The Luke Grimes-led Yellowstone spin-off is one of the most-watched series on TV right now.

Marshals was not a runaway success. Yellowstone fans who wanted to see how Kayce Dutton’s (Luke Grimes) story would carry on in the first sequel spin-off were mostly disappointed. Marshals is more of a task force procedural that just so happens to feature Kayce, and less of a true Yellowstone sequel. But as the show enters the midpoint of its debut season, that sentiment is beginning to change.

In recent episodes, Marshals included more of Kayce’s past in between the story’s case-of-the-week perpetrators. He’s learning to grieve (and maybe even love again) following his wife’s sudden death. Plus, Kayce’s even found himself under the microscope a couple of times due to the skeletons in his family’s past. I can’t predict where the series is headed next, but it’s enough to convince CBS to give Marshals the green light for a second season in 2027.

According to Variety, Marshals garnered 30.6 million viewers in its first month on the air. It was second only to Netflix’s Stranger Things season 5—which started with 30.6 million viewers in its first 28 days, before exploding to over 100 million viewers by the finale. Otherwise, Marshals blew every other series out of the water. (For context: Variety also reports that Landman season 2 debuted with 18.9 million views after its first 28 days, while The Pitt season 2 hit 12.6 million views.)

Sonja Flemming/CBS
Kayce Dutton (Luke Grimes) is showing more of himself in the latest episodes of Marshals on CBS.
“Marshals delivered a breakout performance, capturing a massive audience across platforms and quickly establishing itself as one of TV’s most powerful new series,” CBS Entertainment president Amy Reisenbach wrote in a statement to the press. “The overwhelming viewer response speaks to the strength of the Yellowstone world, the bold character driven storytelling from the creative team and the dynamic cast performances led by Luke Grimes.”

Moving forward, Marshals will have its own franchise to contend with when Dutton Ranch premieres in May. The other Yellowstone spin-off, featuring Rip Wheeler (Cole Hauser) and Beth Dutton (Kelly Reilly) looks way more like its predecessor than Grimes’s CBS crime procedural. No word yet on when/if the two series may overlap, but it would be a shame if the Dutton siblings never reunited.

With Kayce’s son Tate (Brecken Merrill) missing entire episodes of Marshals—and even Thomas Rainwater (Gil Birmingham) making sporadic appearances despite now owning the Dutton clan’s Yellowstone Ranch—Kayce could use some more family by his side. That, or he might eventually find himself in trouble for all these perpetrators he kills every episode. It’s really too many bodies, Kayce!