‘Big Sky’ Recap: ‘Bitter Roots’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode Fifteen of ‘Big Sky’.
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Despite mankind’s best collective efforts to remove evil from the face of our society, it persists. Because sadly, the right moment (or wrong, depending upon your perspective) of opportunity, allows for a person to seize upon evil and perform twisted acts. The kind that motivates them to dive into such dealings further and often times… they tend to draw others into their stead as well with promises of power and prosperity that appeal to one’s better demons, allowing for evil to rise and thrive with impunity. But while we lament that and fight evil with our every breath, the good news is… its power never lasts. For evil has a tendency to cannibalize itself and make mistakes, which allows for it to pay the piper and it just so happens that the fall of evil played out during last night’s episode of Big Sky.
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For ‘Bitter Roots’ finally saw the Kleinsasser clan, fall to pieces and we have both Cassie and Jenny to thank for that. Because their attempts to escape the farm, forced John Wayne and Rand to enact some extreme measures to capture them. The kind that saw Cassie put a couple of bullets into Rand before he grazed her with his truck… but her shots struck true. Because in the wake of that encounter, a mortally wounded Rand dragged himself to his creepy hut in the middle of nowhere to take his final breaths in his mother’s arms, an act that shattered her beyond repair and that death, was the mere beginning of the end for this family. For John Wayne’s decision to kidnap Jenny and lock her in a trailer, only added to the chaos and the downfall of this once proud and powerful family. 

Because this was the last straw for Cheyenne, and she wanted no part of whatever plans dear old dad had to get the family out of this mess and that motivated her to get father and son to play off one another to sow discontent and trouble. Plus, she refused her father’s orders to kill Gil since that simply wasn’t her style and once, she turned her back on the Kleinsasser way… she helped Cassie find Jenny before John Wayne committed murder yet again and in order to ensure that no more harm would come forth… she actually took the time to shoot her brother and end the madness, leaving this family in shambles at last. And as an added bonus, it is only a matter of time before Sheriff Wagy goes down with them as well, thanks to a wonderful decision on Jenny and Cassie’s part, to catch a few of his disgusting words on audio for the Governor to hear. 

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But while it was satisfying indeed to see evil fall to pieces right before our eyes, especially this twisted family, elsewhere in the story, it was beginning to unify and strengthen thanks to some incredible surprises involving Ronald’s storyline. The kind that absolutely took the audience off guard, thanks to some clever storytelling, the kind that made it seem as though Ronald was indeed about to be exposed and captured. For he was on shaky ground with Phoebe after lying to her about what he was burying and asking her to keep secrets as well added to her concerns, and to make matters worse, Scarlet finally got a phone call from Lindor. One that motivated her to demand a return home post haste out of the apparent fear that her sister was in grave danger, a request that of course put Ronald on edge.
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However, there was no reason for him to be afraid for his safety and his future in the slightest. For he was in kindred company as it turns out. Because as they drove back to town, Scarlet felt the need to express her concern over what someone might find in Mary’s house. In fact, she straight up confessed that she killed Steve and Mary helped to the hide the body and that she was okay with discovering this side of her and hoped that Ronald, as she called him by name, would help her indulge in it further. Which was quite the jaw dropping moment indeed, one that genuinely led to a twisted alliance forged in a bond that none of us will ever understand. But while that was indeed frightening, since this match made in hell seemed ready to do whatever it takes to indulge their darkest desires… there was some hope on the horizon. 

For Jerrie and Lindor kicked the door down while evil came together, meaning it won’t be long before this unholy union is shattered, and Ronald is brought to justice. But alas, we will have to wait for next week’s season finale to see that come to fruition, but we can definitely take comfort in the fact that the end is near for Ronald Pergman and that wonderful fact… alongside the fall of the Kleinsasser clan, makes this one satisfying episode when all is said and done. Because there was nothing deep or analytical to this tale, it was just a good old-fashioned reckoning for evil and now that we know the end is in sight, that will indeed make the wait for next week’s finale a difficult one. Since we’ve collectively been aching to see Pergman behind bars and it will be quite interesting to see how his saga comes a close, since this show is well known for surprising us at every single turn. Until next time.  

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