[Spoiler] Dies, Roner’s Death Explained

Two named characters lost their lives on the Sunday, May 10 episode of “Marshals,” even if one will be missed considerably more than the other.

Episode 11 picked up with Cal and Kayce escorting Neil Lamb off the mountain and back into federal custody, but a thick cloud of tension hung in the air, as Cal was blissfully unaware of Kayce and Neil’s shared history. To make matters worse, there were also actual clouds hanging in the air, and a brewing snowstorm forced the trio to find shelter in a nearby cabin for the night.

While Cal attempted to patch the cabin’s leaky roof, he and Kayce bickered like an old married couple; Cal criticized Kayce for pushing Garrett back into combat, while Kayce explained that he was just trying to give their friend his old life back. “Too bad I couldn’t do that for Roner,” Kayce added for good measure. And the guilt-tripping didn’t end there. Kayce also passed along Garrett’s hospital message (“Tell Cal I’m sorry”) and made sure Cal felt awful about it. “After everything you’ve put him through, you still make him feel like he let you down,” Kayce said.

With his self-esteem at an all-time high, Cal ventured outside for more firewood, only to fall through some well-disguised ice into the frozen waters below. Cal managed to pull himself out and get back to the cabin, where Kayce helped him warm up by forcing Neil to surrender his thermal shirt… not even considering that Cal would notice the Yellowstone brand on Neil’s chest. But he noticed alright, which is why he believed every word Neil told him while Kayce was off gathering more wood. And we do mean every word.

When Kayce returned to the cabin, Cal was horrified by what he learned about the Duttons’ past misdeeds. “All that crap that the Cleggs and Gifford said about you is true?” Cal asked, labeling the Duttons nothing but “gangsters on horseback” and calling out Kayce for his hypocritical, holier-than-thou attitude about the Roner situation. Kayce clapped back, bringing up Cal’s secret pill-popping and the fact that he abandoned Andrea with the Cleggs, but Cal was still seething. “I brought you in to give you purpose,” he told Kayce. And you’re going to be the undoing of mine.”

But Kayce wasn’t the only one on the mountain with secrets to keep. And the one Cal was finally about to reveal would change everything between them.

Some quick-thinking on Neil’s part (we didn’t even know he could think!) enabled him to flee the cabin, putting a temporary end to Cal and Kayce’s fight as they refocused their attention on finding their escaped fugitive. Cal eventually tracked Neil down, but he was still weak from his battle with the frigid elements, and a scuffle ensued. Kayce discovered Cal lying on the ground with Neil nowhere to be found, leading to the episode’s biggest bombshell: the real meaning behind Garrett’s message for Cal.

Kayce has always blamed Cal for making their team pull out instead of going back to save Roner — an ordeal we relived this week through a series of dramatic flashbacks to Afghanistan — but Kayce apparently didn’t have the whole story. The only reason Cal gave the order to retreat was because Garrett told him that he saw Roner go down and believed he was dead. Cal silently agreed to protect Garrett ever since, allowing the responsibility to fall on his shoulders as team leader.

Kayce could barely find the words to process what he had just learned, but he and Cal managed to reach a powerful understanding — instead of burying the truth simply to move forward, they needed to face the truth so they could heal. Speaking of facing the truth, you were probably wondering what happened to Neil after Cal caught up with him; the episode gave us a quick glimpse of a body under the ice, implying that Cal lied about Neil getting away.

Now for the tragic part of Episode 11: when Kayce and Cal returned to the hospital to check on Garrett, they learned that he died while they were dealing with Neil on the mountain. 

“The damage from the fire meant he wasn’t getting enough oxygen to his body,” Garrett’s doctor informed Kayce, Cal, and Andrea when they arrived in Garrett’s hospital room. “The strain of it all was too much on his heart. He passed about two hours ago. I’m so sorry.”

All three were clearly rocked by the news (Andrea and Garrett had just started dating!), with Kayce and Cal taking a brief moment to process the loss of their former teammate. “The best of us don’t come home,” Kayce repeated as they left the room.

And just like that, we’re down to Two Musketeers.

Meanwhile, Thomas Rainwater and Mo returned to “Marshals” for the first time since Episode 6, and they were two men on a mission. Specifically, they needed to convince Senator Connor to put a stop to mining plans on the reservation. Putting her up in the casino’s presidential suite during the snowstorm was a good start, but Rainwater knew he needed to bring out the big guns to win this war.

Enter Miles, who regaled the senator with stories of his heroic deeds, from saving dozens of children to ending a hostage situation. Rainwater also played up Miles’ background as a Marine, saying that Miles promised his loyalty to his country, then asking if Miles’ country promise the same.

The senator was impressed and charmed after her discussion with Miles, suggesting that the subcommittee chairman would agree to a hearing on the mining plans if he also met Miles. The rest would be up to Rainwater, a challenge he happily accepted. Miles, on the other hand, isn’t so sure about his role in all of this. “Did you just use me as a prop? Miles asked Rainwater, to which Rainwater replied, “Not a prop — a weapon.”

Will you miss having Garrett in the world of “Marshals”? Were you surprised by the big Roner reveal? And even though Cal has clearly agreed to a fresh start with Kayce, how is he going to handle knowing all those Dutton family secrets? Drop a comment with your thoughts on the eventful episode below.