One of the biggest questions surrounding the CBS-based Yellowstone sequel spin-off, Marshals, has been the mysterious fate of Kelsey Asbille‘s Monica Dutton. The series’ official trailer made us question her place in the narrative, and the lack of an official statement from either the network or Luke Grimes himself has been confusing to say the least. Well, making good on the title of the series premiere, “Piya Wiconi” (which means “New Beginning” in Lakota), Marshals has revealed the hard truth that Monica is dead after a sudden battle with cancer. For Yellowstone fans, it undoubtedly comes as a bit of a shock, but perhaps we shouldn’t be too surprised. After all, Taylor Sheridan teased this years ago.
What Happens to Monica Dutton Between ‘Yellowstone’ and ‘Marshals’?
The season premiere of Marshals picks up 15 months after the series finale of Yellowstone, “Life Is a Promise.” In the episode, Kayce, Monica, and their son Tate (Brecken Merrill) are seen making a new life for themselves on the Yellowstone East Camp. Kayce and his family had settled there after losing their second son, who they named John Dutton in honor of Kevin Costner‘s character, and secured that patch of land (including the surrounding 5,000 acres) in the land deal made with the Broken Rock Indian Reservation. In giving his family’s home to Monica’s people, this Dutton trio were able to live their lives in compromise, being a “bridge” of sorts between the Dutton’s longtime stewardship of the land and its inevitable return, which was prophesied by Lakota Chief Spotted Eagle (Graham Greene) at the end of 1883. But just because Taylor Sheridan gave Kayce, Monica, and Tate a happy ending doesn’t mean that’s how life always turns out.
In the time between Yellowstone and Marshals, Monica contracted a form of cancer that was seemingly caused by toxins that were dumped on the Rez. As the show explains it, many of these toxins have been infused into the Broken Rock water supply and soil, and, over time, have affected the Native peoples. So, when Marshals reveals that the proposed mine being built on Montana land just outside the reservation will be dumping more toxins into the water supply by way of the river, we can understand why Tate, Thomas Rainwater (Gil Birmingham), Mo (Mo Brings Plenty), and many others go to protest. Although we don’t see Monica’s battle with cancer firsthand, we can tell by the 15-month timeline — and from Tate’s comments to his father — that it was a quick and sudden decline in health. Within a short window, Monica wasted away and died, and the premiere’s opening, with Kayce alone in bed, proves that it’s still relatively recent — so recent, in fact, that Kayce and Tate are still actively struggling with this “new normal.”
With ‘Yellowstone’ Over, This Continuity Mistake Stands Out Way More Than It Should
What’s going on here?
Although it’s not exactly a secret that Monica was Yellowstone‘s most misused character, we had previously hoped that Marshals could correct this by giving her more to do now that Kayce was taking a job with the U.S. Marshals. Those hopes, however, proved false. Monica is killed off-screen before we have the chance to catch up with Kayce’s new post-Yellowstone life. That happy ending they believed they had found proved not so happy after all, and only her image is seen when Tate holds up a picture of his mother while protesting the mine. On the bright side, at least Marshals doesn’t leave us hanging. The show minces no words in regard to Monica’s fate, and Kayce’s final moments at her gravestone in the pilot prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that it hasn’t been faked or otherwise concealed. Monica is dead, and according to Marshals, there’s no mystery as to how she died.
‘Marshals’ Is Exploring a New Path for Kayce Dutton by Embracing a ‘Yellowstone’ Prophecy
But longtime Yellowstone fans may have seen this coming. After all, it’s not like Taylor Sheridan doesn’t already have a history of killing off major characters in the opening episode of each new show. Even though Sheridan isn’t leading the charge on Marshals (former SEAL Team leader Spencer Hudnut is responsible for this show), that doesn’t appear to be a factor here. Frankly, any self-respecting Yellowstone fan should’ve seen this coming, if they’ve been paying close attention to Kayce’s story arc in the last few seasons of the flagship neo-Western drama. Back in the Season 4 finale, “Grass on the Streets and Weeds on the Rooftops,” Kayce has a dark vision of the future that comes with the ghostly return of his dead brother Lee (Dave Annable). When Kayce and Monica speak of it later, the Dutton heir reveals that he saw “the end of us.” Talk about a bad omen.
While there was some debate as to the meaning of this vision, most settled on the fact that “end of us” simply meant the end of the Dutton family as Yellowstone had presented them. With the death of his father and brother Jamie (Wes Bentley), and the selling of the Yellowstone Dutton Ranch, isn’t that enough? Marshals would have you believe otherwise. In the Yellowstone Season 5 episode “The Dream Is Not Me,” Kayce continues to interpret this vision. “In my vision, the choice that I saw was between this place and you,” Kayce tells her. While Monica believes that East Camp wasn’t a part of that vision, thinking that they may be able to have both the land and each other in the end, Marshals proves that Kayce’s instincts were correct. In the end, the choice to remain with the land, even if a small part of it, tilted the scales toward personal tragedy, inadvertently leading to Kayce’s new beginning on Marshals.