“Marshals” revives the “Yellowstone” world

The “Yellowstone” world is back now, surprising viewers … and surprising the people involved.
“I thought ‘Yellowstone was over,” said Luke Grimes, who plays Kayce Dutton. “I didn’t see any chance of it continuing — especially with Kayce’s arc ending so sort of perfectly.”
But now “Marshals” (shown here) debuts at 8 p.m. Sunday (March 1) on CBS. with a familiar feel. “We shot on the same sound stages that we started ‘Yellowstone’ on, in 2017,” Grimes told the Television Critics Association.
And in the same settings. “We still have the great cinematography landscape,” said Gil Birmingham, who plays the tribal leader on both shows. “And we’re going to still have the center and the nerve of ‘Yellowstone.'”
The original show soared quickly. Viewers liked its star (Kevin Costner), its Montana setting and the terse, blue-collar dialog that producer Taylor Sheridan prefers. On an obscure cable channel, “Yellowstone” drew more viewers than any series on the big networks.
Then — after just four-and-a-half seasons and 47 episodes — Costner left. The show disappeared for almost a year, then changed everything: John Dutton (Costner’s character) was dead; after six episodes, the show was done. His son Kayce had given the ranch to his wife’s tribe and found peace.
Except by then, a plan was emerging. It was “for CBS to bring the ‘Yellowstone’ show back to network television, (but) in a sort of non-traditional network way,” said writer-producer Spencer Hudnut.
That started with dismantling Kayce’s happy ending. That part happens before “Marshals” begins.
“Where we meet him, he’s kind of just at the end of his emotional road,” Grimes said. Then “his old SEAL buddy says, “Hey, I figured out a way to turn my life around and deal with my demons: It’s becoming useful to other people in using our skill set.'”
Soon, Kayce is working with:
— Pete Calvin. He and Kayce were SEAL buddies, but there’s more to it. “You realize pretty quickly that there’s something between them that is not allowing a true connection,” said Logan Marshall-Green (second from right), who plays him.
— Andrea Cruz. She’s played by Ash Santos (left) , who — like the character — is a native New Yorker who learned cowpoke skills. “I had to learn how to box,” Santos said. “I had to learn how to lasso …. The funnest parst for me was all the tactical training we went through.”
— Miles Kittle, played by Tatanka Means (right), whose father (Russell Means) was a famed leader of the American Indian Movement. “There’s been a lot of progress made” in Hollywood since then, the son said. “A Native as one of the marshals is a big deal.”
— And Belle Skinner, played by Arielle Kebbel (second from left), in her second straight action role.
“I grew up in Florida (and) I would always swim in the pool with my dad and be with my family at the beach,” she said. “I’ve always been very outdoorsy.”
That fit her two recent roles — as a lifeguard in “Rescue: Hi-Surf” and now as a marshal. “That’s kind of scary, actually, to play someone so similar to who I am and my love of horses and the outdoors and nature.”
Except now the outdoors has bad guys and the horse-riders have badges, guns and lassos.