Big Sky is a drag. I know this network drama just got renewed for a third season, but this was likely the last one for me. Let’s recap all 18 painfully terrible episodes.
Alright, I suppose that’s probably a bit of an exaggeration, but most of it was pretty rough. Similar to the first season, they actually managed to incorporate the whole plot of one of the C.J. Box books this series is based on, but they definitely took more creative liberties this time around. Also, there are definitely two definitive storylines similar to the first season, but they blended them together a lot better. For instance, Ronald is still on the run for at least the first half of this season, and then (SPOILER) Cassie gets to kill him with some barn hook. There was so much else going on around at that time that it kind of felt anticlimactic, but it ended up being more impactful because Ronald had killed Cassie’s father a couple episodes prior. While Rick Legarski is dead, evidently he had a hippy-dippy twin brother (not in the books), who got his hands on Ronald and tried his hardest to reform him before ultimately dying himself at the hands of the syndicate. Speaking of the syndicate, that organization’s involvement in this show has been made no more clear by the end of it. I think they’re just using it as a handy tool to kill of characters. Oh, well.
This season also focused on a group of teens who took some drugs from a guy they saw get killed. Let me tell you what, these high schoolers are STUPID. And annoying. Ultimately, instead of just giving the drugs up, a lot more people get involved and get killed. In fact, they are the reason the creators of the drug come to town and decide to set up shop. So once the teens’ involvement is wrapped up, the show decides to barely focus on the opioid crisis, but really is more interested in showing the complicated relationships of the family who makes the drugs. I do enjoy Ren’s henchman, Donno, but everyone else was kind of a lot.
Most of the season really, and unsurprisingly, is spent looking at the personal relationships of these people. Jenny, who just lost her husband not all that long ago, gets hot a heavy really quickly with an undercover cop from her past, Travis. He’s working to infiltrate the Bhullars family, who are responsible for drugs getting brought into Helena. Of course, Travis is pretty slippery when it comes to allegiances, and as much as I love Logan Marshall-Green, his character is rough. Although I think a lot of that has to do with the continued terrible acting by Kathryn Winnick. Cassie seems to be less involved this season and is part of some sort of weird love triangle with Mark and Jerrie. Honestly, I was team Mark and Jerrie, but Jesse James Keitel has bigger and better acting prospects outside of this show. And in the strangest twist I never saw coming, Jensen Ackles joined the cast in the last episode of the season!
Overall though, the cool new cast additions are not enough to keep me plugged into this mediocre show. A lot of the acting is terrible and I can tell they’re going to veer completely away from the source material next season. Mainly because there’s only four books and they’ve covered all of them already. I think my family is going to keep watching this show, so I can ask for updates if I’m really interested, but I think I’ve tortured myself enough.