As Yellowstone fans await the impending return of the Paramount Network smash hit, one of its stars has landed a brand new series that will likely take place far away from the majesty of Montana cattle ranches. Kelsey Asbille, who has portrayed the western drama's Monica Dutton for its first three seasons, has signed on to co-star opposite the Happy Death Day franchise's Jessica Rothe in the dark and mysterious new TV series Gaslight. But does that mean bad things for Monica and Luke Grimes' Kayce Dutton in Season 4?
For those who aren't aware, Gaslight is an acclaimed and popular scripted podcast from the studio/network QCODE, with the TV show adapting the audio narrative for live-action. As created by Miles Joris-Peyrafitte, Gaslight partially centers on Jessica Rothe's character Danny, who goes missing without a trace at the end of her senior year, leaving her community and her best friend Becca (Kelsey Asbille) in a state of denial, confusion and mourning. The main story takes place a few years after that inciting incident, with Becca having recently had a baby boy with her new husband. As the family is having what would otherwise be a normal late-night dinner, Danny inexplicably returns.
Without having made contact with anyone in the years since she vanished, Danny appears again without any explanation and is looking to reconnect with Becca. Strangely enough, she also has a boyfriend named Ben now, and the more that Becca and her husband learn about them, the more they understand that something isn't right with Danny, and the situation is far more dangerous than they could have imagined.
This definitely sounds like a solid idea for a TV show, assuming creator Miles Joris-Peyrafitte is able to successfully morph his podcast's narrative to fit a different medium. He'll be writing and directing all of the episodes in this initial season, which is set to begin production in British Columbia in June, though QCODE's announcement did not specify how many episodes are coming. And that detail is probably an important factor in how Kelsey Asbille's future Yellowstone duties may or may not be affected.
Without knowing what happens in Yellowstone Season 4, the optimist can look at this situation and presume that Kelsey Asbille's work on Gaslight won't necessarily butt into the western's upcoming production. The upcoming season finished filming back in November, and unless something big would change behind the scenes, Season 5 would be expected to start production up again in August or so. If Gaslight is only 6-8 episodes, the season could indeed be put together before Asbille would be needed back as Monica Dutton.
Of course, if a pessimist looked at this situation, they might think that something terrible is going to happen to Monica Dutton, since the June-August window is a pretty tight fit for an entire TV production schedule. (Especially if there are still COVID protocols to deal with.) If Kelsey Asbille's Monica was definitely safe and sound, it might have been more encouraging for this announcement to have come out months ago without any potential scheduling conflict hovering around the edges.
After all, Yellowstone fans remember the bonkers way Season 3 came to an end, with Kayce facing a planned attack in his office. Eagle-eyed (and -eared) viewers noticed that whenever Monica is talking to him during said attack, she appears to react to an off-screen explosion on the ranch, which could indicate that Season 4 will start off by revealing the separate attacks on the Dutton family members were only part of the concerted attempt to destroy them all. It's possible that Josh Holloway's Roarke, along with any other villainous entities, will be bringing the fight to the ranch in the upcoming premiere, thus putting Monica directly in harm's way.
Yellowstone has proven itself to be a show that can do just about anything with its main characters, so it's impossible to guess what's coming next. (Beyond the general idea that Kelly Reilly's Beth will be gloriously bitchy, and Wes Bentley's Jamie will be masterfully weak-willed.) But I'd be lying if I said Gaslight didn't sound like a solid story itself, so here's hoping Kelsey Asbille is able to make both shows work properly, or Yellowstone viewers might be seeing Kayce taking some emotional dips in Season 4.
While Paramount Network has yet to unveil when the highly anticipated fourth season of Yellowstone will arrive, it'll likely show up at some point in June, so be sure to stay tuned to that and the entire 2021 Summer TV schedule to keep your primetime hours stocked up in the coming months.
