It’s been a wild first season for Marshals, the spin-off of Yellowstone now airing Sunday nights on CBS. After a tense standoff last week, it seemed that Kayce (Luke Grimes) was not only settling into the role but also earning some trust from the higher-ups. This week’s case threatens to challenge all that. The episode, “Playing with Fire,” is packed with action as we head down the stretch of the first season. Let’s dive in. SPOILERS BELOW.
Love connections
Before we get to the action of the case, it’s all about the potential and existing love connections among our Marshal team. Turns out that part of the recovery from her kidnapping includes Cruz (Ash Santos) finding a connection with Kayce’s new houseguest, Garrett (Riley Green). There’s a meet-cute in the kitchen before Cruz heads to her first day. Garrett, meanwhile, has some chores on the ranch.
Elsewhere, Cal (Logan Marshall-Green) is working out his frustration on the heavy bag, while Belle (Arielle Kebbel) works on restoring their rapport, offering some advice. Miles (Tatanka Means), meanwhile, is enjoying a quiet morning with Maddie (Morgan Lindholm) before heading into the office. He’s feeling a deeper connection but is still worried about how to balance this new relationship with the tension at work after it was discovered he’s dating the boss’s daughter.
Back at the ranch, Kayce gets a visit from Dolly Weaver (Ellyn Jameson). She’s there to help bake a special cake for Garrett’s birthday dinner, but it’s also a chance to try and rekindle the spark with Kayce. Before they can get there, however, an actual spark catches the barn on fire. Garrett rushes in to save the horses and gets caught in an explosion. Kayce pulls him out, but he’s in rough shape.
Prison transport
Cruz is back on active duty, so Cal assigns her and Belle to a prison transport. It’s meant to be an easy way to get back into the action. Before she can head out, Kayce calls to let her know Garrett was badly burned and has smoke in his lungs. Cruz is shaken but decides to put it aside to go on the mission. Cal, however, dashes out for the hospital.
Things have been tense between Cal and Garrett, but he still cares about his former teammate. Turns out Garrett is likely going to be OK. But Cal doesn’t have much time to dwell because the prison transport hits a rockslide with Belle and Cruz aboard. Now, they’re recovering and treating three injured prisoners while another three have escaped. Cal leaves Kayce with Garrett, grabs Miles, and heads out to track down the fugitives.
Belle and Cruz, meanwhile, are left to render aid. That becomes more difficult because Belle has history with one of the prisoners—Samantha (Brenda Strong). She was the COO of a mining company that hurt a lot of people, landing her in prison. Belle’s father was the CEO, who went bankrupt and, eventually, took his own life. That’s a truth she reveals to Cruz to explain her frosty response to Samantha. But it’s not the only secret.
When Samantha’s condition becomes more serious, Belle admits that Samantha is her mother. Turns out she harbors a grudge against her mother, who she hasn’t seen in decades. Belle is forced to render aid, but when it comes to a potential future connection, things remain hazy. Turns out Belle has a lot to deal with.
Miles and Cal, meanwhile, track two of the fugitives to a drug store. They take hostages, but the Marshals are able to eventually get the upper hand. In the aftermath, some of the frost between them begins to thaw as Cal offers Miles some dating advice. But that still leaves one fugitive in the wind.
Kayce’s mission
Turns out, Kayce knows this fugitive. It’s Neil Lamb (Sterling Jones), and Kayce leaves the hospital and heads to the mountains alone to find him. He catches up with Lamb, who used to be one of those carrying the brand for Yellowstone. He’s using that knowledge to make a break and potentially plans to reveal Dutton family secrets in exchange for a lighter sentence.
Kayce can’t have a blast from the past about his father’s deeds and threaten the life he’s built for himself. It seems clear he didn’t just catch Lamb out of a sense of duty but rather to provide a little frontier justice. But as he’s debating that path, Cal arrives, having tracked Kayce. That puts them both in an awkward position.
Things are never boring in Montana, at least in the world of Marshals. We had a lot of action and personal drama in this week’s episode, culminating in Kayce, once again, pushing up to crossing a line. Will he go that route? Will Cal back his play? Or will Kayce finally decide the ghosts of the past aren’t worth hiding any more?
Marshals airs Sunday nights on CBS and streams the next day on Paramount+. Check back next week as we recap all the action from Montana. Have a comment or a theory? Share it in the comments below!
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