Marshals picks up after the events of Yellowstone (side note: here’s the order to watch Yellowstone and its many spin-offs), with Kayce Dutton (Luke Grimes) navigating life after the loss of his wife Monica. With his military background, moral compass, general willingness to run toward danger, he dives headfirst into a new role with the U.S. Marshals. The show asks one question all season: can a man shaped by as much loss and violence as Kayce build something new before the past swallows him whole?

If you loved Yellowstone for the Montana backdrop, the tension between tradition and modernity, and characters who carry their trauma like a second skin, this one’s going to feel familiar in the best way. So, if you need a refresher before season 2, we’ve got you covered with a full season 1 Marshals recap.

Quick note: Even though the series is rated TV-14, the show does contain some mature themes and scenes. The content advisory shows mild profanity and sexual content but moderate violence and gore. On VidAngel, there are an average of 59 filtering options per episode for skipping 18 scenes of violence, 12 uses of profanity, 9 instances of alcohol or drug use, and 3 scenes of sexual content. Themes include Crime & Procedural, Grief & Mourning, Violet Narratives, PTSD, and more. For additional information on themes, storylines, and content advisory, you can review the Marshals Content Guide on VidAngel. If you’re watching with someone who might need a buffer, VidAngel lets you filter content by category so you can keep the story without the moments that make you wince. More on that at the end.

Now, without further ado, here’s the Marshals Recap. SPOILERS AHEAD!

Kayce Finds His Footing (Episodes 1–3 Recap)

The season opens with Kayce still clearly carrying the weight of Monica’s death, trying to figure out who he is when he’s not defined by the Dutton name. His entry into the Marshals unit comes through a reunion with an old SEAL teammate, Pete “Cal” Calvin (Logan Marshall-Green). His team includes: Belle Skinner (Arielle Kebbel), a former ATF undercover specialist; Andrea Cruz (Ash Santos), a DC marshal with a rebel streak and something to prove; and Miles Kittle (Tatanka Means), a Broken Rock tribal member.

Immediately, Kayce’s thrown into the deep end. Kayce is pulled back into familiar territory when a bombing targets the Broken Rock Reservation. The bomber turns out to be a tribal member named Jim Kain, who didn’t act alone or willingly.

The bomber’s trail leads to an armed anti-government militia called the Trailkeepers. This sets up one of the season’s persistent tensions: a clash between federal authority and people who have decided they’re done recognizing it.

Kayce tracks down Jim’s family, takes out the Trailkeepers operatives, and officially joins Cal’s team. 

While actively trying to earn his place with the team, Kayce unearths Dutton family history that he’d rather leave buried. No matter how clean the badge looks, Kayce can’t just walk away from where he came from.

The Broken Rock Cases (Episodes 4–6 Recap)

A standoff between Broken Rock and local ranchers over a mine groundbreaking turns violent, launching a manhunt for the shooters that keeps the team scrambling. 

Kayce and Cal are out searching for survivors of a helicopter crash. The rest of the unit deals with a use-of-force complaint filed against Kayce. It’s the season’s first real test of whether this team will back each other when things get complicated. They do, just barely.

A girl goes missing from Broken Rock. Kayce doesn’t wait for a plan. He goes alone, operates entirely outside the team’s structure, and gets her back. It costs him trust with the unit, but it’s the first real signal that Kayce’s instincts and the Marshals’ protocols are going to keep bumping into each other. He has to choose between procedure and doing what he feels is right.

The Trafficking Arc (Episodes 7–8 Recap)

When trafficking victims go missing and the trail goes cold, Kayce must tell his son, Tate, that his friend may be gone for good. It’s the season’s hardest scene. The Marshals eventually learn the girls are in the hands of a violent motorcycle gang. The Marshals go undercover to infiltrate it. The op is dangerous, messy, and effective, though not without cost.

In a separate case, a car bomb targeting a federal judge and her family puts the Marshals on protection duty. As they dig into who wants this family dead, old secrets start surfacing that complicate who the good guys actually are. And then the fallout: an ambush they didn’t see coming as the team tries to hold the case together.

Old Wounds (Episodes 9–11 Recap)

A former SEAL brother drifts back into Kayce and Cal’s orbit just as they’re hunting a dangerous fugitive. This forces both men to reckon with what they did and who they were at war. It’s the arc where the show leans hardest into Kayce’s military past. 

When a Marshal is captured and the team has to plan a raid on a paramilitary facility, a prison bus crash splits the team between hunting escapees and triaging the injured, with ghosts from the past showing up on both sides of the chaos.

Kayce and Cal are stranded overnight on a mountain in a deadly blizzard with a dangerous fugitive in tow, and an unresolved wound between them keeps threatening to break the partnership entirely.

Mountain, Cartel, and Conspiracy (Episodes 12–14 Recap)

A drug cartel targeting Broken Rock puts Miles Kittle in the crosshairs. When he goes rogue to hunt down a trafficker, the team has to find him before the situation spirals. Miles ends up suspended for it.

An assassination attempt on Broken Rock chairman Thomas Rainwater sends Kayce racing to protect him at East Camp. The whole team eventually converges there for a full-scale armed assault by international mercenaries. Tate kills one of the attackers defending Rainwater upstairs. Ten men go down outside. Rainwater survives.

The investigation into who hired the mercenaries leads to Councilmember Nathan Irons. When Irons turns up dead, it’s ruled a suicide. But the coroner finds defensive wounds on his body and no gunshot residue on his hands. Someone killed him to close the trail.

That trail, it turns out, leads to Tom Weaver’s ranch foreman, Jeb. He’s a man who spent the season quietly circling the edges of the story.

The finale ends with Cal discovering a ranch hand dead inside his home, and Jeb driving away. Tate is at a private airport with Tom Weaver. Jeb’s last words to Tom: “It’s handled.”

Watching Marshals Without the Explicit Language and Scenes

With its TV-14 rating, Marshals is a significantly less graphic show than other Yellowstone series. However, it’s still a gritty action drama with violence, some heavy thematic content around trafficking, loss, and PTSD, and occasional profanity you might want to do without.

If you’re introducing Marshals to someone who’s a little more sensitive to the intense moments, VidAngel is a solid option. It lets you filter specific content categories, including foul language and graphic violence, so you can keep the story intact without the moments that don’t need to be there for everyone.

Marshals is ultimately a show about a man trying to do right by people who have been overlooked and outgunned, and that story lands whether you’re watching filtered or not.

The post Marshals Recap: What to Know Before Season 2 appeared first on VidAngel Blog.

If you’ve spent any time in the Taylor Sheridan universe, you know the appeal. The scope is enormous. The characters are layered. The dialogue is sharp and specific in a way that most prestige TV never manages. There’s a reason people binge Yellowstone and immediately go back for 1923 and Landman and everything else he’s ever touched.

It’s genuinely great television.

It also comes with a significant amount of content that has nothing to do with why it’s great.

Great Storytelling Doesn’t Require All of That

Here’s the thing about Taylor Sheridan shows specifically: the storytelling engine is the family dynamics, the land, the loyalty, the slow-burning tension between people who love each other and are constantly at odds. That’s the good stuff. That’s what keeps you up until midnight finishing one more episode.

The explicit content scattered throughout? It’s not doing that work. The story would still be exactly as compelling without it. Most viewers know this instinctively — it’s why so many people watch these shows with their thumb on the remote, bracing for scenes that feel like interruptions to the show they’re actually there for.

You shouldn’t have to watch your favorite shows that way.

The Wind-Down Ritual That Actually Winds You Down

There’s something specific about late-night TV with your person. Kids are asleep. The day is finally done. You’ve got snacks and nowhere to be and one episode left before you should probably sleep.

That ritual is worth protecting. It’s connection time dressed up as entertainment. And the last thing it needs is content that pulls you out of it — that turns a relaxing night into something you’re managing instead of enjoying.

VidAngel is how you keep the ritual intact.

Watch the Sheridan Universe. Your Way.

VidAngel works alongside your existing streaming platforms — Paramount+, Netflix, Prime Video, Apple TV+, Peacock, and more — to let you filter what you watch before it plays. 100+ customizable filters: profanity, sexual content, nudity, violence, and more. You set them once, they run automatically, and Landman stays Landman — just without the scenes that make you reach for the remote.

Yellowstone keeps all five seasons of family drama and Montana landscape. 1923 keeps its weight and scope. Dutton Ranch will be ready to watch from day one, exactly the way you want to watch it.

Over a million people are already using VidAngel. It covers 25,000+ titles. Free trial available — so your next watch party is already taken care of.

Sarah Gets It

Content creator Sarah (@sarahflipsit) and her husband are deep in the Taylor Sheridan universe — and VidAngel is how they watch it. Not because the shows aren’t worth watching. Because they’re too worth watching to spend half the time managing what’s on screen instead of just watching it.

One More Episode. Without the Interruptions.

The best part of the night shouldn’t come with a catch.

The post Watch Taylor Sheridan Shows Without the Scenes That Pull You Out appeared first on VidAngel Blog.

If you’ve never seen Yellowstone and someone told you to “get into the Taylor Sheridan universe,” you probably looked it up and immediately thought, why is there livestock lore?

So here’s the easy version.

Start with Yellowstone. Always. That’s the main story. John Dutton runs the largest ranch in Montana and spends five seasons fighting off developers, politicians, the reservation, and sometimes his own children. It’s the center of the whole thing.

After that, go back to 1883. That’s the origin story. It’s how the Duttons got to Montana in the first place, and it’s way less “ranch empire” and way more “cross-country survival with devastating consequences.”

Then watch 1923. Same family, next generation. Now it’s Prohibition, early economic collapse, and the ongoing family tradition of suffering beautifully while fighting for the same land.

Then you’ve got Marshals. This one is directly tied in because it follows Kayce Dutton after Yellowstone, as he joins a specialized U.S. Marshals unit in Montana. This is actual Yellowstone fallout with a badge.

And yes, there’s more coming, because apparently Taylor Sheridan looked at one hit franchise and said, “what if we made ranches endless?”

Dutton Ranch premiered on May 15, 2026 and continues Beth and Rip’s story in South Texas. 1944 is reported to be in active development. And 6666 is still part of the broader Yellowstone franchise plans as well.

So honestly, you can watch these in whatever order you want. No one is coming to quiz you. But if you want the cleanest path, do this:

Yellowstone → 1883 → 1923 → Marshals → Dutton Ranch

(BONUS: Here’s the ultimate watch guide to Taylor Sheridan shows)

Also, quick warning if you’ve never watched Sheridan before: he does not hold back. These shows can get very heavy, very fast, with language, violence, and nudity showing up when you are just trying to watch people argue about land.

That’s where VidAngel helps. It lets you customize what gets filtered, so instead of it being all or nothing, you can mute the language, skip nudity, and filter the violence based on what you actually want to keep in. That way you can follow the family tree, the betrayals, and the land wars without getting blindsided every episode.

Because figuring out this universe is already enough work. You don’t also need surprise trauma from a cowboy.

The post What Order to Watch Yellowstone Universe? appeared first on VidAngel Blog.

The Taylor Sheridan universe is… a lot. Like “wait, is this the same ranch?” a lot. Between prequels, sequels, spinoffs, and shows that feel like they should be connected but technically aren’t, it’s easy to get lost somewhere between Montana and an oil rig in Texas.

So if you’ve ever asked yourself, “Do I need a flowchart to watch these in order?”—don’t worry. We made one (mentally). Here’s your complete, no-nonsense, slightly sarcastic guide to Taylor Sheridan shows so you can finally say, “Yes, I’ve seen them all.” Or at least pretend you have.

Yellowstone (Where It All Started)

Welcome to the main event. The one that launched a thousand cowboy hats.

Yellowstone follows the Dutton family, led by the ever-intimidating John Dutton, as they fight to protect the largest contiguous ranch in the U.S. from… basically everyone. Land developers, political forces, neighboring reservations, and yes—even a national park.

Expect: Family drama, power struggles, and more violence than your average “ranch life” TikTok.

1883 (The Prequel That Hurts Your Feelings)

Before Yellowstone, there was… suffering. Lots of it.

1883 tracks the Dutton family’s brutal journey across the Great Plains to Montana. It’s less “fun Western adventure” and more “wow, this is emotionally devastating and also historically intense.”

Expect: Wagon trains, heartbreak, and a deep appreciation for modern plumbing.

1923 (Trauma, But Make It Generational)

Because one Dutton timeline simply wasn’t enough.

Set in the early 20th century, 1923 shows the family battling pandemics, drought, Prohibition, and the Great Depression. You know, just a casual list of life challenges.

Expect: High-stakes survival, generational drama, and the realization that being a Dutton is… not relaxing.

The Madison (Feelings in the Mountains)

A shift from chaos to something a little more… reflective.

The Madison centers on a New York City family navigating grief and connection in Montana’s Madison River Valley.

Expect: Slower pacing, emotional storytelling, and fewer shootouts (probably).

Marshals (Kayce Gets a New Job)

Because one Dutton spinoff wasn’t enough.

This series follows Kayce Dutton after his time on the ranch as he joins an elite U.S. Marshals unit. Think cowboy meets Navy SEAL meets law enforcement.

Expect: Action, internal conflict, and the ongoing theme of “can this man ever just have a peaceful day?”

Landman (Cowboys, But With Oil Money)

Same intensity, different dirt.

Set in West Texas oil boomtowns, Landman dives into the world of roughnecks and billionaires chasing fortune. It’s an upstairs/downstairs story—if “upstairs” had private jets and “downstairs” had oil rigs.

Expect: Big money, bigger egos, and a crash course in how oil shapes literally everything.

Tulsa King (Fish-Out-of-Water Mafia Edition)

What happens when you drop a New York mob boss into Oklahoma? Chaos. Obviously.

After 25 years in prison, Dwight “The General” Manfredi is sent to Tulsa to start fresh. Instead, he builds a brand-new criminal empire with a crew that probably wasn’t in the original business plan.

Expect: Crime, dark humor, and a lot of “this is not how we did things in New York.”

Mayor of Kingstown (Everyone Needs Therapy)

Set in a Michigan town where prisons are basically the economy, this show follows the McClusky family—aka the unofficial middlemen between inmates, cops, and politicians.

Expect: Heavy themes, moral gray areas, and the overwhelming urge to take a deep breath afterward.

Special Ops: Lioness (Spy Drama, But Make It Intense)

This one trades cowboy boots for covert operations.

The series follows Cruz Manuelos, a Marine recruited into a CIA program to infiltrate terrorist networks. It’s high-stakes, high-tension, and very much not a “watch while folding laundry” kind of show.

Expect: Espionage, emotional depth, and constant stress (in a good way?).

So… Where Should You Start?

If you want the “proper” experience:

• Start with 1883 → 1923 → Yellowstone

If you want the “I just want drama immediately” experience:

• Start with Yellowstone and emotionally spiral from there

If you want something adjacent but not ranch-heavy:

• Try Tulsa King or Mayor of Kingstown

You’re Welcome

The Taylor Sheridan universe is sprawling, dramatic, and occasionally overwhelming—but that’s part of the appeal. Whether you’re here for the cowboys, the crime, or the chaos, there’s something for everyone.

And if you’re wondering, “Is all of this content actually something I want to watch?”—that’s where VidAngel comes in. 

Because watching TV shouldn’t require emotional recovery time… unless you choose it.

The post The Ultimate Taylor Sheridan Watch Guide appeared first on VidAngel Blog.

Lawmen: Bass Reeves

Summary: About the legendary lawman Bass Reeves, one of the greatest frontier heroes and one of the first Black deputy U.S. marshals west of the Mississippi River in American history.

Rated: TV-MA

Starring: David Oyelowo, Dennis Quaid, Joaquina Kalukango, Bill Dawes

Yellowstone

Summary: A ranching family in Montana faces off against others encroaching on their land.

Rated: TV-MA

Starring: Kevin Costner, Luke Grimes, Kelly Reilly, Wes Bentley

Reviews:

• “I love the importance of family in Yellowstone. That no family is perfect.” -Daren
• “One of the best western shows, but I definitely couldn’t watch without VidAngel.” -Jess
• “You don’t miss anything watching Yellowstone with VidAngel!” -Andrew

Wondering what it’s like to watch Yellowstone without the profanity? https://blog.vidangel.com/yellowstone-without-profanity-nudity-and-gore/

1883

Summary: The post-Civil War generation of the Dutton family travels to Texas, and joins a wagon train undertaking the arduous journey west to Oregon. Before settling in Montana to establish what would eventually become the Yellowstone Ranch.

Rated: TV-MA

Starring: Tim McGraw, Sam Elliott, Faith Hill, Isabel May

Reviews:

• “I love watching Yellowstone and 1883 without the profanity and inappropriate scenes.” -Ruby
• “I appreciate [Yellowstone] all the more after watching the prequels, especially 1883! It makes the story of the Dutton family so sweet to know that they’ve hung on that long. Also, can we talk about how cool all the cowboys are!” -Danny
• “1883. Definitely worth filtering and streaming.” -Destiny

1923

Summary: The Duttons face a new set of challenges in the early 20th century. The rise of Western expansion, Prohibition, and the Great Depression.

Rated: TV-MA

Starring: Harrison Ford, Helen Mirren, Brandon Sklenar, Julia Sclaepfer

Reviews:

• “The show itself is freaking amazing. I am so hooked with that, 1883 and 1923.” -Adelle
• “We just watched 1923 & are so grateful we can remove all the unnecessary nudity!” -Layna

Billy the Kid

Summary: An epic romantic adventure based on the life of Billy the Kid. From his humble Irish roots and his early days as a cowboy and gunslinger in the American frontier, to his pivotal role in the Lincoln County War and beyond.

Rated: TV-MA

Starring: Tom Blyth, Daniel Webber, Sean Owen Roberts, Dakota Daulby

Joe Pickett

Summary: Follows a game warden and his family during a changing political and socioeconomic climate in a small rural town.

Rated: TV-14

Starring: Michael Dorman, Julianna Guill, Sharon Lawrence, Mustafa Speaks

Outer Range

Summary: A rancher fighting for his land and family discovers an unfathomable mystery at the edge of Wyoming’s wilderness.

Rated: TV-MA

Starring: Josh Brolin, Imogen Poots, Lili Taylor, Shaun Sipos

Reviews:

• “I finished watching Outer Range…..weirdly awesome!” -Jesse

Lonesome Dove

Summary: A pair of longtime friends and former Texas Rangers crave one last adventure before hanging-up their spurs. After stealing over a thousand head of cattle from rustlers south of the border, they recruit an unlikely crew of hands to drive the herd 3,000 miles north to the grasslands of Montana.

Rated: TV-14

Starring: Tommy Lee Jones, Diane Lane, Chris Cooper, Ricky Schroder, Robert Urich

That Dirty Black Bag

Summary: The 8-day clash between Arthur McCoy — an incorruptible sheriff with a troubled past — and Red Bill, an infamous, solitary bounty hunter known for decapitating his victims and stuffing their heads into a dirty black bag.

Rated: TV-MA

Starring: Rose Williams, Travis Fimmel, Niv Sultan, Douglas Booth, Aiden Gillen

Territory

Summary: When the world’s largest cattle station is left without a clear heir, rival factions descend as a fierce generational struggle upends the land’s future.

Rated: TV-MA

Starring: Ana Torv, Sam Corlett, Philippa Northeast, Michael Dorman, Jay Ryan

Hell on Wheels

Summary: The Civil War is past, but former Confederate soldier Cullen Bohannon can’t put it behind him. Fresh are the memories of the death of his wife, killed at the hands of the Union soldiers, an act that sets him on a course of revenge.

Rated: TV-14

Starring: Anson Mount, Colm Meaney, Robin McLeavy, Phil Burke

The English

Summary: A woman seeks revenge on the man she sees as responsible for the death of her son.

Rated: TV-MA

Starring: Emily Blunt, Chaske Spencer, Stephen Rea, Tom Hughes

Frontier

Summary: Follows Declan Harp, a half-Irish/half-Cree Native-Canadian outlaw. Harp is campaigning to breach the Hudson’s Bay Company’s monopoly on the fur trade in Canada.

Rated: TV-MA

Starring: Jason Momoa, Landon Liborion, Zoe Boyle, Greg Bryk

Reviews:

• “FRONTIER SERIES! SO good! I can’t believe we have only just discovered it! I’ve added it to my list of fav. series. We all think it should be given higher ratings than it was given. Binge-worthy for sure. The one thing though- is we never use the gore filters but for this one esp. after last night’s episode in season 2 I’m thinking it’d be good.” -Rachelle

Godless

Summary: In the 1880s American West, a murderous outlaw gang leader Frank Griffin hunts for ex-protege Roy Goode. Frank’s chase leads him to La Belle, New Mexico–a town inhabited, after a mining disaster, almost entirely by women.

Rated: TV-MA

Starring: Jack O’Connell, Michelle Dockery, Scoot McNairy, Merritt Wever

This list of the best of the best Western TV shows is just the tip of the iceberg. Check out more here.

Originally published 11/10/2023
Post updated 2/26/2025

The post 14 Best Western Shows to Watch appeared first on VidAngel Blog.

Apparently, that’s not common knowledge and has caused quite a bit of concern across our social channels. Last week, someone asked, “VidAngel then why would they [they’re talking about VidAngel customers here] watch YELLOWSTONE???”

You know we live to banter, but we thought we’d let our fellow VidAngel customers take the floor. Here’s what they have to say about why they still choose to watch Yellowstone filtered with VidAngel:

“Because a great story can be told without the language and nudity.” – Christopher D. 

“The fact that they can’t make shows without that shows their lack of good imagination for a decent storyline.” – Shawna Stamper

“Because sometimes the story and character are great but they have unnecessary ‘enhancements.’” – Charlotte Taucher 

“I DON’T watch Yellowstone anymore because they profane the name of God multiple times EVERY episode.” – Daniel N. (raises hand)

“Wait, is this person actually suggesting that people might and should watch Yellowstone specifically FOR the language, nudity, and violence?? How is that considered better?” – Meredith M. 

“Isn’t Kevin Costener in it? Idk.” – John M. 

“It’s like these people have never watched an edited movie on TV. I was well into adulthood when I learned The Breakfast Club was rated R, because I had seen it on TV a dozen times and it was always edited. Studios produce the TV edited versions of all their films. Why not let the audience decide what is filtered out?” – Jeff S. 

“That’s such a silly question because even shows that don’t have intense themes seem to have profanity and the like.” – Stephanie B. 

“Pretty much a violent soap opera.” – Gregory P.

“Imagine wanting to watch Yellowstone just for the nudity and language.” Steven K.

“I know right!? I mean what’s left if you take away all of the good stuff like nudity/explicit language/violence??! The story/plot?? Pft boring!!!!…*ends sarcasm*” – Russ C.

There you have it. Yellowstone still has a plotline without all of the explicit profanity, nudity, and graphic violence. With our customizable filters, you get to decide where to draw the line in the sand. Turns out there’s more to this award-winning series than Beth yelling profanities in the wind. 

Want to know more? Check out our post about what it’s like to watch Jack Ryan without profanity.

The post What’s it like to watch “Yellowstone” without profanity, nudity, and graphic violence? appeared first on VidAngel Blog.