‘Big Sky’ Recap: ‘Nowhere to Run’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode Two of ‘Big Sky’.
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For the most part, crime/thriller stories, tend to follow a fairly standard formula. One that involves a grand introduction to our protagonist, so that we properly understand that they are a just and wonderful human being that believes in good over anything else. And they are unfortunately plunged into a world where twisted things are happening, and their desire to set a mess right allows for tension and danger to build as they close in on the criminal in question. Which in turn allows for a powerhouse finale to take place, one where our twisted and mysterious villain is revealed at last before said hero puts them away or puts them down, all in the name of justice. If anything, this is a formula that continues to persist, simply because audiences love it. Because it is thrilling and delightful and it truly keeps the audience on their toes.
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But once in a while you run into a story from this genre, that figures out how to divert from this formula and offer its audience a vastly different kind of tense and shocking tale and the new ABC series, Big Sky, is a show that is pulling off this particular feat with ease. For last week’s ‘Pilot’ episode made it clear that the heroes of this story, while they are indeed good people through and through, are flawed for certain, unlike their counterparts from this genre. Plus, that same episode also informed us, that this harrowing story is going to shock us in ways that we never thought possible, since it ended with the death of Cody Hoyt. Someone we all believed was going to be a staple of this series going forward since the story made it appear as though he was going to play a huge role in solving this case.
 
But while that twist was indeed about as stunning as it gets, since you just don’t see main characters die in such a brutal and sudden fashion in these types of tales, we would be remiss to not point out how this surprise helped to establish the vibe for this week’s episode. Because knowing that anyone could go at any time on this show, adds a level of uncertainty and unease to the story, the kind that settled into all of our souls and when we tuned into ‘Nowhere to Run’ and stayed with us for the duration of the episode. Why exactly, we will get to in a moment. Because before we dive too deeply into that, we need to take a moment and discuss how this story did a phenomenal job of once again shaking up the comfortable structure of this genre, by allowing for us to get to know our villains on a more personal level and what exactly makes them so incredibly twisted and evil.

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Which at first glance, doesn’t exactly seem like a violation of the ‘rules’ of the genre, since a reveal of the villain’s motivations is a staple of the genre as well. But what makes it so worthwhile here, is that the show put Ronald and Rick on display in the second episode, well before our heroes truly figure out their machinations and that’s just wildly unexpected, and the same goes for what we learned about their motivations in regard to their crimes. Because as it turns out, these are two wildly marginalized men. The kind that have been ignored by the world for far too long and clearly haven’t accomplished all that much career wise, and have experienced all kinds of hardships when it comes to women. Which has left them angry and bitter and taking it out on innocent women or ones they deem to be ‘dirty’ is only way to cope with that rage, and that does make for some fascinating and unique villains. Since often times in these stories there is some serious abuse at play to go with the marginalization and that is what motivates them to act out, as opposed to here, where it’s just a couple of guys that can’t communicate properly with women and can’t stand the fact that they’re not objects designed for control and compliance. 
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Which brings us back to the tension in question. Because unfortunately for Ronald and Rick, they’ve finally met their matches. For Danielle and Grace and Michelle aren’t going to go quietly into the night in the slightest, nor are they good with taking orders while they wait for Ronald to decide their fate, and Cassie is determined now to figure out how Rick is involved in this mess and that led to some powerful sequences for certain. Wherein our marginalized villains were eager to exert their power and their fury over these women and that was scary to say the least. Because despite the fact that they are pathetic in many ways, they are about as dangerous as they come and the fact that we already lost a series lead in last week’s episode, made every interaction that Cassie had with Rick, unnerving for certain and the same goes for Ronald’s interactions with his captive audience.

In the end however, this really was quite the brilliant episode when all is said and done. Largely because it kept us guessing from the get-go and it truly did put us upon the edge of our seats and made us cringe with discomfort on a consistent basis. Especially at the end, since Ronald’s desire to climb into his mom’s bed for a ‘can’t sleep cuddle’ was just… icky. But what matters more is that Big Sky really is establishing itself to be a unique crime story through and through. Because at this point, we simply don’t know what is going to happen next and whether or not all of the characters in this story are going to make it to the end, and that is both terrifying and exciting at the same time and it definitely compels the audience to continue to the journey. In order to see what kinds of other stunning twists and turns await us as this demented case unfolds. Until next time.

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