Marshals Season 1 Finale Confirms This ‘Yellowstone’ Character Might Not Survive

Marshals season 1 is coming to a close, and things are changing for Kayce Dutton (Luke Grimes), especially in the wake of an assassination attempt that puts one Yellowstone character’s life in danger.

While Yellowstone has always had dangerous elements, Marshals has unearthed an entirely different side of the franchise. With the stakes high for Kayce’s team, a character viewers recognize will become an integral part of the finale’s plot.

In the recently released synopsis for CBS’ Marshals season 1 finale, it’s revealed that after an assassination attempt on Broken Rock chairman Thomas Rainwater (Gil Birmingham), “Kayce protects him while the Marshals race to discover who’s targeting him.”

As the finale continues, a militia attack sends the team into action as “Kayce realizes the conspiracy is larger than anyone imagined.”

Marshals season 1 has taken Kayce’s character and introduced him to a whole new world with incredibly high stakes. As the season has continued, viewers have gotten the chance to see some familiar faces, but have primarily been meeting new characters, mostly part of the specialized team of US Marshals Kayce’s been a part of. Rainwater has been a huge connection, however, to the worlds of Marshals and Yellowstone converging.

The Broken Rock chairman has been a major presence in both Marshals and Yellowstone, with the new CBS series giving the creative team a chance to expand the role. His involvement in the spinoff has allowed for the series to show a bigger connection to Yellowstone outside the Dutton family, which has helped to keep viewers in the headspace of the franchise’s universe.

Rainwater had dealt with danger throughout his time on Yellowstone, but things seem to be even more intense now that he’s coming face-to-face with more dangerous elements on Marshals. With Rainwater being a longstanding connection to the Yellowstone universe, an attempt on his life will also work to ensure that Kayce’s involvement is both professional and deeply personal, raising the stakes higher.

Sonja Flemming/CBS

Although Marshals has consistently positioned Kayce to be a hero, pushing him to a place to be both a protector and an investigator will give the character more to do, and allow Grimes to stretch in the role. Marshals could be setting up another loss for Kayce, but it feels more likely that the show is diving into a more complicated storyline for the character to dive into.

With Marshals season 2 already confirmed and the outcome of Rainwater’s assassination attempt seeming to be unsuccessful, the season finale looks like it’s meant to set up something even larger for what’s to come. Watching as Kayce not only saves, but uncovers more about what’s happening to Rainwater, will allow Marshals season 1 to come to an incredibly complicated close.