Unfinished Business
We begin episode 4 of Big Sky with Ronald dumping cereal over his Mother’s head. He takes offence to her suspicions regarding his “impulses” but she simply chuckles and shrugs off his hostility. Ronald’s interrupted by Rick phoning though and admitting that he’s worried things are getting too hot. Meanwhile, the girls in the basement discuss their escape plan and what to do next. Grace decides to sacrifice herself and put maggots on her cut leg in a bid to make Ronald freak out and buy them some extra time. Jenny recruits Detective Walter onto the case in a bid to bring Rick in and question him about what he’s been up to. When Ronald finds out about this, he begins to worry. Rick simply shrugs this off and tells him they’ll wrap this case up very soon. Rick is clearly a loose cannon though and questions whether to rid himself of Ronald or not. Apparently Ronald has an end-game to prevent this but it’s clear he’s obviously not of sane mind. Ronald heads down to the basement and tends to Grace’s wounds, eventually leaving her tied up. As he shuts the door behind him, it’s clear Ronald is having second thoughts about this. Cassie goes over the CCTV footage and learns they’re definitely going after a trucker. Before that though they decide to investigate Rick and see what part he has to play in all this. Rick is brought into the sheriff’s office where he learns that Cassie was the one who reported him. Rick completely loses the plot and breaks into an angry monologue. Way to go Rick, that definitely doesn’t make you seem suspect! Elsewhere, Ronald creepily flirts with Merilee, asking her out to dance with him. Just after he leaves, Ronald speaks to Rick and tells him that Grace needs antibiotics. Rick heads down and tends to Grace’s wounds, revealing what a bigot he is in the process. He also bemoans Grace and Danielle getting wrapped up in all this by accident. Jenny decides to go undercover after successfully planting a tracker on Rick’s car to follow his every move. With Cassie watching from afar, Jenny tracks down the first suspicious looking tracker and heads onboard. Unlike the previous episodes this season, the crowbarred COVID sections bleed through as the trucker makes her sanitize her hands. Afterwards, she suddenly shows her badge and wants to do a swab of his truck. He refuses though and eventually kicks her out the truck. Cassie comes out of hiding brandishing a gun though and everything comes undone in a matter of seconds. At the police station, both Cassie and Jenny are berated for their stunt. On the way out, they learn that Legarski’s car stopped off at a place in the middle of nowhere and decide to investigate. Meanwhile, the creepy flirting from before seems to work as Merilee shows her face at the annual dance with Ronald. They dance for a bit until he heads out and answers a call from a rattled Rick. Merilee too heads home late and tells her husband she’s not having an affair but was out dancing. Cassie and Jenny sneak into the hidden warehouse and begin looking around. Downstairs, the three girls hear banging from above and start frantically screaming for help, banging back themselves. Cassie and Jenny fail to hear anything though and eventually leave. Is the room soundproof? No. As the camera slowly pans down we see a gap between the floorboards leading directly into the truck the girls are being kept in. Deary me.
The Episode Review
So on top of the contrived and ridiculous plot line thrown into this series, Big Sky does a sudden 180 and starts including covid references too. Now, I’m not against that per-se but given we’ve had 3 episodes without mentioning it at all, to suddenly crowbar this in now feels completely out of character and adds to the poor writing. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Asian cinema completely trumps anything produced in the West and this show is further evidence of network TV’s declining quality. The characters are unbelievable and the plot line incredulous; hopefully things will improve going forward but right now this show is sinking – and sinking fast.
