With season 1 nearing its finale, viewer morale has sadly not improved
What do you do when a TV show lets you down? Do you keep watching it anyway, or is there a point where a series becomes so distasteful that you don’t even bother to check in anymore? These are the questions that Yellowstone fans are asking each other about Marshals, the spinoff that turned Kayce Dutton’s (Luke Grimes) story into a standard crime procedural, because they simply can’t believe they’re not enjoying it so far.
“Not saying it’s the worst show ever made, but definitely the worst I’ve ever watched 9 episodes of,” one fan wrote about Marshals on a Yellowstone Reddit page that boasts over 98,000 weekly visitors. “Why do I continue to watch?” they asked.
“I’ll say this… It’s definitely something I would have never watched if not connected to Yellowstone,” another fan responded. “It’s predictable and [every] challenge they come up against is barely an inconvenience. I roll my eyes a lot, but whatever. I’ve committed this far.”
Marshals was the first sequel spinoff to air following Yellowstone’a abrupt ending at Paramount. The western series created by Taylor Sheridan starred Kevin Costner as a Montana ranching family patriarch named John Dutton, who would stop at nothing to protect his home and his way of life. The series was a big hit for Sheridan, who went on to helm many more shows at Paramount such as Landman, Tulsa King, and Lioness. But after an offscreen feud between Costner and Sheridan broke up the party, Paramount decided to split the remaining Dutton family members across two spinoffs.
Kayce, the oldest of John Dutton’s sons, received a solo CBS series that saw the former Navy SEAL-turned-cowboy rejoin law enforcement by becoming a US Marshal. Other characters returned as well, such as Thomas Rainwater (Gil Birmingham), Mo (Mo Brings Plenty), and Kayce’s son Tate (Brecken Merill), but Marshals is nowhere near the Yellowstone sequel that fans hoped for. We’ll have Dutton Ranch with Cole Hauser and Kelly Reilly next month to (hopefully) remedy that problem. As one fan joked on Reddit, Marshals is more like “NCIS: Billings.”
Still, most fans are continuing to watch Marshals every week despite not loving the series so far. Nielsen reported that Marshals was the second-highest scripted linear TV program last week, right behind Tracker (which airs on CBS after Marshals.) Paramount also announced already that Marshals will return for season 2.
So, although some fans have already called it quits following the lackluster premise in March, it seems Yellowstone fans are sticking around.
