Luke Grimes says he doesn’t know if actress Kelsey Asbille has watched the new Yellowstone series since the spin-off moved on without her.
For Marshals, success didn’t come without a heavy cost. When Luke Grimes returned to star as Kayce Dutton in his own Yellowstone spin-off, the new series shattered the character’s life to upend what was a peaceful finale. The team behind Marshals wrote off Kayce’s wife, Monica Long Dutton (Kelsey Asbille), and put the former soldier back to work as a U.S. Marshal. The decision was met with heavy criticism from fans who were looking forward to the next chapter in the couple’s life onscreen, compounded by the fact that series creator Taylor Sheridan isn’t writing the script. But there’s a reason why Asbille’s character left the series—and why Marshals may have never aired otherwise.
According to Puck News’s Matthew Belloni, killing off Monica had nothing to do with the story. CBS needed to significantly alter Marshals from its predecessor due to potential legal complications over streaming rights. It’s a bit complicated, but Paramount doesn’t actually own the streaming rights to Yellowstone since it sold them to Peacock before the series became a hit. Any new Paramount+ series in the Yellowstone franchise legally needs to stand alone. Certain Yellowstone elements had to go. So Kayce’s wife found herself on the chopping block.
“NBCU hasn’t raised a fuss” about Marshals, Puckreported, so it seems the change worked. While some Yellowstone fans may be bummed that Marshals isn’t more of a continuation of the hit Sheridan series, it appears that it really never could be, legally. Paramount, reportedly, isn’t hurting either. Marshals is currently the most watched scripted series on TV, per Nielsen ratings, with CBS’s Tracker right behind. (Tracker airs right after Marshals.)
Still, killing off Monica wasn’t an easy decision to make. According to Grimes, the actor was heartbroken when he first heard the news. He told TV Insider that his first thought was that he wouldn’t “even know what that would look like … doing [the show] without her.” He also said that he didn’t know if Asbille’s seen any of Marshals so far, despite keeping in touch.
“Kelsey’s become one of my best friends,” he continued. “I worked up the courage to call. I didn’t know how she was going to feel about it. I had to see how she was doing. In true Kelsey fashion, she handled it like a pro and totally understood. She’s going to do just fine. She is so talented, gorgeous, and awesome. She’s going to work. That’s not an issue.”
Asbille’s exit also opened the doors for Kayce to find a new love interest on Marshals. So far, that’s looking like Ellyn Jameson’s Dolly Weaver—the daughter of rival rancher Tom Weaver (Chris Mulkey). But is Dolly genuinely interested in Kayce, or is it just a trick for her family to gain control of the Dutton ranch?