‘Big Sky’ Recap: ‘Little Boxes’

Written by Emily Auskaps

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode 207 of ‘Big Sky’.
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Lindor creeps through the darkness with his gun drawn toward the shed that held Ronald and Scarlet. He enters the shed only to have Wolf and his big stick appear at the doorway behind him. Wolf menacingly tells Lindor he’s close to trespassing and wonders how to appease the Marshal. Lindor, gun pointed at Wolf, demands to know what he keeps in this shed. It’s for the violent ones, Wolf replies, the really bad dogs. Lindor orders him to open it, Wolf claims he has nothing to hide. Setting aside his stick, Wolf unlocks the door for Lindor, revealing an empty chamber, and invites him to have a look around. Lindor backs Wolf away from the door to the shed chamber with a gesture of his gun. No sooner has Lindor stepped inside than Wolf lunges and shut the door behind him. “What the hell?” Lindor bellows in confusion. Wolf mocks his fear, telling Lindor of a vicious chow chow he had that would leave teeth in the wood. Lindor couldn’t care less, he shouts that he’ll start shooting if he isn’t released. Laughing, Wolf unlocks the door. Unamused, Lindor again gestures Wolf back with the gun and demands to know what that was about. Wolf informs him it was merely a harmless demonstration, as Lindor is there without a warrant, he felt well within his rights to protect himself and his property. Wolf is sorry that Lindor failed to find what he thought he would and moves to escort Lindor back to his jeep. Lindor angrily returns to his vehicle and speeds away under Wolf’s supervision.
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Inside the house, Ronald and Scarlet are with Agatha who is holding the remote control for Ronald’s collar. Ronald suddenly notices a man leaving the shed behind Wolf and stands as though to draw his attention. Agatha promptly hits the button to engage the collar’s choking mechanism, upsetting Scarlet, who shouts for Agatha to stop. Agatha replies that Scarlet should stop him. Ronald passes out and only then does Agatha finally hit the button releasing the collar. Horrified, Scarlet springs at Agatha who knocks her in the head with a log from beside the fireplace. Scarlet falls to the floor, along with the collar remote.

Wolf rushes to the house once Lindor has gone and finds Agatha performing CPR on Ronald. Agatha informs Wolf that Ronald tried to run, as a stricken Scarlet is certain Agatha has killed him and begs Wolf to help Ronald. Wolf accuses Scarlet of being party to Ronald’s escape plan as he bends down next to him, which she flatly denies. Ronald comes to just then and goes for Wolf. They roll about, struggling with one another as Agatha retrieves the remote and once again chokes Ronald. With Ronald neutralized, Wolf moves off of him and eventually gives Agatha the cue to release the collar. As Ronald gasps for air, Wolf informs him that next time he won’t stop her.

Cassie is in her kitchen having breakfast when Jenny bursts in, startling her. Jenny franticly tells Cassie how she witnessed Dietrich taking Travis, and that she been searching for him all night. Cassie asks if Jenny’s been by the Boot Heel, Dietrich’s hang out. Jenny tells her it was locked, to which Cassie replies, it doesn’t mean that no one’s in there. Cassie inquires about Jenny’s lock picking capabilities, Jenny responds she has a crowbar, and with that she and Cassie head for the bar.

Jenny tosses the crowbar aside once she has the door to the Boot Heel open and remarks how she’s beginning to hate the place. She and Cassie enter with guns drawn, but find the bar dark and empty, except for a blood-soaked box sitting on a pool table that eventually draws their attention. The box is labeled “To: The Liar.” Jenny grabs a pair of tongs from the bar and ask Cassie to open it. Cassie uses the tongs to untie the string and pull back the flaps, she peers inside and mutters, “oh,” and backs away. Jenny steels herself and goes to the box, which contains a severed hand clutching a small bag of pills with a smiley face tattoo on the back. Relieved, Jenny tells Cassie it’s Smiley, not Travis. Cassie remembers him as the guy Jenny beat up the night prior. Jenny is confused now because she heard Dietrich tell Travis they were going to meet Smiley to clear the air. Jenny finally notices the bag of pills and extracts it using the tongs. It is the bag that T-Lock gave to Smiley. Cassie is certain that this is a message. Jenny wonders whether it’s from Dietrich or the cartel.

At Smiley’s house, what remains of him lies dismembered on plastic sheets and newspapers on the floor, while Tonya squeamishly helps Donno bag the body parts. He takes the chance to remind her that she chose to be there, and that it could be her going into the bags. She eagerly reminds him she got for him everything he had put on his list, obviously trying to ingratiate herself to him.

T-Lock is in high spirits as he gets to Smiley’s house. He knocks and doesn’t hesitate to enter when the door swings in. T-Lock is calling out to Smiley when he slips in the entryway and falls. He no sooner realizes that he is lying in a massive pool of blood than he hears Dietrich and Travis pull up outside. Dietrich had grown impatient waiting for Smiley to meet him and Travis and has come to find Smiley.

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T-Lock has made himself scarce when Dietrich and Travis come through the door. Dietrich and Travis notice the blood, now smeared on the entryway floor. Dietrich demands to know what Travis has done to his nephew. Travis protests he’s done nothing, and that Smiley was skimming from Dietrich. Dietrich says he was told not to trust Travis by Smiley. It’s then that T-Lock, who is hiding in the bathtub, knocks over a bunch of items into the tub, creating a racket that instantly draws Dietrich’s and Travis’s attention. Now back on the same side, Dietrich with his gun and Travis with a baseball bat from beside the door, begin to check the house.

​Dietrich and Travis find the blood stain T-Lock left on the bathroom tile about the time they hear doors opening as T-Lock makes a mad dash away from the house. They run into the street, looking all directions, as T-Lock scuttles away behind the cover of the parked vehicles lining the street. He has crawled into his car and begun to drive away before Dietrich and Travis spot him. They jump into the truck to give chase.

Madison is in her kitchen when there is a knock at the door. Harper is there, her hands covered in blood. Harper nods to the van parked in the driveway, and tells Madison she needs help, he’s bleeding. Madison is going to get Bridger and they need to call Max.

Max races down the basement stairs but slows near the bottom. The injured man lies on a table, Harper, Madison, and Bridger stand around him. Harper tells Max that his name is Creary and that they must help him, reminding her that he saved their lives. Max finds this insane, but Madison assures her that her and Bridger’s parents are out of town at a conference. Max wants to take him to a hospital, but Creary won’t allow that, he doesn’t want the police involved. Madison mentions a boy they know from school whose parents are doomsday preppers. She’s believes he’ll have the supplies they need to help Creary.

Ren is sunbathing outside the trailer when Tonya approaches her with a business proposal. Tonya has found a ranch with a good amount of land outside of town, with mineral rights and the works. Ren seems pleased by Tonya’s efforts and approves her going to see the ranch, but Donno shoos Tonya away. He tells Ren that he’s tracked the last number that Harvey called to a lawyer, this seems to puzzle Ren.

Scarlet is upset to find Ronald once again trying to escape the shed when she goes to visit him, he’s already tried running without a plan. He has no intention of waiting around to be killed. As they argue, Scarlet brings up her daughter. Ronald seizes on this, demanding to know where exactly Scarlet thinks Phoebe is. She tells him another part of the ranch, which he finds absurd. Ronald insists that they would have seen Phoebe by now if she really was at the ranch. Scarlet doesn’t see how Ronald could sneak away as Wolf never leaves the ranch. Ronald insists that it is better to try something than to continue living as caged animals.

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T-Lock, having made it back to Max’s house, sprints to the bedroom closet to throw a few things in a bag before tearing for the door, only to have Dietrich and Travis bust in on him. Dietrich aims his gun at T-Lock and demands to know what he’s done to Smiley. T-Lock throws his bag at them and turns to run only to be tripped by Travis, who then knocks him in the with the fat end of the bat.

​Max returns to the basement after ditching Creary’s van several neighborhoods over and shows Harper and Bridger a photo she’s found. It shows a boy and his father holding a fish. They recognize the boy to be Seth Creary, who had drowned in Holter Lake, and realize that the wounded man on the table is his father. Harper asks if that’s why he’s been following them as a protector, Creary confirms this. Upstairs, a door opens, but instead of it being Madison returning with medical supplies, it’s Bridger and Madison’s parents. They’re flight has been cancelled so they won’t be going to the conference after all. Bridger and Max pretend they’ve been studying and volunteer to take their bags to lead them away from the basement.

T-Lock lies groaning on the floor as Dietrich kicks him repeatedly and demands to know what he’s done to Smiley. T-Lock continually pleads he’s done nothing to Smiley. Dietrich then asks what Smiley has told T-Lock about them. Terrified, he declares his ignorance. Dietrich stands to answer his phone suddenly. After a speaking with someone, he hands the phone off to Travis, telling him it’s a burner and to wait for his call, Dietrich is heading to the bar. Dietrich instructs Travis to put T-Lock in “the hole,” and hands off his gun before leaving.

At the bar, Jenny asks Dietrich about his associate’s whereabouts. Dietrich corrects her that Smiley is his nephew. Jenny then presents Dietrich with a picture of Smiley’s severed hand, and another of the pills. Jenny speculates that this is a message, possibly from the cartel. Dietrich isn’t very forthcoming with information, but does give Jenny the name Ren Bhullar, saying she’s the one sent by the cartel.

Wolf is elated to receive a call from his editor, and that she wants to meet with him. Agatha is apprehensive to be left alone with Scarlet and Ronald, but Wolf assures her that she can control them. Besides, publishing his book will be a game changer for them. As they talk, Agatha notices Scarlet at the door. She demands to know where her daughter Phoebe is, and why she hasn’t yet been allowed to see her if she really is at the ranch. Wolf tries to feed her a story, but Scarlet isn’t buying it. Agatha confesses that Phoebe is actually with Agatha’s sister outside Helena, in a lovely place near the river. Scarlet wants to know when she can see Phoebe. Wolf admonishes that she hasn’t earned that reward. Scarlet apologizes for lashing out and scaring Agatha the night before. Wolf and Agatha resume their conversation and fail to notice Scarlet taking the collar remote from the dresser on her way out.

Jenny brings Poppernak along when she goes to question Ren at her trailer on the construction site. Ren plays innocent and ignorant through all of Jenny’s questions, until the very end when her sunny veneer begins to crack. Jenny and Poppernak are on the way out the door when in walks Tonya, much to Jenny’s shock. She asks Tonya what’s going on, Ren interjects that Tonya works for her which isn’t against the law. With her mind racing, Jenny nods at Poppernak and they leave.

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Scarlet watches from the shed as Agatha kisses Wolf goodbye and he drives away in his old truck. Once Agatha returns to the house, Scarlet rushes inside the shed, telling Ronald it’s now or never. She uses a shovel to break open the lock, and let’s Ronald out. She tells him all the details she knows about where Phoebe is being kept, then surprises him by freeing him from the collar with the key on the remote she took. Scarlet instructs Ronald to go and bring her daughter back to her, assuring him she has a plan. The exchange “I love you” and kiss and Ronald runs off with the shovel, leaving Scarlet smiling.

​Donno and Tonya are the only ones at Ren’s house when her brother Jag blows into town looking for her. Donno offers them a friendly greeting, only to be knocked to the floor in one shot by Jag’s muscle Dhruv. Jag orders Donno to give him Ren’s location.

When Jenny finally hears from Travis, the call is brief, and he simply tells her that he’s okay, and in case anything should happen, he loves her. The call disconnects, and Travis directs T-Lock to keep going, following him with a gun at his back. They reach the door to an isolated underground cellar, and Travis orders T-Lock to open it. Sobbing pathetically, T-Lock weakly swings the door open, then turns to face Travis and pleads with him. Showing no emotion, Travis raises the gun to T-Lock’s temple.

Harper sits in the basement with Creary whose wound is now clean and bandaged, while upstairs Madison, Bridger, and Max finish an awkward dinner with the parents. They rise to return to studying in the basement, but first Bridger’s father asks him to take out the trash.

Ren stops on a residential street with an address she’s looking for written on a sticky note. She’s barely been there a moment when she observes Bridger carrying the trash bag to a can in the yard. Smiling, she drives away.

Ronald has escaped and has successfully found a highway. After surveying his surroundings, he begins to walk along the side of the road.

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