Marshals Episode 10’s New Villain Exposes A Major Issue With The Yellowstone Spin-Off

“Marshals” has developed a terrible habit of introducing characters that they insist were a part of Kayce Dutton’s (Luke Grimes) “Yellowstone” past — even though those characters never showed up on the mothership series during its five-season run.

In “Playing with Fire,” when Kayce must retrieve a group of prisoners after they’re freed in a bus crash, we learn that he’s very familiar with one of the escapees, Neil Lamb (Sterling Jones), who seems to have worked on the Dutton Ranch as a hand. Kayce knows that Neil has been trying to get leniency from the state, and has no idea if he’s decided to trade Dutton secrets for his freedom.

When Kayce catches up with Neil, the latter admits he knows plenty about John Dutton’s (Kevin Costner) best and worst moments — the dirtiest of his secrets — and he’s willing to lie his head off, should he get caught, if Kayce will let him go free and get over the border to Canada.

But Neil is looking for clemency from the wrong Dutton – and he knows it. “Even as a boy, you were a different sort of man than your father. You don’t have to solve this problem the way he would,” he says. Indeed, Kayce manages to stick to his guns — literally — and keep Neil where he is until backup arrives, followed by a storm that they have to wait out until the next episode.

This isn’t the first time Marshals has invented a big bad from Yellowstone’s past

Believe it or not, “Marshals” viewers have already been introduced to another set of characters from the Dutton family’s past that were never seen even once on “Yellowstone.” Randall Clegg (Michael Cudlitz) and his sons arrive during Episode 3 to stir up trouble — though the show insists that Clegg and Kayce have met before. After Kayce kills one of Clegg’s boys, Randall goes on the warpath, and Kayce ultimately has to risk life and limb to protect his colleagues and family to bring Clegg in.

During the pair’s feud, we learn that the Duttons and Cleggs have been fighting each other for generations — which is news to anyone who devoted themselves to “Yellowstone.” The storyline even results in “Marshals” exhuming an old “Yellowstone” storyline surrounding Tate Dutton’s (Brecken Merrill) Season 2 kidnapping. While loyal viewers definitely learn a little bit more about Kayce thanks to this plot twist, it’s hard to ignore the fact that they — and Kayce himself — have never met these folks before.