‘Big Sky’ Recap: ‘No Better Than Dogs’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode Twelve of ‘Big Sky’.
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There are a great many reasons as to why audiences are eagerly tuning into the ABC series, Big Sky. Such as the fact that it is a unique crime drama through and through. One that provides its loyal viewers with big moments as often as possible, and plenty of unexpected twists and turns. The kind that quite frankly, shatter every single trope that normally accompanies this genre and the wonder of this series doesn’t end there. Because it also knows how to ramp up the tension on a moment’s notice, providing the viewer with a thrilling experience on a consistent basis. But what truly allows for this series to shine, is that it knows exactly when to pull back on the throttle so that the audience can learn more about what exactly is going on, and to give them a break mentally as well and it just so happens that last night’s episode of the show, is one that accomplished both of those relaxed goals.

For ‘No Better Than Dogs’ is a story that allowed for us to finally learn a great deal about the Kleinsasser clan and what kinds of dirty secrets they are harboring, shortly after the messes that Jenny and Cassie found themselves in, were resolved. And thankfully, no real harm came to them physically, for John Wayne actually stepped up to the plate and chased Rand off before he could do something awful to Jenny and as for Cassie, well thankfully, the idiot cop that picked her up, eventually brought her back to the jail and let her heal for a bit in a cell. A move that gave Mark Lindor time to swing by this godforsaken town to flex his U.S. Marshal muscles and get Cassie out of jail, and once this dynamic duo was free of their respective nightmares, they were able to get back to the matter at hand; proving that Blake Kleinsasser was an innocent man. 

Which is what oddly enough, brought about our learning opportunity about this twisted family. Because even though John Wayne showed Jenny the house where Rosie was badly injured, it was clear that the family was still hiding all kinds of secrets, one of which related to that night. Because eventually, Jenny and Cassie were able to find Rosie and speak with her about her how she was having memory flashes of that night, and a great deal of them involved Rand and John Wayne, leading our heroes to believe that there was a chance they were the ones that committed this crime and pinned it on their brother to save their hide and well, the time we spent with the Kleinsasser family in this tale, more or less backed their theory up. Because Horst was quick to try and make amends with his son in this tale, to have a little peace before he died and that led to some supremely unsettling moments.

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Because Blake was having none of his father’s olive branch, mainly because he too has been asked to bury a great deal of secrets about this family, one involving murder in fact. For ages ago, a temporary farm worker apparently crossed Rand in the wrong manner and in doing so, was brutally killed by him. Which prompted Horst to enlist Blake’s help in hiding the body and keeping the secret and having to live with that for years on end, is what has motivated Blake to stay away and be fine with ceding control of the farm to John Wayne. But what matters more, is that this revelation and the ending of this tale, really hammered home the terrifying nature of this family. Because when Blake tried to uncover the corpse of that long gone farm hand, John Wayne was eager to harm his brother to keep that secret buried. Making it clear that the Kleinsassers will do whatever it takes to keep their power and their image intact.
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However, while all of that painted a haunting image of what this family is all about, and truly gave us an understanding of what Jenny and Cassie are up against, we would be foolish to not discuss Ronald’s journey in this tale as well. Because he had a tough go of it in this episode. For not only did he nearly get caught whilst creeping on Jerrie, but he’s spending more time at his mother’s grave with full surveillance on the cemetery and… he finally met his match on a psychotic level in this story. Because his new girlfriend, has a real dark side to her. One that she indulges in to exert power over Ronald/Arthur and all of this was both satisfying and scary all at once. In part because it is nice to see Ronald suffer for a change and be the defensive, but the terror comes from the fact that at some point… he will say enough and likely snap and that will be ugly for everyone around him. 

But while we wait to see what will come of Ronald’s new living situation and the revelations that Cassie and Jenny uncovered here, we can bask in one fascinating tale. One that really did a fine job of slowing things down to help us understand exactly what we are dealing with when it comes to this family and well, it is obvious now that our dynamic duo is in over their head. Because the Kleinsasser clan has their fingers into everything in this town and that can never bode well for heroes searching for justice. In fact, there is a chance that Jenny and Cassie might fail in their mission to bring this family to it. Simply because we know that this series is all about the unconventional and letting the bad guy win would fit that particular mold and well, that means each and every one of us… will be counting down the minutes until next week’s episode. So that we can indeed see what kind of unique ending awaits us in regard to this wild and dynamic storyline. Until next time.  

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