Marshals Continues The Yellowstone Franchise's Most Depressing Trend (And It's Becoming Repetitive)

This article contains spoilers for "Marshals" episode 1, "Piya Wiconi."

"Marshals" is the latest "Yellowstone" franchise series to doom a heroic romance. After "Yellowstone" season 5 teased a happily ever after for Kayce (Luke Grimes) and Monica Dutton (Kelsey Asbille), the couple is no more. Monica has died since then, and it wasn't a peaceful passing. The series has yet to fill us in with the important details, but episode 1 confirms that she "suffered."

Of course, the big question is: Should we be surprised? The Dutton family has produced more tragic couples than happy ones, after all. The original "Yellowstone" sees John Dutton (Kevin Costner) mourn his wife throughout the entire series, though he does get jiggy with politicians and vegan activists to take his mind off it. "1883" kills off Elsa Dutton (Isabel May) before she settles down with Sam (Martin Sensmeier) — not long after her previous lover, Ennis (Eric Nelson), gets shot and killed by bandits.

"1923," meanwhile, takes tragic romances to the next level. Season 2 revolves around Jack Dutton (Brandon Sklenar) traveling the world to be reunited with his wife, Alexandra (Julia Schlaepfer), only for her to freeze to death when they meet again. Elsewhere, young Jack Dutton (Darren Mann) inadvertently parts ways with his lover, Elizabeth Strafford (Michelle Randolph), because he dies in action. John Dutton Sr. (James Badge Dale) also gets whacked, which causes his wife, Emma (Marley Shelton), to take her own life. Finally, Runs His Horse (Michael Spears) dies while protecting Teonna Rainwater (Aminah Nieves), robbing the young lovers of some deserved respite and happiness.

This is only accounting for the heroic characters in the franchise, but the list of doomed couples continues. With that in mind, has Sheridan's Western saga gotten lazy and repetitive?

There's an argument to be made that the tragic deaths in "1883" and "1923" make sense. After all, both shows see characters traveling treacherous terrains where danger lurks at every turn, or having to contend with the Duttons' land wars against gangs of gunmen. They just start to feel tiresome when more couples die than live; death doesn't always have to punctuate stories about endless danger. 

Monica's death is different, though. "Yellowstone" spends a lot of time following her and Kayce as they fight to save their relationship, only to kill her off on "Marshals" without even showing it. As of this writing, it remains unknown if Kelsey Asbille chose not to return for the series, making her character's death the result of real-life circumstances. Regardless, it just feels like an unnecessary move following "Yellowstone" season 5's peaceful and upbeat ending for her and Kayce. Couldn't the writers have mixed things up a bit and found another way to write her out of the series?

Despite this, "Marshals" is still a good show — I'd argue that it's the best "Yellowstone" project since the golden years of the original series — and as tired as this trope is, Monica's death could lead to Kayce having a more meaningful character arc. Still, her sudden demise doesn't make me feel confident about other Dutton couples surviving in the upcoming "Yellowstone" spin-offs from Taylor Sheridan.