In the beginning of Episode 7 of Marshals, Dolly Weaver comes to Kayce’s ranch to learn from him. They ride out on horseback, and Kayce is clearly impressed by how well she rides over the rough terrain.
When Tom shows up to pay Kayce back for saving him during the helicopter crash, their quiet time is over. He suggests they talk things over at dinner, but it’s clear right away that Tom has a different reason. He says he will buy East Camp as part of his growing business. Kayce is surprised by the proposal and quickly ends the night to think about it. He also thinks that Dolly might have been sent to make him more open to the offer, which makes things tense between them. Kayce pulls away when she tries to kiss him goodnight, making the moment awkward and unresolved.
Calvin is still dealing with tingling in his shoulder and neck, which has been bothering him since his time in the Navy. He sees Jared with another woman on his way to his car, which makes him feel very bad, especially since he knows how it could affect Belle.
A car bombing that almost kills federal judge Pauline Ayers and her husband Blake is the main conflict in the episode. The Marshals take over the case and put the family under tight protection right away while they look into the attack.
Clint Gallo, a convicted criminal who might have a grudge against them, is their first lead. Calvin and Andrea bring him in, but before they can do anything, the attackers hit the Ayers’ home again. Fallon, the judge’s daughter, gets too close to a window during the attack, so Belle has to act quickly to pull her to safety.
The team moves the family to Kayce’s ranch, which is safe and off the grid, because the house is no longer safe. Calvin has a hard time deciding whether or not to tell Belle about Jared, but in the end, he decides to keep quiet for now out of respect for her wish that family matters stay private.
In the meantime, new evidence makes the case more difficult. Blake is now a possible suspect in the attempt on his wife’s life. Miles finds fake passports hidden in the wall. This means that Blake has been using shell companies linked to Equatorial Guinea to move money. More digging shows that he has been using a fake name, and CCTV footage shows him at the ranch before he was taken at gunpoint.
The information found on Blake’s hard drive suggests something even worse: he may have been using a nonprofit group as a cover to smuggle weapons to revolutionaries in Guinea.
Andrea and Kayce find the guys who have Blake and save him after a tense fight. He is safely back with his family, but the emotional fallout is complicated. Fallon has a hard time processing what she has learned, but Linda seems willing to forget about Blake’s actions now that they are safe.
This situation is especially hard for Calvin because it is similar to how complicated his relationship with Belle is. After the case is over, Calvin and Belle have a drink to celebrate. He finally tells her about Jared, but she already knows and their marriage is open. The two kiss in a surprising moment, but they quickly pull away and decide to end the night there.
The episode ends with Kayce and Dolly going back to the ranch for another ride, which suggests that their story isn’t over yet.
Review of the Episode
This episode has a lot of procedural storytelling, and its structure is more like a traditional crime drama than previous episodes. The investigation into the car bombing is the main part of the story, but the writing doesn’t always keep the tension up.
There is a lot of focus on drama between people. The story about Blake and Linda is a simple way to get to know the team better, while other subplots look at how relationships are changing. Belle and Jared’s open marriage, Calvin’s growing relationship with Dolly, and smaller character moments with Miles and Andrea all work to make the story more interesting.
The episode does try to make its characters more interesting and relatable, which is a good thing. This kind of groundwork, on the other hand, feels like it’s too late in the season to have the most effect.
In the end, the episode moves a few storylines forward, but it doesn’t have the intensity or coherence needed to be truly interesting. The balance between procedural elements and character drama isn’t quite right, so the episode isn’t as exciting as it should be at this point in the series.