The Marshalls Season 2 finally introduces a real villain, but it doesn’t utilize him enough.

‘Marshall’ has suffered from several problems since its debut in March 2026, and one of the biggest problems is the lack of a convincing villain. Thankfully, Season 2, Episode 3 “Falling Sky” introduces a new character who appears to be a promising potential antagonist for Luke Grimes’ Kayce Dutton and his team of Marshals. Unfortunately, he barely appears in the episode.

Season 1 of “Marshals” didn’t quite know what it was about, which meant we got a bewildering array of storylines, some of which went nowhere and others just fizzled out. “Marshals” Season 1, Episode 3 introduced a powerful and never-before-seen rival to the Dutton family: Michael Cudlitz’s Randall Clegg and his family of sovereign citizen rebels. At the time, the show seemed like it was setting up a recurring main villain who might know the Dutton family’s secret. Then, in episode 9, Clegg was arrested by the authorities and taken away, never to be seen again.

“Marshals” then revealed that Chris Mulkey’s rancher Tom Weaver was the biggest bad guy of the entire season. Unfortunately, it was all too late and when Season 2 began, Weaver was just as quickly disposed of as Clegg before him. Now the show is without its overarching villain, but the introduction of a quirky little tech bro character named Gavin Escher in Season 2, Episode 3 suggests we might finally get what we’ve been waiting for.

Marshall season 2 started off with a disappointing premiere, but I’m looking forward to ‘Falling Sky’ even more. It begins with three unidentified individuals attacking a military drone on the Broken Rock Reservation. We later learn that the three actually shot down the drone, causing it to crash into the home of a Broken Rock resident, killing him.

Soon Air Force Colonel Brooks arrives at Marshalls headquarters and introduces Pete Calvin (Logan Marshall-Green) and Casey Dutton to Horus Avionics CEO Gavin Escher. His company is developing a military surveillance drone and is testing it over Broken Rock. It turns out it was a drone that came down on Res.

When Escher, Cal, and Kayce meet, tensions are immediately apparent as CEO Horus seeks to undermine the Marshals. “You guys are really cutting edge, aren’t you?” He said with a grin. “If we lose a cow, we know where to go.” Escher seems more impressed when he hears that Cal and Kayce are former Navy SEALs, but continues to butt heads with Kayce, who ignores the drone loss and calls attention to the deaths of Broken Rock residents. Escher then shows the group a video of the three snipers who took down the drone, and the Colonel asks Pete and Kayce to bring them in. When Escher suggests that the Sheriff is “out of his depth,” Cal assures the Colonel that he can complete the mission.

This is the case with Escher, who soon disappears and is not seen for the rest of the episode. That’s a shame, because Cal’s clash with Kayce is one of the best moments in “Falling Sky” and far more compelling than any scene featuring the previous villain.

The big villain revealed at the end of Season 1 of ‘Marshalls’ highlighted the show’s biggest weakness. In particular, the series reminded viewers that there was too much going on and no time to construct compelling villains. Season 2 gives the writers a chance to fix that, and Gavin Escher seems perfect for the job.

For one thing, his tech brethren’s confidence is all too familiar in 2026. This makes Escher feel like a much more appropriate villain than the shady rancher and off-grid fanatic of Season 1. Plus, as Pete Calvin says later in the episode, Escher has direct ties to the White House, which brings real risk into the equation. Meanwhile, his drones clearly pose a real threat to the Broken Rock Reservation, which could make for an interesting and ongoing battle between the Marshals, Broken Rock, and Horus Avionics. Then there’s the fact that the actor playing Escher does a solid job projecting a sticky sense of self-importance that already rubbed Kayce Dutton the wrong way. It would be nice to see more of him as the season progresses, but for this villain story to pay off, the show needs to take the time to develop his character.

Now the show is clearly trying to bring more focus to the situation. “Marshals” Episode 2 suggested that overlooked “Yellowstone” alum Tate Dutton (Breken Merrill) might finally get a storyline this season, and both Episodes 2 and 3 tap into “Yellowstone” tradition by featuring Buffalo as a symbol of Kayce’s ongoing struggle to keep Tate from following in his family’s footsteps. If Escher takes on a more prominent role as the seasons go by, ‘Marshalls’ may start to resemble a decent show.