Big Sky returned tonight after a two-week break with “Mother Nurture” on ABC. When last we saw Cassie and Jenny, they were under rapid fire from Donno. Bridger had been abducted by Harvey with his sister and friends working on freeing him. And Tonya was found, but her story changed. Here’s everything that happened next.
(ABC/Michael Moriatis)
Harper (Troy Leigh-Anne Johnson) looks through Harvey’s window as Madison (Lola Reid) rushes in to Bridger (Jeremy Taylor), who is duct-taped to a chair. She asks Harvey (Michael Malarkey) to clear her brother’s mouth because he has asthma, adding that she will tell him where the bags are if he does. “I left them out in the woods, I can lead you to them,” she offers. Harvey pulls his gun against her chin and tells Madison that her life depends on it and she better not be lying. She follows Harvey out of his house, leaving Bridger strapped to the chair. Harper puts her knuckle rings on and silently signals to Max (Madelyn Kientz) to go free Bridger.
Max enters Harvey’s house and Bridger nods to a knife in the kitchen that she can use to cut him free. While she’s freeing him, someone knocks at the door. It’s Ren (Janina Gavankar), who opens the door with her gun drawn and calls out that the door was open. “Anybody home?” She sees the chair in the middle of the living room, a band of duct tape and a knife on the floor. She moves upstairs and we see that Max and Bridger are hiding in a double-door closet just off the living room. Bridger recognizes Ren as the weird woman who was there when the truck driver’s body was found. Max says that must mean she knows about the money and drugs.
Donno (Ryan O’Nan) continues to pump rounds into Jenny’s truck, Jenny (Katheryn Winnick) and Cassie (Kylie Bunbury) duck and prepare their guns to fire back. Crouching behind a rock, Donno stops shooting when he gets a call from Ren who tells him she needs him at the house immediately. Cassie and Jenny fire back, but can’t get a clean shot over the large rock. Cassie convinces Jenny that they should move closer to the rock to avoid letting the assailant get too far away, but when they get there, all that’s left of Donno are shell casings from the rounds he fired at them. Jenny picks one up and pockets it.
Ren calls Harvey, who left his phone behind. It sits just outside of the closet doors that Max and Bridger hide behind. Ren picks up the phone and looks around suspiciously.
Harvey tells Madison that he’s getting tired of this nature walk and asks if she’s lost, his gun pointed at her back as she leads them. Harper is in close pursuit and we see that Ren and Donno are also in the woods now. Back at the house, Bridger and Max hear a scream and we see that Harvey is shaking Madison by the collar, telling her this is her last chance to reveal where the bags are. Madison makes a run for it and grabs a stuck as she races away from Harvey, but he ends up cornering her in a clearing. When he gets close, Harper reveals herself and holds up one of the black duffel bags. With Harvey distracted, Madison uses her stick to hit him in the head. Harvey fires a warning shot into the air and suddenly, out of nowhere, the man in the beanie hat (credited as “Creary,” played by Ryan de Quintal) who watched the teens in the woods the night they took the bags and has been following them since jumps Harvey and tackles him to the ground. The two fight on the floor, with Harvey pulling a knife out and stabbing the other man in the back. In the scuffle, a shot is fired and we soon learn that the bullet hit Harvey in the temple. He dies immediately. The man in the beanie hat looks at Harper and tells the girls to run. Harper drops her knuckles as they run away.
(ABC/Michael Moriatis)
The sound of the fight led Ren and Donno to Harvey’s body in the woods. “This works for us,” she calmly says. “A bit messier than I like but it’s not our mess.” They hear police sirens and take off. Police vehicles arrive and Sheriff Tubb (Patrick Gallagher) finds Jenny’s damaged truck abandoned with gun shells all over the ground. He commands his team to search the grounds.
Back at the Sheriff’s Department, Jenny is told that the state is taking over Harvey’s case and that she is no longer involved in it. She argues that she doesn’t believe that Harvey acted alone, saying that it doesn’t make sense for him to have kidnapped Tonya and that the bullet casings don’t match any guns registered to Harvey. Tubb pulls Jenny into his office and closes the door to yell at her. “One more misstep and I’ll suspend you,” he threatens, adding that having his department working on a case that involved another deputy there is a conflict of interest. She says it isn’t for her, but he orders her to stand down. “Do you understand?”, he asks. “No, I don’t, but you’re the boss.” She slams the door on her way out and pulls out her cellphone to call Travis, but he doesn’t pick up. She leaves him a voice message to call her back.
Jerrie (Jesse James Keitel) finds Cassie looking confused at Dewell & Hoyt and asks her what’s wrong. Cassie can’t shake the feeling that Tonya’s story didn’t add up and Jerrie agrees, revealing that she went by her apartment earlier and the building manager told her that Tonya has been staying with a friend. Just then, a man enters and Jerrie is none too pleased to see her father. “My goodness, it’s really you,” he says. When Cassie asks who this is, Jerrie says “He used to be my father.”
Someone knocks on the trailer door and Donno grabs his gun before opening it to find Tonya (Jamie-Lynn Sigler), who tells them that she shared her location with her sister and if she goes missing, she will know where to send the police. She came to tell Ren that she’d like to work for her, saying that she knows Sam made good money and she doesn’t want to be a waitress forever. “People around here are distrusting of outsiders,” she says. “You need a local on your team if you want your business to be successful.” She reminds them that she convinced the police that it was Harvey who abducted her. “I love when a woman advocates for herself,” Ren smiles. “And come to think of it, there may be something that maybe we can do with you.”
Ronald (Brian Geraghty) and Wolf (John Carroll Lynch) sit together in the living room sipping tea, the shock collar still on Ronald’s neck. Ronald tells him that he doesn’t want to be hypnotized, but Wolf points to the cereal on the reward table and reminds him that he’s close to earning his “Sugar soup.” Ronald starts to feel funny and Wolf tells him that Agatha made him her special tea. Under the effects of the drugs, Wolf instructs Ronald to think of his mother and we see flashbacks of Helen, including some of her repeated scoldings leading to Ronald strangling his mother to death. He begins to panic and tells Wolf that his mother had her own secrets and unlike her, he kept them, calling himself a good boy. Wolf asks Ronald to explain what his mother did. “She killed him… My father, he hated her.” Wolf consoles Ronald, holding him and soothingly saying “You’re a good boy.”
Jerrie and her dad go to a diner where he tells her that her mother is dying of cancer. She reminds him that they kicked her out and she didn’t have a say in the matter, suggesting that her mother is just trying to release the feelings of guilt before passing. She asks why he didn’t consider what this would be like for her and her dad even admits that they saw news stories about her abduction. “And you did nothing,” Jerrie sobs. “I’m your child. Please stop asking me to be the bigger person.” Her father tears up. “I don’t know what to say except that death has a way of shifting perspectives.” She tells him she has a job and can’t leave right now. “Maybe it was stupid of me to come here, but she wants to see you. I know that much.” Jerrie sighs.
Max, Harper, Madison and Bridger sit in Madison’s room with both bags and Bridger wants to get rid of them right away. Harper brings up the man who jumped out and saved them from Harvey. Max says they should get rid of the bags, but that they should find a way to get them to the woman who came to Harvey’s house, meaning Ren, so that she stops looking for them. Just then, Madison’s phone rings and the call is from Harvey’s cell phone. Bridger grabs it and smashes it on the ground, saying it can be used to track them. They agree to work together to get the bags back to the mystery woman. On their way home, Harper tells Max that she wants to find the man in the woods and Max is worried for her safety. “This is just something that I have to do, but I will be safe,” Harper promises. They kiss.
(ABC/Michael Moriatis)
Denise (Dedee Pfeiffer) tells Cassie that she spoke to the manager of the diner and learned that Tonya abruptly quit her job. Cassie is trying to figure out who Tonya is staying with.
Jerrie goes to Mark Lindor (Omar Metwally) in his office and he realizes that she’s about to cry, sitting next to her. She tells him about her mother and he shares that when she was abducted, she and the other girls talked about what they would do if they got out and she told them she would contact her parents again, but she never did. Mark tells her that he knows a lot about not getting closure and that if she doesn’t go see her mom, she will forever think about how the conversation could have gone.
Travis (Logan Marshall-Green) gets a loud knock at his motel door and he draws his gun before checking who it is, letting Jenny in. She’s upset that he hasn’t returned her calls and asks him directly if Harvey was working for the cartel. “I can’t say,” he coldly says to her, adding that there’s been a development in the case and the state asked him to tighten things up. “We’re supposed to help each other, that’s our arrangement,” Jenny says, which makes Travis angry. He says the way the arrangement has worked so far is that she calls him when she needs something. “Here’s the thing, I actually care about you, Jenny. But I’m not gonna be some guy you ring up for information whenever you want.” She leans in to apologize, but he turns her away. She looks hurt as he kicks her out, but when he closes the door, he looks frustrated with himself.
Ronald is given a reward in the form of a conjugal visit with Scarlet (Anja Savcic), who pinches Ronald’s nipple to make sure he’s still in there. He asks her why she’s being so compliant to someone who separated her from her daughter and she tells Ronald that Wolf promised to reunite them if they’re good. “I will do anything, anything to be with my daughter.” She tells Ronald that Wolf has a cabin in Alaska and offered to let them live there if Ronald is reformed. She wants to take that offer because any other scenario involves them constantly looking over their shoulders in fear. She asks Ronald to trust her.
Jenny tells Cassie about what happened between her and Travis. “I think I screwed it up.” Cassie tells her it’s time for ice cream, but realizes they’re running late for Jerrie’s send-off celebration. At the bar, Jenny gets toasty quick as Cassie and Denise wish Jerrie well on her visit home. As they hug Jerrie goodbye, Denise heads home and Jenny orders another round of tequila for her and Cassie.
Max finds her mom (T.V. Carpio) watching a news report about Harvey’s death and she joins her at the kitchen table. Max starts to break down and her mom asks her what’s wrong. “Okay, you have to promise not to tell anyone,” Max says before starting to tell her mom about the night she and her friends saw the truck crash.
Wolf tries to call his publishing agent Leanne about his next book, telling her that it’s going to make them both rich. From his end of the conversation, it sounds like she suspects that he is secretly his brother Rick and the call ends. He makes it seem like they got disconnected in front of his wife Agatha (Romy Rosemont). She asks about Ronald’s progress and we learn that Wolf’s ultimate goal is for Ronald to become so reformed that he does the right thing and turns himself in, cleaning the Legarski name. Agatha asks what happens if he doesn’t do that. “We put him down,” Wolf says, asking his wife to join him in celebrating the small win. He puts on a record of “Only You” by The Platters and offers his hand for Agatha to join him in a slow dance.
Mark helps Jerrie load up her truck outside of her house. She gives him her copy of Wolf’s dog training book, telling him it’s interesting, but at the very least it could help him train his new dog. He gives her a mix CD he made her for the drive. She hugs him and asks if he thinks they ever could have been together. Instead of answering, Mark leans in and gives Jerrie a kiss. “Call me, when you get in.” Jerrie blushes and looks back at him as she gets in her car. “Only You” is the first song on the CD he made her. She smiles as she drives.
Scarlet interrupts the dancing and Agatha insists that she cut in and dance with Wolf. He asks her how the visit with Ronald went and if he’s making progress. “Not quite, he’s still set on escaping. I think the process scares him.” Wolf responds: “Fear can do two things. It can shut a person down or crack a person open. We must make sure that it’s the latter.” Agatha tells Scarlet that she’s a good girl as she slow dances with her husband, Wolf stroking her hair as she rests her head on his shoulder.
Ren gives her brother Jag (Vinny Chhibber) a video tour of the fancy cabin she’s staying in and he asks if he should tell their dad how much fun she’s having while working. “If we start a war we’re going to lose a lot more than half a mil,” she claps back, saying that the locals are restless and ready to start a war. Jag accuses Ren of not being ruthless enough and she tells him to stay out of it, that she knows what she’s doing.
Cassie tells Jenny that she’s going to be lonely at the office with it being just her and Denise for now. Jenny is distracted, recognizing Dietrich (David Meunier), who leaves with another man named Buddy (Conrad Padilla). Jenny asks Cassie to follow them with her and Cassie says it’s not a good idea. “You want to find out who Harvey was working with, here’s our chance,” Jenny tells her. As they leave the bar following Dietrich, Smiley (Michael Tomsu) watches.
Dietrich and Buddy look at a shipment of guns inside a van in the parking lot and Buddy asks his boss what happens if the supply chain they deal with stops working. “We find a new supplier,” he says. Smiley sneaks up behind Jenny and grabs her arm. She’s quick with the punch back, knocking him to the ground, but the scuffle makes a lot of noise. Dietrich approaches and tells Smiley to get up. Smiley punches Jenny in the gut, knocking her to the ground, so Cassie grabs the gun from Smiley’s belt and aims it at him. “Not a good idea,” Dietrich calmly cautions Cassie. “It’s not a good idea at all,” says another voice. It’s Travis and he is pointing a gun directly at Cassie. He glances down and makes eye contact with Jenny. Dietrich asks who the girls are and Travis tells him: “They’re cops.”
Big Sky returns on Thursday, November 18th with “Heart-Shaped Charm.” Here’s the episode description to tide you over until then.
Cassie grows suspicious of Max after noticing her keychain matches one found nearby the crime scene and decides to confront her. Jenny and Travis get together to talk in secret, or so they think, as Smiley’s curiosity gets the best of him, and he follows Travis to the meetup. Later, to his dismay, Travis comes face to face with Ren and Donno who are determined to get answers out of him; and Lindor pays Wolf a visit.