One of the best parts about the world creator David E. Kelley has made with Big Sky is it's fairly believable. Sure, there are some wacky characters you wouldn't expect to be in a quiet mountain town, but for the most part, you really feel like it's just a slightly more dramatized version of what happens on a small-town police force. Episode 5, "Flesh and Blood," has P.I. Cassie Newell getting closer to finding the answers she's looking for surrounding the dead backpacker, but leaves us with more questions on how some of the other details tie into the greater story.
An interesting reveal from Reba McEntire's character
Really the big mystery we're still waiting for clarity on surrounds Walter's past. Sunny has adamantly protected her firstborn son (who she gave up for adoption), and now that Buck has discovered he's been living in the woods, he's not pleased. Who could blame him when Walter apparently murdered his adoptive parents? There are a lot of questions I have surrounding this entire situation...was it clear that he set their house on fire and left them to die? How old was he? He can clearly drive a car and hold a somewhat normal conversation, so I'm just trying to figure out how he's gotten away with living so casually close to his mom's business for so many years undetected. And how Buck just didn't seem to know he was there...
Especially if people keep going missing — like Paige. Is she actually Walter's prisoner and not really hiding out there for help? Seems like it's a little bit of both, though she's clearly terrified of him. It's unclear why she doesn't just run away anytime he leaves the cabin, but maybe she's too scared she'll just get lost again. But back to Sunny — how interesting that she and Buck decided to just never tell Cormac that he has an older brother. It's a strange choice for a mother who seems so hell-bent on protecting Walter, even covering up a dead body. She acts like he doesn't exist but then goes to extreme measures to keep him hidden.
The bank robber we could have done without
If I had to have one issue with this new season, it's that some of the side storylines involving Beau and Jenny tend to take me away from the greater mystery season 3, which is literally called Big Sky: Deadly Trails. Is there a particular reason we aren't focusing more on just the trails? The latest "villain" of the week who didn't really land for me was the almost motorcycle thief Beau runs into while attempting to buy his daughter Emily a new bike. Surprise! He actually turns out to be a bank robber who steals bikes as his escape ride.
Do cops, notably the sheriff himself, typically launch a formal investigation on an attempted motorcycle robbery? Who knows, but it seemed like a slight overreaction when he didn't actually manage to take anything. And then Deputy Mo Poppernak gets taken captive for finding and questioning the robber's associates about the almost crime. Sure, this was an action-packed episode, but I would have much rather gotten more of a different storyline instead of focusing on this random robber and his friend's girlfriend who is robbing the bank because her mom stole all her money. A bit too much.
The love story we need more of
If there's one thing I want to see more of, it's Cormac and Cassie. Sunny's handsome son Cormac has no idea Walter exists but is clearly very into Cassie and is more than happy to help her figure out what happened to the backpacker. They even find the body and he helps her discover the mystery surrounding the weird wooden man Walter left with the body. Naturally, Walter carved the same heart in trees all around their camp, so leaving that wooden man behind was definitely a big mistake tying him to the area and the body.
I'm anticipating a big reveal where Cormac finds out about Walter while he's helping Cassie with her investigation, but the question is, which side will he choose? My guess is his family, but it's about time Cassie had an exciting new leading man in her life.
Random observations
- I need more info on what's going on behind the scenes with Tonya and Donno. Their strange little undercover operation at the camp took a turn when Luke revealed that Paige stole $15 million, so does this mean they'll all work together now? She hasn't gotten much air time this season but I feel like that needs to change so we can tie together all these loose ends.
- What is the deal with Avery? It was so bizarre that he decided to not only go through Paige's things in a prior episode, but now he's trying to get Luke to tell him he's in trouble because he saw some kind of code in Paige's journal. Very odd. But don't worry, he knows what he saw because he was an investor in a tech company.
- Is there someone else hiding out in those mountains who's responsible for the missing people over the years, or is it really just as simple as Walter had nothing better to do? I'm on the fence with this one, but considering how weird he's being with Paige, I can only assume Walter's hands aren't totally clean out on those trails.
READ MORE: Kylie Bunbury: Here's Where You've Seen Cassie from 'Big Sky'
