Marshals: Out of the Shadows

Obviously, Yellowstone fans prefer complex storylines. Frankly, the weekly procedural format might not be a perfect fit for the faithful, even though they should certainly appreciate the Marshal Service’s cowboy roots. Consequently, it probably makes sense to start making some two-parters for Kayce Dutton’s spin-off. It turns out they needed more than one episode to catch the traffickers holding Tate Dutton’s friend Hayley Charlo. In fact, their frustrated attempts to rescue Charlo are causing Dutton even more angst and guilt than usual (and he already carries quite a lot) in “Out of the Shadows,” the latest episode of creator Stephen Hudnut’s Marshals, premiering tonight on CBS.

During the third act of last week’s episode, Charlo convinced Dutton to let her return to her captors, so her fellow trafficking victims would not suffer reprisals. Unfortunately, the camper they thought was carrying the girls was empty, leaving them back at square one. It was a tough call, which his boss Pete Calvin respects. However, Dutton must take tons of grief from former Reservation cop Miles Kittle and his whiny, annoying son.

In a case of good news-bad news, the Marshals manage to connect the traffickers to a rather nasty biker gang, the Iron Sentinels. Even better (or worse), Deputy Marshal Belle Skinner still has an undercover alias that should still be valid with them, but Clavin definitely has the feeling he is sending her into the lion’s den.

The Marshals-versus-bikers storyline really gives this episode a neo-Western vibe. It is also an installment conservatives should appreciate since it is all about combating human trafficking, a brutal, nightmarish crime that has become bizarrely politicized, after many on the left started to resent the success of Angel Studio’s The Sound of Freedom. Plus, Dutton has some moments of “improvisation” that Dirty Harry Callahan could appreciate.

It is also Luke Grimes best opportunity yet to show his range as Dutton, as well as Arielle Kebbel’s first real opportunity to develop Skinner since the pilot. Gil Birmingham continues to represent the series’ best apostolic link to the Yellowstone origin series. Conversely, Brecken Merrill needs to apologize to the writers’ room for whatever he did that made them turn Tate Dutton into such a dreary wet blanket.

Nevertheless, this episode delivers some of the best action of the series, so far, while also paying tribute to its Yellowstone backstory. In fact, it could even bring some of the skeptical fans back onboard. Recommended for fans of CBS procedurals and the holdover Yellowstone characters, “Out of the Shadows” airs tonight (4/5) on CBS.