[Spoiler] Killed Off CBS' 'Yellowstone' Spinoff 'Marshals': Showrunner Explains Decision

Spoiler alert for the series premiere of CBS’ new TV show Marshals, which debuted last night.

The show is a Yellowstone spinoff focused on Luke Grimes‘ character Kayce from the OG series.

In the premiere, it’s revealed that Kayce‘s wife Monica, played by Kelsey Asbille, had died from cancer.

Keep reading to find out more…

“Kelsey was so generous allowing us to use her image in the first episode,” showrunner Spencer Hudnut told TVLine, confirming she knew what was to come for her character. “We wouldn’t have done that without her permission.”

Spencer added that Kelsey could still return in a flashback or hallucination.

“I don’t want to guarantee anything, but it’s definitely not off the table. I think it would be really satisfying to see them back together. I’ve worked on another show where we may have brought back a deceased spouse [such as S.W.A.T],” he added.

About deciding to kill Monica, Spencer added, “Kayce had such a perfect ending in Yellowstone. His dreams had finally come true. As we were trying to figure out how to tell the next chapter in Kayce’s story, it felt like he really needed to be shaken out of that. Unfortunately, tragedy tends to find Kayce, so something bad was going to happen for him one way or the other. It just sort of played out that it was going to be Monica.”

He added, “To me, Monica is really guiding Kayce through this first episode, trying to help him find his new path. And if you actually break it down, Tate is at that rally to honor his mother, and Kayce goes there to protect Tate. So if not for Monica, Kayce never would have been in that position and may not have found this path.”

“We really wanted to be respectful of the way that we said goodbye to her. I also didn’t want to step on the ending of Yellowstone, because what they had was a beautiful ending. Unfortunately, real life intervened,” he shared.

Find out who else from Yellowstone has returned for the series.