Returning Yellowstone Character Is Joining The Wrong Taylor Sheridan Show

Published Sep 23, 2026, 8:00 AM EDT Cathal Gunning has been writing about movies, television, culture, and politics online and in print since 2017. He worked as a Senior Editor in Adbusters Media Foundation from 2018-2019 and wrote for WhatCulture in early 2020. He has been a Senior Features Writer for ScreenRant since 2020. Although the Yellowstone franchise is set to bring back an iconic character from the original series in season 2 of the CBS procedural Marshals, this isn’t the sequel show that he should appear in. While Wind River, Sicario, and Hell or High Water put writer/ director Taylor Sheridan on the map back in the mid 2010s, it would have been almost impossible for commentators to guess just how much of the TV landscape he would come to dominate by 2026. The success of 2018’s Neo-Western Yellowstone resulted in a five-season run for the original show, two prequels in the form of 1883 and 1923, the sequels Dutton Ranch and CBS’s procedural Marshals, as well as an upcoming third prequel, 1944. Not only that, but Sheridan then parlayed this success into a veritable empire of other TV and streaming shows that aren’t part of the Yellowstone extended universe. There is the five-season prison drama Mayor of Kingstown, Tulsa King and its upcoming spinoff, Frisco King, Landman, the spy show Lioness, and The Madison. Although all of Sheridan’s shows are seemingly going strong in 2026, Marshals is set to return first now that its season 2 debut has been pulled up to be part of CBS’s Fall schedule. As if this weren’t exciting enough for fans of the franchise, Marshals has already made it clear that the show’s sophomore season will fix two of the biggest, seemingly contradictory issues with season 1. The spinoff is set to expand its focus beyond Kayce, ensuring that the rest of his fellow US marshals get more screen time, while also fleshing out Kayce’s Yellowstone backstory. Yellowstone's Jimmy Is Returning In Marshals Season 2 MovieStillsDB Although this sounds like it will be tough to pull off, the fact that traditional network TV procedurals have more episodes per season than Yellowstone bodes well for the spinoff. In keeping with the show’s promise to keep the original show’s canon alive, Marshals season 2 is also set to bring back Jefferson White’s original supporting character Jimmy. The ranch hand who was sent to Texas’s 6666 ranch to become a true cowboy will return in a recurring role. Jimmy’s upcoming comeback makes a lot of sense since the season 1 finale of Marshals sent Kayce’s son Tate to Texas with Tom Weaver, but the trailers for Marshals season 2 prove that Tate makes a safe return to his home state of Montana. This means Jimmy will travel up from Texas to join Kayce, a plot twist that could have been avoided entirely if White’s character had instead been brought back in Yellowstone’s other sequel series. While Marshals is set in Montana, Beth and Rip’s story sees the duo move to the titular Dutton Ranch in East Texas to set up a new sprawling ranch empire after losing Yellowstone in the original series finale. Since Jimmy’s planned 6666 spinoff is now not happening, it makes sense for one of the two Yellowstone spinoffs to instead bring him back as a supporting character. However, since Dutton Ranch is actually set in Texas, this would have been a much more natural plot development. Jimmy Is Better Off Joining Dutton Ranch Season 2 Image via MovieStillsDB Viewers can be assured that Marshals season 2 will find some plot contrivance that justifies Jimmy’s unlikely return to Montana, but it seems vanishingly unlikely that the character will stay there for long. Since the show is set in Texas, Jimmy could have instead gone to Dutton Ranch and stayed there as a supporting character throughout Dutton Ranch season 2, especially now that viewers know the 6666 ranch turned him into a master cowboy. This story development would have given Jimmy a bigger role to play in the series and felt more appropriate, since it doesn’t require a multi-state journey for an unknown reason. Moreover, as Marshals season 2 attempts to branch out and become more of an ensemble procedural in its second season, the last thing the show needs is another existing Yellowstone character to clog up its screen time. To put it mildly, Marshals season 1 was hardly like an installment from the NCIS franchise when it came to the show’s network procedural bonafides. Although all of Kayce’s co-workers got a subplot to themselves, the show was much closer to a straightforward sequel to Yellowstone focused on Grimes’s conflicted character than an ensemble procedural in the vein of the CSI, NCIS, FBI, or 9-1-1 franchises. This is important since the show is literally called Marshals, not Kayce Dutton: US Marshal. Its longer season 2 run means the series seriously needs to flesh out its supporting stars more, and bringing back an original Yellowstone character can’t help but feel like a distraction from that goal. In contrast, Jimmy’s work as a cowboy and his established life in Texas means his presence in Dutton Ranch season 2 would make much more sense. What To Expect From Jimmy's Marshals Debut If the title didn’t give it away already, Dutton Ranch is much more unapologetic about its status as a straightforward Yellowstone sequel than Marshals. Where Marshals hero Kayce wants to do all he can to avoid repeating his father’s mistakes, John Dutton’s adoring daughter Beth and John's protégé Rip can’t wait to replicate his exact brand of ruthless power plays in Texas. Since the melodramatic, soapy series is so similar to Yellowstone, Dutton Ranch is a much more fitting home for Jimmy’s nostalgic return. However, for whatever reason, White’s character will instead crop up in Montana in Marshals season 2. It is tough to tell what role he will play in the outing, since Jimmy had a complex character trajectory in Yellowstone itself. When viewers last saw him, Jimmy had married his love interest and was working at the 6666 ranch, seemingly happy with his choice to give up on rodeo riding after numerous serious injuries. Jimmy was a small time crook before he was hired by the Yellowstone ranch way back in season 1, so there is a possibility that he’ll be in trouble with the law in season 2 of Marshals. However, knowing Taylor Sheridan shows, it seems more likely that Yellowstone’s Jimmy will be in Montana to assist his old friend and his late boss’s son Kayce with a case in Marshals season 2. Release Date 2026 - 2026-00-00 Network CBS Showrunner Spencer Hudnut Directors Christopher Chulack, Greg Yaitanes Writers Spencer Hudnut, Tom Mularz, Dana Greenblatt Creator(s) Spencer Hudnut