The closing moments of Marshals Season 2, Episode 3, “Sky Falling,” hit several of the show’s central characters hard. Kayce (Luke Grimes) was home with Tate (Brecken Merrill), while Belle (Arielle Kebbel) offered comfort to Cal (Logan Marshall-Green). Andrea Cruz (Ash Santos), meanwhile, was left confronting her trauma on her own.
Marshals Season 2, Episode 3 spoilers ahead.
The last time viewers saw Dre, she was sleeping at the office, curled up on a couch and nervously reading through the file on her father’s murder. During an interview with Decider at its Manhattan studio, Santos said that moment marks only the beginning of a deeply “introspective” chapter for her character.
“It’s not until she’s at work in Episode 3 that she starts seeing the impact of the Cleggs, the kidnapping and Garrett,” Santos explained. “She’s endured so much trauma in such a short period that she has no choice but to finally process it. She doesn’t feel comfortable returning to her apartment or sleeping there alone, so she secretly stays in the Marshals’ team room and showers at the office. No one knows. It’s heartbreaking. When Spencer [Hudnut, showrunner] told me, I thought, ‘Wait, what? Oh my gosh, that’s devastating.’”
As Marshals makes its highly anticipated Season 2 return, Santos spoke with Decider about the show’s Season 1 success, Dre and Belle’s close friendship, the effect of Cal’s cancer diagnosis on the team, Dre’s investigation into her father’s past and the trip that takes her to New York. She also shared her thoughts on a possible Dutton Ranch crossover and more.
Below is Part 1 of our conversation. Check back for Part 2, featuring even more Season 2 reveals.
DECIDER: The Sheridan universe has become a major success, but Marshals took a chance as the first post-Yellowstone spinoff. The show killed Monica immediately and introduced Kayce to an entirely new family, yet the ratings were enormous—and Dre quickly became a fan favorite. How did you respond to that reception?
ASH SANTOS: You always hope people will connect with a show, but after spending enough time in this business, you know there are no guarantees. It was nerve-racking because Yellowstone was a drama, while Marshals is more action-driven and technically a procedural. We didn’t realize how much viewers wanted this kind of story in that world. People tell us, “This is our favorite show. We watch it together on Sunday nights, and if the kids walk into the room, we don’t have to change the channel.” It has a little bit of everything. The response has been surreal.
Only three episodes into Season 2, the series is already exploring these characters more deeply. When Dre freezes outside that basement, it’s clear she’s still carrying the trauma from Season 1. How has her experience with the Cleggs changed her?
I don’t think she understood the full impact until Season 2. Garrett dies, there’s everything happening with Tate, she’s helping Kayce, and she has to decide whether to leave or stay. Once the immediate chaos fades, she finally starts to recognize what all of it has done to her. At work in Episode 3, she begins feeling the effects of the Cleggs, the kidnapping and Garrett’s death all at once. She has been through an overwhelming amount of trauma, and now she has to confront it. She doesn’t feel safe in her own home, even sleeping there alone, so she secretly sleeps in the Marshals’ team room and showers at the office. No one knows. It’s incredibly sad. When Spencer told me, I said, “Wait, what? Oh my gosh, that’s heartbreaking.” This season is very introspective for her.
Belle goes apartment hunting with Andrea and confronts her about sleeping at the office, investigating her father’s death and freezing outside the basement. How will their friendship evolve in Season 2? What do they provide each other in such a male-dominated profession?
Their friendship is unusual in the best way. Very early in Season 1, they realized they could rely on and trust one another. Dre knows Belle will always stand behind her, and Belle knows Dre will do the same. It feels almost sisterly. Belle is also the person who recognizes what Dre is experiencing and how much she’s struggling. She becomes protective of her in a really beautiful way. I love seeing women on-screen support each other with warmth instead of rivalry, because that has been my experience with women throughout my life. It has never felt catty to me; it has been caring and uplifting. We’re very fortunate to have that kind of dynamic between these characters.
Dre has begun investigating her father’s murder. What is she hoping to find, and what can you say about the role that mystery will play in her Season 2 storyline?
At one point, someone who knew the precinct where her father worked approaches her and reveals information she had never heard before. As Dre investigates, she discovers an entire part of his life that was hidden from her. In many ways, it appears he was living a double life. The search eventually takes her to New York, where she feels compelled to find answers and understand this buried piece of her past. I think fans will be excited to see Dre return to New York.
KEEP READING: TERROR: Videos Show Deadly Attack by Islamist in Australia and the Hero Who Confronted Him – NewsFinale
I’m looking forward to those episodes. Your father also worked in law enforcement. Has playing Dre brought you closer to him or helped you understand the character in a new way?
Yes. My father was with the NYPD and spent most of his career as an SVU detective in Manhattan. For more than 25 years, he fought for justice for survivors of sexual assault. After retiring, he trained detectives around the country in how to interview victims, because sexual assault cannot be handled like any other crime. The brain processes that trauma differently. He devoted so much of his life to helping people through the justice system that, when I auditioned, I immediately thought, “Oh my God, Dre and I are so similar.” Her father and mine had the same profession, and she’s from the Bronx. Playing her gives me an enormous amount of personal material to draw from. We were filming a scene on the water recently, looking at the Manhattan skyline from Dumbo beneath the Brooklyn Bridge, and it was incredibly beautiful and emotional. Afterward, Luke [Grimes]’s assistant asked whether crying was difficult for me. I said, “With this? No.” There are moments when I feel as though parts of me simply are her. The distance between us doesn’t really exist. It’s fascinating.
Speaking of emotional moments, I nearly gave a standing ovation in my living room when Kayce scheduled therapy for Tate, breaking the Dutton men’s long-running pattern of burying their trauma. What will therapy—or an emotional outlet—look like for Dre this season? Will she share a particularly vulnerable moment with someone?
She eventually reaches a deeply vulnerable point where she allows herself to cry and truly grieve her father. We never saw her cry at his funeral, so this becomes the first time she releases all of that emotion. It happens in the arms of someone specific, and it’s a beautiful scene because she feels safe and understood enough to let that person in. I think the audience will really respond to it.
Episode 3 concludes with Cal beginning chemotherapy. He remains determined and hesitant to accept help. As the season unfolds, how will his cancer affect the team—and Andrea in particular?
It reaches everyone differently. Cal turns to Andrea, even though he feels uneasy about placing her in such an intense leadership role. Gifford gives him a bit of a push in that direction. Andrea is hesitant as well because she doesn’t want the team to know how much she’s struggling. If this had happened during Season 1, she probably would have immediately said, “Yes, please,” convinced she could handle everything. But in Season 2, with the situation involving her father and everything else on her shoulders, the timing feels terrible. The only person she confides in is Kayce, and that creates a major complication in their relationship. Everyone is affected in a different way, which is what makes the writing so compelling. It’s like watching all these chess pieces move, and it’s incredibly juicy.
Fans have been begging for a crossover between Marshals and Dutton Ranch. I’m curious, have you seen the show at all? And if a crossover does happen, would you want Dre and the team to get in on that too? I feel like we have to have Beth meet the team — Kayce’s found family.
I know. How iconic would that be? It’s funny, I have seen Dutton Ranch, and I think the world of Kelly and Cole as actors. Beth and Rip are some of, at this point, the most iconic characters in television. I think they’re written so wonderfully, and there’s so much depth in their partnership on screen that people really resonate with. So hopefully. It would be cool. I agree with the fans. It’s hard not to want that, especially because Kayce was so close with Beth, and they had such an interesting brother-sister dynamic. I’m like, “Who wouldn’t want to see that?”
Andrea Cruz is such a physically and mentally strong, capable character, but I love that she never shies away from vulnerability. What do you hope that young girls who are watching Marshals take away from Dre and seeing you in this role?
That’s such a beautiful question. When I was a little girl, I would have loved seeing a woman like this on screen. I think little girls today, though, what I’m finding and what I am learning through the eyes of my own daughter, they’re so much stronger than we give them credit for. We really come to the world ready, capable, and bold, and it’s the world that tells us that we aren’t those things. But my daughter is the most ambitious, hard-working person I know, and she’s so confident. So I hope that if a little girl watches me in Marshals, she doesn’t feel like she’s learning something. I hope she just recognizes herself in that and almost thinks, “Oh, that’s how I am already. Great. I’m glad that women are like that now as well.” Do you know what I mean? We really come into the world so strong.
Before we wrap, any final Season 2 teases? What are you most excited for the audience to see?
I’m really excited for the audience to see Andrea reconciling with her past and growing more into herself. She really grows up in Season 2 in a beautiful way, so I’m excited for fans to see that.
Stay tuned for Part 2 of Decider’s interview with Ash Santos for more juicy Season 2 teases.
This interview was edited for length and clarity.
New episodes of Marshals Season 2 premiere Sundays on CBS with streaming on Paramount+.