Marshals Season 2 Review: SWAT in Chaps and Funny Hats Returns for Another Gripping Season of Dad Procedural Television

Marshals, or S.W.A.T. in chaps and funny hats, returns for another gripping season of dad procedural television, and in Season 2 the show’s most artistic element is its breathtaking mountain views. The difference is that the main character has been plucked from a touchstone sprawling neo-western family saga and dropped into a CBS procedural with a similar wardrobe.

That doesn’t mean Marshals isn’t entertaining. Far from it, to be fair. This classic recipe has stood the test of time, only now it comes with the Yellowstone stamp of approval. It’s like a big-box store version of a beloved name-brand product: the packaging looks familiar, the logo is similar, and it’s obviously inferior. Still, that doesn’t mean you won’t like it.

You can’t expect the same quality, even if Marshals still does the job.

What is Marshals Season 2 about?

The last time we saw Kayce (Luke Grimes), he refused to sell East Camp, the last remaining piece of his father John Dutton’s (Kevin Costner) legacy. The plan was for Kayce to create an equine therapy center for veterans, a noble idea that was put on hold after gunmen attacked Thomas Rainwater (Gil Birmingham, of Hell or High Water fame) over mining rights.

Of course, that is not half of it. We still do not know the fate of Kayce’s son, Tate (Brecken Merrill), who was taken by Jeb (Justified‘s Kevin McNamara), under orders from Tom Weaver (Chris Mulkey). And considering that the youngest Dutton lost his wife, Monica (Kelsey Asbille), to cancer, he cannot handle the loss of another member of his family on his conscience.

Outside the procedural week-to-week playbook, the season sees Kayce keep trying to offer his son a peaceful life, while his son begins to take an interest in his father’s path. Cal (Logan Marshall-Green) faces a cancer diagnosis head-on and grows closer to Belle (Midnight, Texas‘s Arielle Kebbel) after the ambush. Also, Andrea (Ash Santos) begins to take more of a leadership role.

Marshals Season 2 Review

The only real question is how Kayce will manage his job and family life moving forward.

Marshals is from executive producer Taylor Sheridan, who has been responsible for some of the greatest television achievements of the 21st century. We are talking about Yellowstone, Dutton Ranch, Lioness, Landman, Mayor of Kingstown, and Tulsa King, all streaming sensations embraced by audiences and critics. Yet, they never seem to take home Emmy Award glory.

The key difference is that Sheridan does not write the episodes or run the day-to-day, which belongs to Spencer Hudnut (SEAL Team). While land is still viewed as almost a religious experience, it still exists as currency, bringing that mythic amount of masculinity. Of course, without Sheridan writing a single word of dialogue, the series is much more exposition-heavy.

Is Marshals Season 2 worth watching

Now, it leaves behind not just the Dutton family legend, but a legacy of writing that crackles with a slow burn: aphoristic, almost biblical, and sharpened by the unmistakable wit fans have come to know and love. The show, like last season, feels like a “Yellowstone Country” procedural, which, for now, is its strength.

We see Grimes’s Kayce in a new light: a weekly network action star with bullets, brawn, and mythic masculine swagger to spare. Grimes has the network TV star power to bring audiences back weekly, with a heaping amount of magnetism and heart. While this may not be peak Sheridanverse appointment television, Marshals is hardly a cheap knockoff.

It’s a procedural that lives up to the CBS stamp of approval, not the Yellowstone kind.

Marshals Season 2 premieres on CBS October 4 at 8:30 p.m., with episodes also available to stream on Paramount+. New episodes air weekly!

Marshals Season 2 Review: SWAT in Chaps and Funny Hats Returns for Another Gripping Season of Dad Procedural Television