‘Big Sky’ Recap: ‘Mother Nurture’

Written by Emily Auskaps

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode 205 of ‘Big Sky’ .

​Inside Harvey’s house, Madison rushes to where Bridger is duct taped to a chair and demands Harvey remove the tape from his mouth, as he has asthma. Harvey is unmoved, telling Madison he was talking too much. Madison offers the location of the bags if he will remove the tape. Harvey cruelly rips the tape from Bridger’s mouth, finally freeing him to shout at Madison not to tell Harvey a thing. She tells Harvey the bags are in the woods, to which he responds by shoving the barrel of his gun under her chin and warning her that if she’s lying, both she and her brother are dead. Harvey leads a now terrified Madison out into the woods, leaving Bridger still bound to the chair.
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Watching from outside, Max and Harper seize on the opportunity to act, Harper will follow Madison and Harvey, and Max will rescue Bridger. Max crawls through a window to get inside, Bridger telling her that Harvey has Madison. Max assures him they know; Harper is on it. Max grabs a large knife from the kitchen to hack Bridger free, not nearly fast enough for his taste. Just as Max finally has him loose, a figure appears at the back door. Max and Bridger run from the room as Ren opens the door and enters, gun held in front of her in her black leather, glove clad hands. Calling out in a falsely cheery voice to inquire if anyone’s home, she scans the room and immediately notices the cut duct tape and knife by the chair. She begins to search the home, as Max and Bridger watch on from inside a first-floor closet. Bridger recognizes her as the strange woman he met at the crime scene where the bodies were found.

On the road leading up to Harvey’s place, Jenny and Cassie are still enduring an endless rain of bullets from Donno as they try to duck for cover inside the cab of the truck. Donno finally stops momentarily to move to higher ground, giving them a chance to escape the truck and take cover behind it. They wonder who tipped off Harvey as Jenny calls for backup.

From his new position, Donno resumes shooting at Jenny and Cassie relentlessly, until his cellphone rings. Donno takes cover to answer. Ren tells him she needs him at the house, he replies that it’s not a good time as they have company. Ren orders him to wrap it up and get to the house.

With another break in the gunfire, Jenny and Cassie debate their strategy. Cassie finally convinces Jenny to let her go first, as Jenny has already taken a bullet for Cassie. Guns drawn; they carefully leave the cover of the truck. They discover Donno’s many casings and continue to work their way toward the house.

Max and Bridger watch from inside the closet, with Bridger becoming increasingly anxious with each passing minute. Ren dials Harvey’s number, a phone lying just outside the closet door begins to ring and vibrate. Ren walks to the door of the closet, picks up the phone and clicks the ringer off, remarking to herself, “Isn’t that something?”

Outside in the woods, Madison and Harvey walk with Harper trailing behind them. Harvey is getting irritated and demands to know if Madison is lost. She assures him that the bags are just up ahead.
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Donno meets Ren outside of Harvey’s place. She tells Donno that both Harvey’s phone and his cruiser are at the house, so Harvey must be close. As they head into the woods to search for Harvey, Donno confirms to Ren that their vehicle is hidden.

Harvey is out of patience with Madison and angrily accuses her of lying, which she denies, as Harper observes them from a short distance. Harvey menaces Madison to immediately give him the bags. She knees him hard in the groin, catching him completely off guard, and tears away. Even more infuriated, he shoots after her and she cries out.

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Harvey’s gunshots are heard by Ren and Donno, as well as Max and Bridger. They all head in the direction of the sounds. Harvey roars at Madison as he chases her, shooting again in her direction. She grabs a large stick and continues running but is becoming less and less sure in which direction to head. She pauses to take in her bearings, only to have Harvey appear right behind her and grab her.
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Harper leaps into view with one of the two bags and tells Harvey to let Madison go if he wants the other one. Harvey orders Harper to drop the bag or die, and Madison seizes the chance to whack him in the face with the stick. Max and Bridger arrive on the scene then, and as the four teens turn to run, Harvey fires a shot into the air then aims the gun at them. From out of nowhere, the man we know as “the creeper in the van” tackles Harvey from behind, knocking the gun from his hands and them both to the ground. They wrestle each other for the gun, Harvey managing to stab the creeper twice before we hear a gunshot. Harvey is dead and the other man seems badly injured. The teens stand there stunned. He yells at them to run, and they all immediately comply, except for Harper who pauses long enough to look into his eyes before following after her friends.

When Ren and Donno discover Harvey’s body, the other man is nowhere to be seen. Wondering who beat them to the punch, Ren muses that while the situation is messy, it’s at least not their mess. While they stand there, they hear approaching sirens and jet from the scene.

Police sirens blare onto the scene as Sheriff Tubbs and his calvary arrive to find Jenny’s shot out truck and tons of casings. Tubbs orders them to find Jenny straight away.

Some time later, Jenny angrily confronts Tubbs over him handing the case involving Harvey over to the state police. He is still disgusted that she ignored his orders and went to Harvey’s without his permission. They continue arguing, and, not really resolving anything, Jenny storms from his office.

​Cassie, Jerrie, and Denise are discussing Harvey’s murder and Tonya’s kidnapping in the office of Dewell and Hoyt when an old man comes in, looking for Jerrie Kennedy. It is Jerrie’s estranged father, and it is obvious that she is none too thrilled to see him.

Tonya goes to see Ren and Donno at their trailer on the construction site. Donno is still incensed about his now infected leg wound. Ren reminds her she was already supposed to be long gone, but Tonya has other plans. She offers to be a familiar face of their operation to help ease the suspicions, as the locals don’t trust outsiders. Donno finds this ludicrous, but Ren is intrigued and tells Tonya she does have something in mind.

We find Ronald and Wolf seated in his living room drinking tea. Ronald refuses to be hypnotized, but Wolf reminds him that cooperation would get him one step closer to his reward of sweet cereal. The look on Ronald’s face relaxes into a goofy smile, and he suddenly realizes that he feels funny. He demands an explanation, and Wolf tells Ron that he gave him some of Agatha’s special tea, as he has no actual knowledge of hypnotism. Ronald sinks into an altered state and begins to have visions of his mother at the prodding of Wolf. Ronald struggles through his memories, seeing all of his mother’s atrocious behavior towards him. He kept her secret, he cries. Wolf implores him to share the secret. Ronald watched his mother kill his father, he confesses to Wolf’s shock and delight.

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Bridger is adamant that they get rid of the bags of drugs and money immediately. Max reminds them that going to the cops isn’t an option, as Harvey may not be the only dirty cop on the payroll and simply chucking the stuff won’t stop people from continuing to look for them. Madison naively thinks there isn’t anyone else who knows about their involvement. Incredulous, Bridger reminds them about the weird woman and the creeper that both know. Harper indignantly demands that they stop calling him “the creeper” as he saved their lives, and she thinks he might even be trying to protect them. Bridger returns their attention to the problem of the bags. He wants it all to end now. Max agrees but thinks they should try to get the bags to the woman they saw at Harvey’s. At this moment, Madison phone rings with a call from the number for Harvey’s phone. Bridger snatches the phone from her hand and smashes it so hopefully she can’t track them. Harper implores them that they need to stick together as a team, the girls agree immediately, Bridger reluctantly.

Back at Dewell and Hoyt, Denise has just learned that Tonya has quit her job without notice and shares the news with Cassie. Cassie questions how she could afford this, wondering if someone put her up to it. Cassie wants to figure out where Tonya is staying now, as her building manager told them she is staying with a friend for now.

Jerrie goes to visit Mark Lindor at his office. He assumes she’s come about the case but quickly realizes that it’s something far more personal. Jerrie tells him that she’s just learned today that her mother is dying and doesn’t know what to do. He asks if she wants to see her mother, she has mixed feelings. They had been close when she was young, but they haven’t spoken since her mother kicked her out of their home when she came out. She had decided she wanted to see her family while she was being held by Ronald, but never did. Mark tells her that he does know about closure, and that if she doesn’t have the conversation for real, she’ll be having it in her head for the rest of her life. He reminds Jerrie that if she does go home, she’ll be doing it for herself, not for her mother.

That night, the women of Dewell and Hoyt gather in the bar to say goodbye to Jerrie. She assures them she’ll be back. Cassie and Jenny hug Jerrie warmly, and Denise walks her out. Jenny and Cassie go to the bar for another shot of tequila.

After what he considers a successful day, Wolf calls a woman named Leanne who one would guess is his editor. She hangs up on him shortly, Wolf claims it’s a bad connection. Agatha, who has been listening to the call, tells him not to worry. She asks about Ronald and the big break through Wolf had with him today. Wolf tells her they’ve gotten to the root of Ronald’s trauma, but Agatha is still skeptical that Wolf can convince Ronald to turn himself in to the authorities. Wolf has absolute confidence he will be able to get Ronald to give a full confession and clear the Legarski name once and for all.

Max’s mom is in the kitchen when Max creeps in to see her late at night. Her mom knows something is bothering Max, but she’s sure they can work it out together. Max doesn’t believe it but is too concerned to keep this secret to herself any longer. Swearing her mom to complete secrecy, Max begins to confess everything.

Ren speaks to her brother Jag over facetime. He doesn’t think she’s handling things; she reminds him they have far more to lose if she starts a war. Jag wants the people who stole from them wiped out and made an example of, but Ren has other plans, and she tells him she knows what she’s doing.

Jenny and Cassie are still sitting at the bar when Deitrich comes in. Jenny recognizes him from his mugshot. He goes out the back, and against Cassie’s better judgment, Jenny and Cassie follow behind him, but not without being spotted by Deitrich’s lackey. Jenny and Cassie watch from a distance as Deitrich discusses drugs outside a van filled with guns. They are confronted by Deitrich’s lackey, but Jenny quickly drops him. Deitrich appears then, ordering his lackey, Smiley, back to his feet. Smiley takes the opportunity to belt Jenny across the midsection, but Cassie grabs the gun from his belt. Things stop as she takes aim with the gun, but Deitrich tells her that’s a bad idea. “A very bad idea,” say another man. There’s Travis, gun trained on Cassie. His eyes seem cold as he exchanges a look with Jenny. Deitrich demands to know why they’re following him. Travis reveals nonchalantly that they are cops.

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