"-branded spin-off to make, but it's one we're eager to see play out.

Grimes plays the single father bit well. We don't automatically think about him that way because, for most of his on-screen history, his wife was generally by his side. But now that he's alone, Kayce is learning the hard way that being both parents means sometimes embracing ideas he might not have otherwise come up with on his own. Again, Marshals isn't Justified. It doesn't have the luxury of a character-driven approach to storytelling that feels natural with the character's caseload, instead trying to pull in the CSI and NCIS audiences looking for something similar (but also different) to tune into on Sunday nights. There are pros and cons to that approach, with the biggest con being that Marshals can't always fixate solely on Kayce. It has a larger cast to consider. The biggest pro, of course, is that Kayce can be further stretched on the job rather than at home, and it's those moments that set his story here apart from his time on the Yellowstone.

Among the program's strongest performers after Gil Birmingham (who, for the umpteenth time, needs more to do), Grimes is often paired with Marshall-Green or Merrill, whose characters each serve as different (but important) reminders in Kayce's life. Cal is not only a sober reminder of his past but also his future, as his battle with cancer is a gateway to conversations about mortality, and his rocky relationship with his daughter doubles as a warning to be heeded. Tate is Kayce's present, a present quickly slipping away as his son reminds him that he's now 18 and no longer a child. Side note: Why are we still writing Tate like he's 13 when Finn Little's Carter on Dutton Ranch is being treated as an adult? Is it Merrill's performance that makes him seem younger or the poor material he's given? Make it make sense! In both respects, Marshals reminds Kayce that he needs to do better than his father or else he'll end up the same way.

'Marshals' Season 2 Has Its Fumbles, but It's a Stronger Start Than Before

Image via CBS

Of course, Marshals isn't a perfect show. The procedural aspect may still take part of the blame for the show's occasionally uneven approach, but some of the fault is on the material itself. Common audience criticisms from last season included poor wardrobe choices for its female cast members when out trading bullets in the field, half-baked side plots with hasty conclusions, and inauthentic U.S. Marshals Service details and procedure. All of that remains true in Season 2, so if those were turnoffs before, note that they haven't been fixed, resolved, or swept under the rug. If you were annoyed that Cal is got in the middle of Miles (Tatanka Means) and Madison's (Morgan Lindholm) relationship last season, just wait. However, it's clear that the show wants to improve, and it's taking small steps in that direction by way of extended character arcs, engaging weekly plots, and further integrating all areas of Kayce's life. That first one, especially, is seen in the way the show tastefully handles Cal's cancer arc, giving it time to breathe in a way that Yellowstone never would.

Still, Marshals won't live up to everyone's expectations. Those hoping for or expecting a Dutton Ranch crossover after that Texas tease last season will be sorely disappointed. While Beth (Kelly Reilly) and Rip (Cole Hauser) could show up on the CBS drama down the line, Marshals finds a clever way around sending its cast to the Lone Star State. Instead, Season 2 is slated to bring Texas back to Montana in the form of Jefferson White's Jimmy Hurdstrom — just don't expect that in the first few episodes. No matter if you're a Yellowstone fan too invested to stop now or a newcomer who has hopped on the Dutton train for the very first time (just get off before you hit the train station), Marshals Season 2 packs a punch and is promising more. Whether it can live up to those promises remains to be seen, but if these first few episodes are any indication, Kayce Dutton may just hit that sunset after all.

Marshals premieres on Sunday, October 4, 2026, on CBS and is available for streaming the next day on Paramount+.

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  Kayce Dutton

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  Ash Santos

  Andrea Cruz

Pros & Cons

• Luke Grimes is a strong leading man, and Kayce's attempts to further divorce himself from his father's legacy is a strong move forward.
• Cutting back on some of the soapy drama while upping the action content is a smart move.
• Quickly wrapping up that cliffhanger in the premiere was wise, leaving the door open for new material this season.
• Fans of Season 1 will probably enjoy Season 2 even more.

• The dialogue is a little rough around the edges and some of the writing could use an extra pass.
• Marshals still struggles with how much Yellowstone is too much Yellowstone, though it is slowly forging its own path.
• It looks like we may finally get more interesting material for Gil Birmingham (and Broken Rock in general) this season, but it's a bit too early to tell.