Apologies for my lack of urgency with watching this new ABC series, Big Sky, but I did eventually and it was worth the wait! This crime drama is based off a novel called The Highway written by C.J. Box and follows private detectives with messy and entwined personal lives as they try and find missing girls kidnapped on a remote highway in Montana. Just so you know, there will be some serious SPOILERS ahead, so beware.
The mystery of this show appealed to me, and Ryan Phillippe as the lead did, too. Although seeing John Carrol Lynch in the mix definitely sweetened the pot for me! Phillippe plays Cody Holt, who works as a private detective alongside Cassie, who he happens to be sleeping with sometimes. Oh yeah, he’s also still married, but separated from his wife, Jenny, also a private detective. There’s some animosity between the women, as expected, especially since they are friends. Awkward! But I really think Cody is the one who should be getting pummeled in a bar – not each other!
Either way, the fighting gets turned down to heated glances when they learn that Jenny and Cody’s son’s girlfriend and sister haven’t been heard from in quite some time. Turns out the sisters pissed off the wrong trucker on the backroads in Montana and they manage to get themselves tasered and kidnapped after their car breaks down. Ron is the kidnappers name, and he is an odd duck. In his late 30s, he still lives at home with his mother and gets childishly defensive about everything. But is appears kidnapping is his game, because he also picks up a woman at a truck stop.
Cody, while trying to avoid his personal responsibilities, dives head first into the search for his son’s girlfriend and ends up teaming up with local highway patrolman Rick Legarski. It appears that Cody is already thinking several steps ahead in the right direction. This is great news until Rick shoots Cody in the head point-blank. That was an incredible twist that I seriously applaud the show for going for! As evidenced by the second episode, Cody will still be showing up in some flashbacks, but that’s about it. I imagine that development probably turned some viewers off the show, but it piqued my interest for sure.
The second episode spends considerably more time with our kidnapped trio of girls who have, I assume, correctly figured that they are headed for a future in sex trafficking unless they can figure a way out. They bond over singing and try their hardest to overpower Ronald a couple times, sadly to no avail. I feel a little bad for Ronald, as I assume Legarski is taking advantage of him somehow, but he’s still a bad guy for now. Speaking of Ronald and Legarski, the latter gives Ronald a serious tongue-lashing for his carelessness in choosing their victims. He’s chosen people “who will be missed,” and that’s bad for business. He does tell him that his parking lot lizard is good to go though, and to get her cleaned up. Turns out that she is a he and puts the duo in even more of a pickle.
Another thorn in Rick’s side is the fact that Cassie is catching onto some really creepy vibes from Rick when they meet to discuss the vanishing of Cody. Rick lies through his teeth and is rather convincing, but he doesn’t help himself by continually hitting on Cassie. While that encounter sort of brings her and Jenny up short, Jenny is able to make some headway at the truck stop and has access to an FBI database that can hopefully help them out. Here’s hoping Rick doesn’t get to the girls before they make some more headway.
So, after two episodes I definitely want to keep watching and see where this all goes, especially because it seems like they’re burning through some major plot points early. Having never read the book though, I can’t really say what’s coming next, so hopefully some more exciting stuff! Again, big kudos to the show for killing off its “lead” in the very first episode. That’s gutsy. However, with him gone, we still don’t know much about the two women in his life. So far, Cassie and Jenny still seem like fairly two-dimensional characters to me. Hopefully that changes soon. I look forward to more and I hope series creator, David E Kelley doesn’t let me down!