Marshals: Wolves at the Door

Tonight will be another example of heavily-armed cowboys working with the Reservation. Way back in the pilot, Kayce Dutton and his future-fellow Deputy Marshals protected Thomas Rainwater, the Chairman of Broken Rock Reservation, from a would-be assassin. Since then, they received little credit from Broken Rock residents, but tons of grief from locals supporting the rare earths mine Rainwater wants to block. Like everyone in the Yellowstone universe, Rainwater is not inclined to back down, which leads to more work for Dutton and his colleagues in “Wolves at the Door,” the season finale of Marshals, premiering tonight on CBS.

Given his suspension, Miles Kittle is too politically radioactive to testify in Washington. Fortunately, he wanted to change the Chairman’s mind, so he was there to help Mo Brings Plenty fend off a pair of killers. Dutton offers to secretly host the Chairman at East Camp while the Marshal Service investigates. That would be the same East Camp he suddenly decided not to sell industrialist-turned-rancher Tom Weaver.

Of course, it won’t be long before another larger hit squad launches a siege on East Camp. However, Chief Deputy Marshal Pete Calvin intends to ride in like the cavalry. He even restores Kittle’s badge, which might even endear him to his estranged daughter Maddie, assuming everyone survives the shootout.

Not surprisingly, this episode offers little sense of resolution. Instead, it clearly hopes to hook viewers for a second season (which presumably will be coming, given Marshals’ consistently strong ratings). Yet, it is also one of the episodes Yellowstone fans skeptical of the procedural format might appreciate, because the Dutton-Rainwater relationship takes center stage.

Marshals: The Devil at Home

Usually, Kayce Dutton is the Deputy Marshal most likely to go rogue. This time it will be Miles Kittle. Ironically, he will go “off the reservation,” by going onto the reservation. Learning belatedly of a friend’s fentanyl death, Kittle wants to administer some frontier justice, but Chief Deputy Gifford insists on differing to the DEA. Dutton keeps busy, but he largely gets a week off from his usual angsty brooding in “The Devil at Home,” the latest episode of creator Spencer Hudnut’s Marshals, premiering tonight on CBS.

Having been hyped as a hero after the standoff with the Cleggs, Deputy Cruz’s next assignment will be schmoozing political bigwigs with Gifford. However, she has to admit the “whisper-quiet” combination helicopter-airplane, displayed at the conference by real-life Archer Aviation founder Adam Goldstein (playing himself), is really cool and potentially super useful. Maybe they can take it for a test spin in next week’s season finale.

Chairman Rainwater wants to use Kittle in a similar fashion to stop the adjacent mining project. However, the news of his friend’s death quickly ends his effectiveness schmoozing. Of course, the Marshals are all for taking down fentanyl traffickers, but the DEA claims jurisdiction. Kittle just cannot accept the stand-down order. In fact, his girlfriend Maddie Calvin grows so concerned, she calls her semi-estranged father, Deputy Pete Calvin, for a status check.

Marshals: Playing with Fire

Lucky Kayce Dutton finally gets a break from the family angst and guilt this episode. Instead, it is Belle Skinner’s turn and as far as Dutton is concerned, she is welcome to it. Of course, everyone caries their past like an albatross in creator Spencer Hudnut’s Marshals so tonight’s installment,  “Playing with Fire” certainly won’t be an exception.

Things were momentarily great. Dutton’s house guest, former SEAL teammate Garrett Garvey was really taking to ranch life and Deputy Marshal Andrea Cruz, who was just cleared to return to duty after her hostage ordeal in “In Low Places.” Then, in a flash, Garvey suffers serious burns and smoke inhalation while saving the horses from an electrical fire in the barn.

Cruz’s first gig back was supposed to be easy. She and Skinner must ride shotgun on a routine prison transfer. You know what that means. One rock slide later, we have fugitives. There was even a convicted doctor on board, but he was truly guilty and he isn’t one of the ones that got away. Instead, he helps treat an injured inmate, who also happens to be a mystery woman from Skinner’s past.

Okay, so one of the escapees also has a connection to Dutton, but who in Montana doesn’t? That will most likely drive the next episode. This time around, Skinner gets all bad family karma, which probably makes this episode the best feature opportunity yet for Arielle Kebbel. Ash Santos also nicely balances her as Cruz, unaccustomedly providing the voice of reason.

Marshals: In Low Places

Sure, the dregs of the Clegg Clan had the drop on the U.S. Marshals at the end of last week’s episode. They also have them outnumbered four to one, at least. However, the Marshals have two former SEALs—two and a half if Calvin agrees to temporarily deputize “Double G” Garrett. He is not so inclined, but desperate times call for desperate measures in “In Low Places, tonight’s episode of creator Spencer Hudnut’s Marshals.

At the end of “Blowback,” Randall Clegg and his pseudo-militia had abducted Deputy Marshal Andrea Cruz and lured the Marshals into a firefight on the Clegg compound. It is never good when people call their property a “compound.” It’s a very Kennedy thing to do.

Calvin and the Marshals successfully pull back, but they won’t go far. Unfortunately, Clegg clearly intends to execute Cruz on his livestream, but the FBI won’t give up negotiation attempts, clearly still embarrassed by the Waco and Ruby Ridge fallout. Of course, the Marshals are willing to go it alone, but they need recon—and Garrett was really good at recon, before that op they never full explain went south.

Like clockwork, the exposition heavy “Blowback” sets up the lock-and-load action of “In Low Places.” It also sounds like a Garth Brooks reference, so fittingly Riley Green gets to perform a song this week, in the role of Garrett. Presumably, it is one of his originals rather than a Brooks cover, but it is nicely staged, regardless. This episode is also a nice feature opportunity for Ash Santos, who probably shows more range as Cruz in this two-part arc than in the previous seven episodes.

Marshals: Blowback

Most U.S. Marshals would rather kick down doors than worry about personnel issues. That is certainly true in Pete Calvin’s case and Kayce Dutton can surely relate. The Dutton family never really cared about people’s feelings, not even their own. Unfortunately, a lot of personal stuff blows up on the team in “Blowback,” tonight’s episode of creator Spencer Hudnut’s Marshals.

Last episode, Calvin and Deputy Marshal Belle Skinner had a bit of a moment that now leads to a heck of a lot of awkwardness. Calvin also has another doctor appointment, which does not bode well. On top of that, he just learned Deputy Marshal Miles Kittle is dating his mostly estranged daughter Maddie.

That would challenge any supervisor—but wait, there’s more. A former SEAL comrade of Calvin and Dutton, turns up unannounced. Unfortunately, Garrett blames Calvin for his “former” status. However, his extreme PTSD will be mostly Dutton’s problem. Regardless, there is a lot of background noise going on when the Marshals receive an anonymous time regarding one of the FBI’s most wanted fugitives, who is apparently planning a job in Big Sky Country.

“Blowback” seems to following the pattern established by “Lost Girls” and “Out of the Shadows,” in which two-episode story arcs are set-up with a talky first installment and finished with a guns-blazing conclusion. Hopefully, that will be the case next week too. Nevertheless, this episode will hold significance for some fans, because it introduces real-life country music star Riley Green, as Garrett. Indeed, Green is probably a good fit for the Yellowstone fanbase.

Marshals: Family Business

If you forget your doggy bag in a restaurant, always go back for it. You don’t want to miss out on good leftovers. Plus, it could save your life, like it does for Federal Judge Pauline Ayers and her husband Blake. Unfortunately, the valet keeping her engine running isn’t so lucky. They darn well better finish that steak, since he died for it. They will have time too, while Deputy Marshal Pete Calvin keeps them under protection in “Family Business,” the latest episode of Marshals, airing tonight on CBS.

Ayers is known for tough sentences, so the Marshals have no shortage of suspects. When the attempts keep coming, Blake Ayers asks if there is anywhere Calvin can put them where his whiny daughter Fallon might have more space. Of course, he happens to know of a ranch that is pretty far off the grid.

It turns out, it happens to be the same ranch wealthy Tom Weaver would like to buy, which rather puts a damper on Kayce Dutton’s romance with Weaver’s daughter, Dolly. Regardless, Dutton invites company over, presumably sending his son Tate off to friends—even though he and Fallon Ayers would make quite a dreary, mopey pair. Still, it is just as well he won’t be around.

This episode of the Yellowstone procedural is in fact very procedural. “Family Business” barely touches on the Dutton family or the Broken Rock reservation storylines, beyond Kayce Dutton’ work on the case. As the title suggests, “family” is a theme for tonight’s episode, but Calvin and Deputy Marshal Belle Skinner get most of the awkwardly applicable moments for a change.

Dutton is still actively engaged in the investigation, but series star Luke Grimes got a little more trailer time during the shooting of “Family Business.” It is also lighter on action than the previous guns-blazing two-parter, “Out of the Shadows” and “Lost Girls.”  However, it is a nice showcase for Logan Marshall-Green, who has emerged as the best casting decision beyond the Yellowstone mother ship holdovers. At this point, his Calvin deserves crossover opportunities in other Yellowstone spin-offs.

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 Spencer 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.

Marshals: Lost Girls

In Yellowstone country, jurisdiction is serious business. For a Dutton, not so much. Kayce Dutton’s family has gone rogue before, so he is willing to go rogue again. However, when Thomas Rainwater, the Chairman of the Broken Rock Reservation makes an official request for assistance finding trafficked girls, the Marshals are relieved to finally help real victims and pursue real scumbags in “Lost Girls,” tonight’s episode, “Lost Girls.”

Running a fruitless errand to Wyoming, Dutton’s son Tate happens to meet a former classmate, Hayley Charlo, in a truck stop, but she doesn’t seem to be herself. Quick follow-up reveals Charlo is one of many missing Reservation girls, who have been dismissed as runaways. Babysitting a piece of trash Federal witness leaves a rather bad taste with most of the Marshals, so they start quietly investigating until they get official permission.

Frankly, Dutton and Miles Kittles aren’t so quiet about it. While he was still with the Reservation Police, Kittles diligently worked the case of Charlo’s missing friend Ava. This week, he might be the loose cannon their boss, Pete Calvin should be worrying about.

This episode definitely taps into the human trafficking outrage of The Sound of Freedom, while capturing the Marshals’ frustrations with conflicting and overlapping jurisdictions. There is also a bit of “Frontier Justice,” but it doesn’t come from Kayce. However, it is deserved and cathartic.

Marshals: The Gathering Storm

Now that he is a U.S. Marshal, Kayce Dutton gets to risk his life in new and different ways, while all his family’s old enemies still have it out for him. In this episode, Dutton and Calvin head up into the mountains, looking for a crashed helicopter, but his job might be gone by the time he gets back in “The Gathering Storm,” the latest episode of creator Spencer Hudnut’s Marshals, which premieres tonight on CBS.

The Cleggs weren’t big enough to even register in Yellowstone, but they are still standing and still hold a grudge. Randall Clegg’s two dumb sons turned outlaw in a previous episode, forcing Dutton to shoot one of them dead, to save fellow Marshal Miles Kittle. Unfortunately, the late Clegg’s firearm was not recovered, so now the Cleggs are filing civil rights charges against Dutton and the local cop-hating lawyer is only too happy to help. The Marshals’ politically appointed boss, Harry Gifford also wants to capitalize on the complaint to prosecute his own grudge against the Duttons, so he orders Deputy Marshal Cruz to find the dirt to bring down her fellow Marshal.

While Cruz reluctantly builds a case against Dutton, including a shameful strategy of using Navy SEALs’ reputation for PTSD as a talking point, Dutton and fellow SEAL follow the fuel trail to Tom Weaver’s crash site. Initially, Dutton’s attitude towards the imperiled former Wall Street titan is quite caustic, because he assumes the rich man is a lot like his father. However, once they reach the stranded gentleman rancher, Dutton starts to understand Weaver’s paternal relationship was a lot like his own. In fact, the Weavers might possibly become allies, if Dutton and Calvin survive the grizzly bear and other assorted dangers they encounter in the Montana wilderness.

“The Gathering Storm” might be the best Marshals episode to date, because it clearly portrays the methods lawyers and politicians use to harass and demoralize law enforcement officers. This episode’s campaign against Dutton is dishonorable, but typical and very true to real-life.

NCIS Sydney: South of Nowhere

Considering how many hostile foreign powers are currently targeting the U.S. and our allies, would the Navy’s resources truly be best spent on Antarctic climate research? This episode of CBS’s mega-procedural franchise makes a good case for the negative (probably unintentionally). Regardless, when a wave of violent madness sweeps through the scientific station, NCIS Agent Michelle Mackey’s lucky team happens to be the closest, so they must respond in “South of Nowhere,” the mid-season premiere of creator-showrunner Morgan McNeill’s NCIS Sydney, which premieres tonight on CBS.

According to the initial report, one scientist suddenly went nuts, killing another, but was quickly subdued. However, when Mackey and her team arrive (minus the high-strung Blue Gleeson, who has dog-sitting duties), they find a bloodbath. They immediately suspect an airborne “zombie virus,” until they find a survivor.

Nevertheless, the Agents must make contingencies in case some of their comrades turn into rabid killers. Much to the credit of McNeill and co-writer Josh Sambono, this episode directly references the classic The Thing Another World. However, given the context, they probably really mean to name-drop John Carpenter’s 1982 re-conception, The Thing, which is also a great film.

Either way, the Antarctic setting is relatively ambitious for a weekly procedural series—even without extensive outdoor location shots. This episode also builds urgency with a countdown to the six months of solstice night due to engulf the polar region in less than four days. As a bonus, it also acknowledges the duplicitous nature of one of Putin’s closest allies.

SEAL Team: The Venezuela Arc

Navy SEALs fight our nation’s enemies. That is literally their job. Frustratingly, far too many movies and TV series try to make our own military and intelligence services out to be the bad guys. (Take The Painter as a shameful recent example.) That just would not be credible in a military-focused show like SEAL Team. Combat takes a lot out Bravo Team, but they are fighting genuine terrorists and agents of oppression. Bravo Team must now contend with Venezuela and Iran in the five-episode story arc making its network premiere this Thursday.

Things got bad while Bravo Team was operating in Africa—really bad. Master Chief Jason Hayes’s traumatic brain injury has only gotten worse, nearly leading to catastrophic consequences for the entire team. Special Operator Clay Spenser hates to leave his wife, Stella Baxter, while their prematurely born infant is still confined to an incubator, but he feels dutybound to watch over and out for Hayes. Special Operator Sonny Quinn is also dealing with family issues, when his ex decides to relocate, along with their toddler. At least, Chief Warrant Officer Ray Perry is doing relatively okay, having largely dealt with issues related to his PTSD treatment.

“Head On” introduces a particularly tricky new assignment for Bravo Team, because they will be almost entirely on their own. From the Columbian side of the border, they need to hatch a plan to stop the Venezuelan regime’s attempt to jump-start their nuclear program with the help of Iran’s chief nuclear scientist. You should definitely ask yourself why two countries whose economies are built on petroleum would be so interested in developing nuclear capabilities.

Regardless, Hayes decides their best option will be taking out Dr. Nuclear is a phony accident, whereas Spenser and Clay argue for abduction and interrogation. In his state, Hayes interprets their arguments as disloyalty, but events will prove them right.

Frankly, this storyline is even more timely now than when it premiered online. The Chavist regime is openly threatening Guyana’s borders for the sake of newly discovered oil deposits. Yet, there is (unsurprisingly) stony silence from professional “anti-imperialists,” even though the integrity of Guyana’s territory goes back to 1899.

Obviously, preventing a nuclear Venezuela is a valid mission for Bravo Team. “Violence of Action” covers the waiting part of “hurry and wait.” All that time on their hands reveals the growing fissures in Bravo Team’s unity. However, one team member finally starts accepting help in “Keys to Heaven,” whereas another threatens to spiral out of control.

Regardless, they all must get it together and work as a team in “Pillar of Strength” to take out the Iranian-backed Venezuelan nuclear program once and for all. Notably directed by lead actor David Boreanaz, this episode has some particularly good action, set amid the titular foundational pillars of the structure housing the nuclear facility. Of course, the exfiltration and the aftermath are always messy, as viewers see in “All Bravo Stations,” which ends with a new mission and a season-ending cliffhanger.

NCIS: Sydney: Gone Fission

As a member of the “Five Eyes” intelligence alliance and the AUKUS collective security pact, Australia recognizes it shares common democratic values and strategic interests with the United States. Of course, the same sort of people currently conducting anti-Semitic (or rather Jew-hating) rallies would like to see that alliance loosened to the point it might sever. That is why both NCIS and the Australian Federal Police (AFP) need to quickly resolve the suspicious death of American sailor aboard a nuclear submarine docked in Sydney. The respective team leaders will squabble over style and turf, but they still work well enough together to launch a new spin-off in “Gone Fission,” the pilot episode of creator Morgan O’Neill’s NCIS: Sydney, which premieres tomorrow on CBS.

Unfortunately, the AUKUS ceremony did not go according to plan. First a protester disrupted the Australian Foreign Minister’s speech. Then a not-so able-bodied seaman fell dead into Sydney Harbor. Since his death is attributed to radiation poisoning, the boat is immediately sidelined for a thorough inspection.

NCIS Special Agent Captain Michelle Mackey will be investigating, in partnership with AFP Special Agent Jim “JD” Dempsey, but they are so temperamentally alike, they automatically clash. Fortunately, their laidback #2’s, DeShawn Jackson of NCIS and AFP Constable Evie Cooper are similar in ways that help them immediately fall into an easy working relationship. For forensic support, they have the expertise of crusty old Roy Penrose and Bluebird “Blue” Gleeson, his new intern, a quirky Millennial, with an unlikely affinity for the spiritual aspect of their job, which her initially standoffish boss comes to respect. It sounds a lot like a NCIS series, because it is.

All the critical attention is on the big steamers right now, but the old big three networks are some of the rare places you can find veteran-friendly television. One of the important developments in “Gone Fission” is the discovery the late sailor was in fact poisoned by Polonium and not a leaky reactor. By now, everyone should know Polonium is one of Putin’s favorite assassination techniques. Questions from the pilot remain unresolved, but just offering up Russia as a potential suspect is a good start.

SEAL Team: Trust, But Verify Pt. 1 & 2

Considering how hard it is for SEAL Team Bravo to smuggle a defector out of North Korea, just imagine how difficult it must be for Pastor Kim Seungeun, the real-life protagonist of Beyond Utopia. Granted, the SEALs stand out more in the DPRK. They are also trying to rescue a scientist who is integral to the regime’s advanced weapons research. Initially, only the first four episodes of SEAL Team’ s fifth season were supposed to air on CBS (including this two-part season premiere), before the franchise transferred to Paramount+, but then the strikes happened. Now, the entire fifth season is part of their new Fall schedule. It is refreshing to see actual bad guys cast as TV bad guys, including the North Koreans in “Trust, but Verify,” which returns to free TV this Thursday.

The team has their own stuff to deal with at the start of the season. Chief Warrant Officer Ray Perry has been away, getting treatment for his PTSD, which only Master Chief Jason Hayes knows, at least so far. Hayes is still trying to shrug off the lingering effects of a serious head injury that might be more severe than he wants to admit. Special Operator Clay Spenser is finally planning his long-deferred honeymoon, while Special Operator Sonny Quinn is spending time with his newborn. Unfortunately, they must put everything on hold for a “training mission” with the South Koreans.

Of course, it turns out the “training” is just a cover. Instead, they will infiltrate North Korea and exfiltrate Dr. Jin, a high-ranking scientist, whiose wife already defected. Their contact is Kwan Jon-wi, a rescuer, who is much closer to Pastor Kim than the dodgy broker-traffickers he is forced to work with.

Although the two-parter does not reflect the full extent of the DPRK’s extreme dystopian oppression, it still acknowledges the prison-like conditions and constant paranoia of life in the North. Most of the action comes in part 2, which is nicely executed, especially by network TV standards. Keong Sim also has a memorable guest-appearance as the somewhat traumatized Jin.