Summary
Things aren’t looking too good for anyone in the Marshals finale, making the show’s Fall return a tantalising proposition.
There are many advantages to a show being renewed way ahead of its Season 1 run ending, and you can see most of them on display in the Marshals finale. Episode 13, “Wolves at the Door”, leaves everything unresolved and a lot implied, in a way that would be deeply frustrating if the show’s future weren’t assured. Luckily, we don’t have to wait too long to find out what happens next, which is just as well since this climactic instalment leaves almost everyone for dead, in one way or another.
With multiple last-minute cliffhangers putting the lives of several characters in serious jeopardy, there’s a lot to go over. Naturally, most of the potential farewells suggested by the penultimate episode don’t happen, but that’s fine, since they were never going to anyway. In their absence, though, we also lose some of the emotional payoff of a happy ending, leaving everything completely up in the air. And Tate’s bad luck is so profound that on the rare occasions that Marshals remembers he exists, it almost gets him killed.
Of Course Kayce Won’t Sell East Camp
It was always a bad idea to even suggest that Kayce might sell East Camp, and thus the last remaining bit of land that his family fought and died for over the years. Luckily, “Wolves at the Door” puts this angle to bed nice and early. Even though the ghosts of Monica and now of Garrett still kind of haunt the place, the spring will bring renewal with it.
And besides, Kayce has some plans, including an equine therapy centre for vets, named after Garrett. So, he turns Mr. Weaver’s generous offer down. And Weaver is gracious about it. Dolly even seems happy, though she’s probably expecting to be moving in with Kayce sooner rather than later.
You’d think this would put the whole matter to bed, but it’s really a setup for later developments, which we’ll get to in due course.
Rainwater Is in the Crosshairs Again
East Camp needs to remain in Kayce’s hands for the time being, since it once again becomes a safe haven for his pals when another attempt is made on the life of Thomas Rainwater. Mo and Miles are also present, even though Miles’s suspension means that he can’t be Rainwater’s political plaything in the fight against the mineral mine.
Naturally, the attack on Rainwater seems connected to the mine, so Kayce inexplicably relocates him and Mo to East Camp, guarded by himself and Miles. Tate is also there, since for once he’s actually at home, which proves to be terribly timed. In short order, the WiFi goes out, the guard on the gate is discovered dead, and armed attackers descend on the cabin. Kayce calls for backup from Cal, Andrea, and Belle, who’re staking out a motel, and then lets off a flare to warn Rainwater, Mo, and Tate. Let battle commence.
Kayce and the others are able to save the day, with an assist from Mo and Tate, who, not for the first time, is forced to take down one of the attackers himself. He even says that he won’t be hiding under any beds as he did back on Yellowstone, though. The Dutton cycle of violence is continuing apace, and he seems all for it.
Prime Suspect
The attackers seem to have been foreign mercenaries hired by Irons, one of the Broken Rock council members with whom Rainwater was in perpetual disagreement. Even though Rainwater is pretty adamant he isn’t a string-puller, he nonetheless fits the bill, and when Andrea, Belle, and Cal go to check him out, they find him dead, apparently of suicide. It seems at first blush like the failure of the attack had left him on the hook, and he’d rather die than be brought in.
Something’s obviously fishy, but the ending of Marshals proceeds for a while as it’s actually going to be an ending, so it’s easy to fall for the trap. We even get an emotional montage of everyone’s personal subplots seemingly being wrapped up. Belle asks her husband to clear her gambling debt, and even though he’s annoyed, it seems like he will; Andrea gets all misty-eyed after finding Garrett’s hat, and clearly won’t leave; Miles is reinstated quickly enough to be championed by Rainwater as a spokesperson for Broken Rock; and Maddie finally wants to have a conversation with Cal, whom she calls “Dad” for good measure. Even the development of the mine is suspended.
Naturally, though, “Wolves at the Door” still has more to offer. And it’s all bad news.
I Think We Have Our New Big Bad
There was something just a bit too nice and reasonable about Weaver, wasn’t there? As for Dolly, I’m not so sure, and I think the likelihood is that she’s just after Kayce for garden-variety romantic reasons. But someone as wealthy as Weaver doesn’t take rejection well, historically.
When it turns out that Irons’s suicide might have been staged, one of the ranch hands that Weaver loaned Kayce is revealed to have made a call just before the attack. Cal and Belle go to investigate, but walk right into an ambush staged by Jeb, the ranch foreman whom Weaver introduced to Kayce at the very beginning of the finale.
And while this is going on, Tate is boarding a private plane with Weaver for a bass fishing trip in Texas. Kayce thinks it’ll be a nice break for him, but he doesn’t realise that he’s leaving him in the hands of the man who was funding the attack on East Camp and Rainwater. It seems like Weaver has been pulling the strings the entire time! And it may well be Kayce’s son and teammates who pay the price while he’s on a romantic horse ride with Dolly. Something tells me he’s probably going to be very annoyed in Season 2.
