I did not like Marshals Season 1 Episode 5, “Lost Girls.” It was borderline offensive because of the poor execution of a very important storyline about missing Native girls and women.
Instead of the victims taking center stage, Kayce and Miles’ tantrums became the episode’s hallmark.
In Marshals Season 1 Episode 6, “Out of the Shadows,” the show regains its sanity and delivers an episode worth the time of anyone who cares about this storyline and these characters.
The Fix
And they really didn’t do anything different apart from dialing back Kayce and Miles, involving the rest of the team, and following the rules of action-oriented procedural television.
We get a brief moment of Miles punching Kayce when he’s already down, and then everyone focuses once it becomes clear through Ava what’s on the line.
This is not the arc to derive pleasure from raining down hell on scumbags; it’s the arc to take them down swiftly and save the victims from more trauma.
Delivering the news to Ava’s family shows Miles that while his feelings about being iced out of the tribe are real, others face bigger, more permanent problems.
And what an intense attempt to find Hayley and the missing girls this one was.
Rather than filling gaps from social media stalking or constructing narratives from basic facts on the internet, the team goes into the field and gets their hands dirty.
Whether it’s Kayce torching the bikers’ motorcycles or Belle going undercover, everyone pulls their weight here, and finally, this feels like previous investigations.
Kayce has proven that he’s willing to go off-books quite regularly, but for the first time, I’m not mad at it.
I only become concerned when he takes the law into his hands and metes out justice to suspects. Then it becomes less about the victims and justice, and more about his desire to feed his own dark passenger.
Learning to Accept Loss
His shift this hour could partially be attributed to him finally confronting something he’s been avoiding all along: Monica’s death.
Through Ava’s death and her mother’s response, Kayce learns to let go. Since Monica died a year prior, Kayce has been in disbelief. He keeps thinking he’ll wake up one day and find Monica asking for her necklace.
He’s been holding onto it as if his life depends on it, and I totally understand the desire to avoid confronting loss.
In the meantime, he’s descended deeper into darkness while drifting away from his son. When Tate’s grandfather tells Kayce that he thought he’d lost another son, it dawns on Kayce just how withdrawn he’s become.
He even frames his presence at the remembrance ceremony as a favor to Tate and Rainwater before finally giving in.
This change is huge for Kayce and his relationship with Tate. The former’s desire to act as if Monica didn’t die has been the biggest point of friction with him and his son, so now that that has been resolved, it’s time to dive deeper into their other issues.
The hour balances what I love about procedurals well. It uses the week’s case to resolve some problems in Kayce’s life rather than have them overshadow everything.
Structural Problems
That said, some issues persist in this episode. Chief among them is Monica’s death, which to this hour feels like a huge gap in the storyline.
I still don’t get why it had to happen for the story to continue. It feels more like a behind-the-scenes thing than a storyline thing.
The gaping chasm is visible every time footage of her body being covered up is replayed, and the explanation? She died of cancer.
We still don’t know the specifics of how this happened. Maybe it’s intentional from the writers so that we feel Kayce and Tate’s loss, but it also feels cruel.
Meanwhile, Pete is aware of the risks posed by Kayce’s constant off-book behavior, but his warnings are delivered so softly that they barely register.
If Marshals wants to go in this direction, there need to be serious consequences for Kayce’s actions in the near future, or he becomes another Bode we have to be wary of.
Gut Check
“Out of the Shadows” was quite emotional; I may have shed a tear or two, but if anyone asks, I’ll deny it vehemently.
One instance was Ava’s mother’s world crashing in real time as she realizes what the visit means. Seeing her try to connect with Rainwater or Miles, only for them to avoid her, because of the news they come bearing, was just heartbreaking.
And what about Kayce finally taking out that necklace in public and stepping forward with the rest of the families for blessings? It hit all the right emotional notes.
The episode delivers a satisfying conclusion to this story with the team finding Hayley and the other girls.
However, it also underscores that this problem remains unresolved. Ten or so girls might have come home, but there are hundreds more who remain missing, and it will take more than a few people to fully end this scourge for good.
Intrusive Thoughts
- I wish it were possible to kill scumbags more than once. Those men who had young girls stored in barrels like merchandise deserve multiple deaths.
- I know Tate is grieving and all, but someone needs to teach that kid some manners. Lord knows if I had talked to my father the way Tate does to Kayce.
Over to you, Marshals Fanatics. What did you think of this episode? We get some hints that Belle might be hiding something from the rest of the team. What do we think that is?
Let’s keep the conversation going — it’s the only way the good stuff survives.
Say something in the comments, share if you’re moved to, and keep reading. Independent voices need readers like you.
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