Marshals season 1: Why was Kelsey Asbille’s Monica Dutton killed off?

As we get into the second episode of Marshals season 1 tonight on CBS, we recognize that there may still be questions about Monica Dutton. Or, to be specific, why the character was killed off-screen after a battle with cancer. It was such a sad thing to hear after watching her relationship with Kayce flourish on the original Yellowstone — the two went through their fair share of ups and downs, but we were left with a story that was very much about love and characters trying to conquer obstacles.

Now, if you have not heard as to why the character’s exit was handled this way, it does seem like there is a rather simple reasoning for it.

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Through multiple interviews following the premiere last week, the simple story is that Kelsey Asbille was unavailable to be a part of the new series. As for what that means exactly, it is up to some interpretation. We do know that she has been working on other projects, so the easy read of it is that she did not have room in her schedule to do a show like Marshals. It is hard for the character to still exist in this world and not be with Kayce, so for the creative team, killing the character may have been the only way to move forward and still do the show.

The most curious part of this entire story has been, at least for now, we have yet to hear from Asbille much directly — though she is not obligated to speak about a project she is not a part of in any way. All we can say is that Luke Grimes spoke to her fairly early on in the process, so there was an opportunity to get whatever closure was ultimately needed.

Related – Be sure to get some more news entering the next Marshals episode now

Are you still sad that Monica Dutton is not a part of Marshals?

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