‘Yellowstone’ Spinoff ‘Marshals’ Axes Longtime Character Fans Loved to Hate

The “Yellowstone” spinoff Marshals shocks fans by killing off Kayce’s (Luke Grimes) wife, Monica (Kelsey Asbille).

Yellowstone was a cowboy family saga, with Kayce and his wife Monica as central figures.

Harshly, Monica doesn’t even get a dramatic onscreen death. She’s already gone when Marshals begins. The spinoff opens with Kayce having a nightmare: he receives a frantic call from Monica while on a military operation, only to wake up alone in bed. Later, at her grave, he says, “The best part of me died with you.” It’s implied she passed away from cancer caused by environmental toxins, though the show leaves the details vague.

Marshals follows Kayce after the events of Yellowstone, as he reconnects with his military past by joining an elite team of U.S. Marshals led by his old friend Pete Calvin (Logan Marshall-Green).

Airing from 2018 to 2024 on Paramount, Yellowstone was a hit cowboy family drama created by Taylor Sheridan. It chronicled the lives of the powerful Montana ranching Dutton family, including patriarch John Dutton (Kevin Costner) and his adult children Kayce, Beth (Kelly Reilly), and Jamie (Wes Bentley).

After the events of Yellowstone, Marshals follows Kayce (Luke Grimes) as he steps into a new chapter of his life

Monica, Kayce’s wife, was a prominent side character on Yellowstone, but she was far from a fan favorite.

Killing her may seem harsh — but in reality, it was a clever move. Fans had long despised Monica. In 2022, Kevin Costner took to Instagram asking followers what they wanted from the final season of Yellowstone. One irate fan replied bluntly: “Monica dies! I’ve had enough of her now.”

Off-screen death for Monica (Kelsey Asbille) may seem harsh, but it’s a move that Yellowstone fans are actually celebrating.

In the new Yellowstone spinoff, Kayce is a widower — a development fans had long been hoping for.

A 2022 essay on Pajiba described Monica as “not a character so much as she is an obstacle for her husband to navigate.” One Reddit critic echoed this sentiment, writing, “I just can’t seem to like or even respect Monica,” and calling her behavior “inconsistent.” The fan pointed out that Monica chose to be with Kayce fully aware of his complicated family life, yet continually complained about it.

“She’s made her bed over and over again and refuses to lie in it … At some point you’ve got to come to terms with what you’ve chosen for your life,” the critic concluded.

Monica has long been one of the least-loved characters among Yellowstone fans.

Monica is already dead when Marshals begins, but her legacy as a character still sparks strong opinions among fans.

One viewer criticized her for being “mopey” and constantly playing the victim. Another added, “She’s such a nag. I feel bad saying that as a woman, but half of the reason Kayce had no peace was because of her complaining.”

Even those who tried to defend her did so reluctantly. “I don’t think she’s bad. She just seems like a half-baked character,” one fan wrote. “It’s always a sigh, then some corny remark and the same facial expression. I’d like to see her stand up for herself or stop sulking.”

“I cannot STAND HER,” another person declared.

On his new show, Kayce Dutton is no longer the family man fans once knew.

After the events of Yellowstone, Kayce (Luke Grimes) steps into a new role as a U.S. Marshal — and fans who had long wanted to see him single can now rejoice with Marshals.

Adding to the controversy surrounding Monica, the character was portrayed as Native American, and Asbille had claimed to share that heritage. However, a 2017 BuzzFeed report found no evidence to support this. Page Six reached out to Asbille for comment.

At the time, Suicide Squad actor Adam Beach even called for a boycott of Yellowstone over the issue. “What got me jolted by it was that I have a lot of Native female actors that need a job,” he told the outlet. “I immediately called it out.”