‘Marshals’ Boss Reveals Kayce’s Biggest Fear After the Premiere’s Tragic Twist

Few network dramas have the kind of pressure ‘Marshals‘ is under right now. The ‘Yellowstone’ spinoff came back to CBS as the No. 1 scripted show in broadcast, and it had a mountain of cliffhangers to clean up from its first season.

The season premiere, “All Hat No Cattle,” aired on October 4 and kicked off a 20-episode run. The first season averaged 19.3 million multiplatform viewers per episode, which made it the #1 new show of the year, so expectations were high for a premiere that had to rescue Tate and settle several cliffhangers at once.

Now showrunner Spencer Hudnut has opened up about the episode’s heartbreak and what comes next. According to Hudnut, Kayce’s biggest fear is that Tate will try to walk in his footsteps, a worry that is set to bring plenty of tension between father and son this season.

Hudnut told TheWrap that “All Hat No Cattle” was the hardest episode of the series he has had to break, because the writers had painted themselves into a corner. He credited the writers’ room for helping figure it out.

The death of Dolly (Ellyn Jameson) is what has fans talking. Hudnut said he assumed throughout last season that Dolly was in on her father’s scheme, and when production wrapped she was much guiltier than she turned out to be. Her being in the dark about Tom Weaver’s plan is what made her fate more tragic.

He also said the writers saw a potential deeper connection between Dolly and Kayce, since both come from dysfunctional families with flawed fathers. It either had to bring them closer together or the writers had to find a way to keep them apart. In the end, he said, anything Kayce grows close to tends to get taken away from him.

Tom and Dolly drove off a cliff while running from Kayce, and Dolly died. According to Hudnut, the writers felt Tom needed to pay the ultimate price. Death would be a relief for him, so seeing his daughter die felt like the worst punishment they could give.

The episode ends with Kayce and Tate back in their destroyed home, where Tate reminds his father that he’ll be 18 soon. That moment sets up the season’s main story, as Kayce realizes he only has a short time to get his son on the right path.

Hudnut said that in Monica’s absence, Kayce was the protector and provider, while Monica was the parent. Kayce has never felt on solid footing as a parent, so the season is about how he will help Tate find his next path. Hudnut also said what Monica wanted for Tate is very different from the road Kayce walked.

Tate has been through serious trauma, including losing his mother and being taken multiple times. Hudnut teased that Tate is going to try to make sure it never happens again “in ways that are alarming and somewhat scary to Kayce.” The choice Tate makes will surprise a lot of people, he said.

Hudnut told Front Row Features that the show isn’t trying to relitigate Kayce’s feelings about his father, John, since ‘Yellowstone’ wrapped that up nicely. Instead, he said the season’s central question is, “What path is Tate going to find this year?”

The story will pick up quickly after the premiere because the writers want viewers to feel its consequences, including Kayce’s guilt and the concern about Tate. Belle, who almost got seriously wounded, will deal with the fallout at home, where her son starts to pick up on the dangers of her job.

Cal and Belle, who shared their first kiss halfway through Season 1, will navigate their growing feelings, with Cal in a vulnerable situation with his own health. Andrea chose to stay with the team instead of returning to her old job, and Hudnut said that decision will stir up ghosts from Season 1. He also promised more for Rainwater and the Broken Rock storylines, including challenges that put his job in jeopardy.

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