Marshals Season 2 Officially Addresses Taylor Sheridan's Biggest Problem
Editor's Note: The article contains spoilers for the third episode of Season 2 of Marshals. At the end of the latest episode, titled Falling Sky, Kayce Dutton (played by Luke Grimes) made a decision that few of us who have followed his journey since Yellowstone would have expected. Instead of repeating the same Dutton family lesson about needing to be a cowboyand swallowing pain, the CBS drama took a surprising turn when Kayce decided it was time for his son Tate (Brecken Merrill) to see a therapist to process past trauma. This was not the direction many of us predicted, but this kind of change shows how far he has come compared to his father, John Dutton (Kevin Costner).
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After Tate was kidnapped by a military group in the woods in the name of the Beck brothers (in Season 2 of Yellowstone), the boy struggled to find safety and security at home. Kayce proceeded just like his father, forcing his son to endure pain and move forward. Perhaps that worked then, but now that Tate has been kidnapped again, nearly killed, and has killed a man—all before turning 18—it is more than he can handle. Without Monica (Kelsey Asbille) beside him to discuss his son's emotional needs, Kayce realizes Tate needs help he simply cannot provide. It's not that he wants Tate to go to therapy (and Tate certainly has no interest), but he wants to do things differently and, hopefully, better than his father did.
John Dutton was a weak father
John Dutton was a weak father, and we see this reflected in how his children turned out—and especially in their casual disdain for one another. Although Kayce and Beth (Kelly Reilly) are in good relationships, Jaime (Wes Bentley) was killed by his own sister a few short years after John led their older brother Lee (Dave Annable) to his death. Part of this stems from John's typical hard as nailsparenting style, which put his children (including adopted son Rip) through fire on every occasion. It's no secret that he branded Kayce with a hot iron just a few years ago. Therefore, in an effort to do things differently, Kayce made a choice for his son that he would never have made for himself.
This idea represents a significant departure from what we have seen so far in the Yellowstone universe, but it proves that Kayce intends to be an aware father. At the very least, one more aware than his father was before him. After Tate lost several family members in a short time and was forced to kill in self-defense—before even turning 18—he needs an outlet to process these issues, one that does not involve his father. In some ways, this is a more involved approach by Kayce in raising his son, but in others, it is a less involved approach that allows someone else to speak into his son's life. He knows he is not always the best influence, and while he has no problem teaching his son survival skills, there are things he simply cannot do himself.
Marshals may not always be precise in its portrayal of federal law enforcement officers, but it attempts to do things differently from Yellowstone in this important way. Considering all the unresolved (and frankly, repressed) trauma Tate has suffered, it is almost a miracle that Kayce did not take this step sooner. John Dutton probably would not have made this decision—he would likely have seen it as a weakness—but Kayce is not his father, and by trying to distance himself further from him, he made a choice that would have made Monica proud. Marshals airs Sundays on CBS and is available for streaming the next day on Paramount+.
