Luke Grimes wants to make sure that Marshals navigates any potential love interest for Kayce Dutton the right way.
The Kayce Dutton-focused Yellowstone spinoff is already seven episodes into it’s first season on CBS. Much of the early storyline revolved around Luke Grimes’ character moving on after the death of his wife, Monica. Many fans have expressed that they were happy that Kayce’s wife was killed off… but some of those same fans are now complaining that the show’s writers are making Kayce move on a little too fast.
It was the fourth episode of Season 1 – titled “The Gathering Storm” – that got fans up in arms about Kayce already having a new romantic interest teased. Long story short, a character named Dolly (played by Ellyn Jameson) was introduced into the story, and she certainly took a liking to Kayce Dutton. The actress has already been confirmed to have a recurring role on the Yellowstone spinoff, and the writers have already implied some chemistry between Dolly and Kayce.
Because that got some viewers riled up (rightfully so… in the show, it’s only been couple of months since the passing of Monica), Luke Grimes was recently asked about it during a CBS event. He says that they are aware of how some fans feel, and made sure to approach that whole situation carefully:
“That was a very, very… we’re trying to approach that with a lot of caution. Obviously, in the original show, Kayce and Monica were sort of like Romeo and Juliet. I don’t think Kayce is in any place where he’s ready to move on. Clearly, someone has some interest in him. We approached it very carefully, and we want to honor the original and the love that they had before we move on into anything else.”
The actors and singer-songwriter went on to say that he’s had multiple conversations with showrunner Spencer Hudnut about the . They seem to be on the same page, but also realize that it could get boring if the show goes for multiple seasons (it’s already been renewed for Season 2) and Kayce never has any other love interests:
“I thought probably, eventually we would have to. It’s hard to have the lead of a television show have no romantic interests whatsoever. I definitely thought first season would be a little early. We’re actively talking about it all the time… Spencer (Hudnut) and I. He wants to make sure to honor what fans would expect from a guy like Kayce. He’s not the kind of guy that would move on right away, and their love was a little stronger than that.”
@deadline ‘Marshals’ star Luke Grimes on how his character Kayce will move on from his ‘Yellowstone’ love and wife Monica: “We’re trying to approach that with a lot of caution. We want to honor the love that they had.” #CBSFest ♬ original sound – Deadline
At the very end of that interview, they also touched on how Kayce’s son, Tate (played by Brecken Merrill) would react to his dad moving on. That could be an interesting storyline to explore, but like Luke Grimes said… probably wouldn’t go over well if they jumped into that in Season 1.
Especially considering how low the audience score already is for Marshals. It’s already at a 28%, which is the worst of any show that has Taylor Sheridan’s name attached to it. The good news (?) is that Marshals has already been picked up for a second season. But if they keep upsetting the Yellowstone fanbase – as in introducing a love interest for Kayce too early – that might be all that they end up getting.
