Luke Grimes on Monica's Marshals Return: 'I Don't Know If It's in the Plan'

Luke Grimes isn't ruling out Monica Long Dutton appearing in Marshals, but he isn't counting on it either.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the actor who plays Kayce Dutton on the Yellowstone spinoff addressed whether audiences might see Monica in flashbacks or dream sequences following her death before the series began. "I would love it, personally," Grimes told the outlet. "Her and I haven't really spoken about it. I don't know if she would be open to it. Those things are so personal and strange. She feels sort of done with that chapter in her life. But I would certainly love to have her around again, I think it'd be really fun. But I don't know if it's in the plan or not."

Grimes, who is also an executive producer on the CBS series, has a better vantage point than most cast members on whether Kelsey Asbille would return. He said in the same interview that he misses working with Asbille and that her absence was part of the reason he felt uncertain about returning to play Kayce after Yellowstone ended.

Reported by Screen Rant, Monica's death was at least partly driven by legal reasons to keep Marshals from being a direct Yellowstone continuation. The spinoff's season 2 premiere, which aired Sunday, started with a reset of its own: a tragic car crash kills Dolly (Ellyn Jameson), the daughter of villain Tom Weaver (Chris Mulkey), after a botched kidnapping of Kayce's son Tate (Brecken Merrill).

Kayce is now a single father to Tate, who in the premiere mentions he'll be turning 18 soon. That could become a source of conflict between father and son. If Tate seeks more independence, possibly moving away from the dangers he's faced, Kayce may have to gradually accept someone new in his life. That's a shift Screen Rant notes will be tricky for audiences to accept, given how popular the Kayce-Monica relationship was.

For now, Marshals season 2 airs Sundays at 8 p.m. ET on CBS.