Paige is alive, Mary is dead, and Luke is in danger. That’s where we left things two weeks ago on Big Sky: Deadly Trails, which returned tonight on ABC with the 8th episode of Season 3, titled “Duck Hunting.” The suspenseful wait is over, here is this week’s recap.
“Paige, you’re okay,” Luke (Anirudh Bisharody) exclaims, but Paige (Madalyn Horcher) is not as happy to see him as he is to see her. From her memory, he abandoned her. Luke warns her that people have been sent to find them and wants to know where the journal is. She thought he had it, but Luke says the money isn’t what’s important anymore. “Let’s go before it’s too late,” he pleads. “She ain’t going anywhere with you,” a man’s voice says from behind Luke. He turns around to see Walter (Seth Gabel) standing there with a hatchet. Paige tells Luke that Walter saved her from him, as Walter shares that he saw Luke pursuing her with a big rock. Luke begins to run, and Walter stands with Paige, letting out a chuckle. He tells her he’s just giving the poor boy a head start. “I’ll be back in two shakes of a lamb’s tail,” Walter says.
Sunny Barnes (Reba McEntire) leads Jenny Hoyt (Katheryn Winnick) and Beau Arlen (Jensen Ackles) to the dead body of Mary (Sofia Embid), explaining that Beau’s daughter Emily is the one who found her. Beau asks Sunny if anybody inspected the area around the body and she tells him that her husband Buck did with Avery, Emily’s stepdad. Emily (Cree Cicchino) comes rushing over to hug her dad for comfort, telling him that she was trying to find Luke when she found Mary’s body. Jenny asks Sunny for more information about Luke and Paige and learns that they were guests that had a fight and Paige left while Luke stayed and seemed friendly with Mary. “Luke said that he was leaving and he was really scared about something,” Emily shares. Sunny confirms that Luke is missing and Beau takes Emily away from the group. Jenny tells Sunny that they will need statements from all of the guests and staff.
Beau and Emily are reunited with Carla (Angelique Cabral) and Avery (Henry Ian Cusick). Beau’s ex-wife shares that she’s glad he’s there, which causes Avery’s eyebrow to raise. Beau asks Avery why he went with Buck to investigate the site where the body was found. “Buck wanted to find Luke,” he responds. Beau asks Emily where Buck was when she found Mary. She’s not sure, but he arrived shortly after she screamed. Emily doesn’t think Luke could’ve killed Mary. Carla has had enough, asking her ex-husband to stop questioning their daughter and taking Emily back to their tent. Alone with Avery, Beau asks him why Emily was allowed to wander around the woods alone. “We had no idea,” he defends, adding that Carla also didn’t know where she was.
Deputy Poppernak (J. Anthony Pena) informs Jenny that park rangers have set up a roadblock, but she is distracted by two guests who just emerged from their tent – Tonya (Jamie-Lynn Sigler) and Donno (Ryan O’Nan). She asks what they’re doing and they stick to the story that they’re on vacation. Jenny goes to tell Beau that Tonya and Donno are there, but he reminds her that unless they confessed, they’re merely possible suspects like all the other campers.
In their tent, Sunny scolds Buck (Rex Linn) for bringing Mary’s body back, but he says it’s a good thing because if there was any of his DNA on her, it would now be explainable by him helping move the body. “Smart, I didn’t think about that,” she says. But Sunny is upset with her husband for killing Mary. He reminds her that with Luke still out there, they need to stick to their story that he killed Paige and then killed Mary when she found out.
Before the questioning begins, Poppernak tells Jenny and Beau that only two people weren’t at the camp who should’ve been when Mary was last seen, Luke and Cormac. During the questioning, Jenny and Beau learn that Luke and Paige were fighting before Paige went missing, that Tonya and Donno arrived after Paige disappeared but seemed overly interested in Luke, and that Mary was well-liked and felt sorry for Luke. From Emily, they learn that Luke warned her that dangerous people were at the camp and he wanted to get away. And then there is Avery’s testimony: “Luke told me that he and Paige had $15 million in crypto. When he told me I thought it was a joke, but now I’m not so sure.”
Deputies have already searched Luke’s tent, but Jenny wants to take another look. While talking to Beau about what they learned from Avery, she finds Paige’s cell phone under Luke’s mattress. “Emily said that Sunny was receiving texts from Paige,” she adds, “I guess we know who was sending them.” They talk through the alleged timeline of events that would’ve had to have occurred for Luke to be the killer. “There’s something that’s not making sense about this,” Beau says and Jenny agrees.
Cassie Dewell (Kylie Bunbury) met Cormac Barnes (Luke Mitchell) for drinks at The Boot Heel. Their flirtations lead to Cormac asking Cassie to dance, but she says it was a long day and asks for a raincheck. Continuing to talk, Cormac asks Cassie if she found any more information about the truck his father allegedly sold that was found burned in the woods. She says she hasn’t, but that she has a feeling Buck isn’t being honest with her, apologizing for talking about Cormac’s father that way. Cassie asks for Cormac’s opinion on the matter. “I think I should probably head back to camp and I think I’m gonna collect on that raincheck,” he says, getting up to leave. “Just you wait,” Cassie flirts back.
Jenny and Beau lead a group of officers along the trail with dogs sniffing around. Jenny wanders off and gets to an area where she starts to feel like she’s being watched. Her phone rings and she answers Beau’s call. “We’ve got a body down by the chimney rocks,” he tells her. Cut to Jenny arriving to find Luke dead, with an arrow sticking out of his shoulder.
The next day, Cassie enters Dewell & Hoyt where Denise (Dedee Pfeiffer) is pondering in front of the Bleeding Heart Killer board she set up. Cassie tells her that Jenny called and informed her that two guests have been found dead at Sunny Day Excursions, with Jenny asking her to find Cormac. “I was with him last night at The Boot Heel,” she shares with Denise, confused that he didn’t go back to camp like he said.
Jenny has found out some new information about Luke and Paige, who checked in with a fake last name. They were both data entry clerks who quit their jobs days before arriving at the camp, but Paige told everyone she was a trust fund recipient. Jenny believes they stole the money Avery told them about and came to this camp to hide out. Beau suggests that Tonya and Donno were sent to find them and Jenny thanks him for siding with her again because she was starting to think Donno was bribing Beau with food. Popernak approaches to report that a bow and quiver are missing from the shed and the arrows match the murder weapon. The shed is not locked, so anyone at the camp could’ve had access. From the questioning, everyone was accounted for except for Cormac, Donno, Avery, and Buck.
Jenny and Buck split up to interrogate Tonya and Donno. Allegedly, Donno didn’t want to go on the hike because he prefers to be alone with nature rather than with a group. Tonya says they lied about being a married couple because you get freebies when you’re a couple celebrating an anniversary on vacation. Tonya mentions Avery’s archery skills to Beau and asks if Avery is the one who told him about the $15 million, sharing that she saw Avery and Luke together a lot. “Something was going on between those two,” she adds, telling Beau to ask his daughter about it.
(ABC/Michael Moriatis)
Instead of going back to the camp, Cormac went home to look through the attic for the bill of sale for the burned Suburban. Instead, he finds the title. While moving boxes, he finds one with a yellow baby blanket. Lifting it up, he finds a wooden chest and he can’t resist peeking inside. He pulls out a photo of a younger Sunny holding a baby boy. The chest is full of baby items, including a hospital bracelet that belonged to “Baby Johnston.” Cormac is interrupted by a knock on the door, answering it to find Cassie there. She asks to come inside.
Avery hangs around by the police set up where items from Paige’s bag have been stored in clear zipped bags. When they are left unattended, he begins to head toward them but is stopped by Emily. He asks his stepdaughter if she looked inside Paige’s bag when she found it with Mary’s body. She says no and asks why he would ask that. He says he was wondering if there was a clue inside about the crypto key Luke told him about, but Emily didn’t know anything about that. “Let’s just leave the clues to my dad,” Emily says, walking away. Avery’s eyes dart back to the evidence bags.
Cormac is surprised to learn that Mary and Luke are both dead. Neither of his parents have tried to contact him since sending him out to pick up Buck’s prescription. “Have you been here all night?”, Cassie asks. “I was looking for the bill of sale for my dad’s truck,” Cormac explains. “I was trying to do my parents a favor and help you out.” He tells her that he found the title and is confused why his father lied about it. “You grow up thinking you know your parents, but you forget they had full lives before you were born,” he says. Cassie asks what he means and he brushes it off. “We should head up to the campsite,” Cassie says.
At Beau’s request, Poppernak looked into Avery and Carla and shares a report with Jenny and Beau that makes their eyebrows raise. “Wow, this changes things,” Jenny says. They split up, Jenny talking to Carla while Beau meets with Avery. Beau warns Jenny that Carla is a lawyer who can use her words against her. Carla seems eager to talk to Jenny about Beau, trying to figure out if they’re just colleagues or something more. Jenny learns a lot about Beau’s life in Texas that he never told her, including that he struggled when his partner Randy died and that they fought a lot about the cases she took which conflicted with his work as a sheriff. Jenny eventually has to stop Carla, sharing that she came to ask about Avery. In a different tent, Beau asks Avery about why Luke would confide with him about the money when nobody else knew. Avery dismisses it as Luke simply feeling comfortable with him. Beau asks how things are going at his company just as Jenny asks Carla if Avery’s been under a lot of stress due to what’s been going on at work. She knew nothing as Beau tells Avery that he know his company is being investigated by the Securities and Exchange Commission for fraud and misleading investors. “I’m not at liberty to discuss that,” Avery states as Beau implies that $15 million could probably solve a lot of problems for him. “Am I a suspect?”, Avery asks. “We’re looking at all possible motives,” Beau explains. “I see what you’re doing, and I’m done, and I want a lawyer.” Beau smiles, saying “Well, we both know a good one, don’t we?”
(ABC/Michael Moriatis)
Cormac enters Sunny and Buck’s tent and asks why they didn’t call him about the murders. Sunny says they’ve been too busy dealing with it. Cormac tosses the medication to Buck, saying that the pharmacist was confused because he received a refill of the same medication recently. Sunny tells him that he accidentally spilled some down the drain. “That Cassie’s got you all worked up, hasn’t she?”, Sunny suggests. Cormac says she hasn’t, but pulls out the photo of Sunny with a baby and says this has. “That’s your cousin Bryan,” Sunny says after taking the photo. Cormac asks about the hospital bracelet. Buck warns him to let it go, saying that has nothing to do with what’s going on. “So you won’t mind if I share any of this with Cassie then?” Sunny asks him to stay away from her. “I’d appreciate it if y’all stop lying to me,” Cormac says as he leaves. Alone, Buck and Sunny argue about how to proceed. Buck wants to tell Cormac about Walter and thinks he’s the one who is responsible for the other murders.
Poppernak fills Cassie in and Jenny tells Cassie that Cormac was with her last night. “I do need you to take a look at Buck Barnes, though, “she says. “Turns out he never sold the truck that burned up.” Cassie says she feels that Buck is hiding something. Cut to Cassie and Jenny questioning Buck, who admits that he is a skilled archer, but that a lot of people ar the camp are. Jenny tells him that by moving Mary’s body, he tampered with a crime scene. He says he moved her to save her body from the bears. Buck is offended by a suggestion that he hurt a camper. Cassie pulls out the police profile sketch of the man she saw in the Suburban. “Have you seen this man?” Buck stares at it for a moment, sniffing back, thinking, and then says “I’ve seen him out in the woods.” He says he’s never seen him in the same place twice and that he has no idea who he is or where he lives.
Tonya and Donno take selfies as an excuse to move closer to the table of evidence. It gets left alone and they are just about to grab the journal when Sunny approaches. “Since you guys showed up, nothing’s been right around here,” she says, adding that she’s been told that they aren’t married and that she doesn’t like liars. “Lying’s just a stone’s throw away from all sorts of sins. I got my eye on you.”
“I cannot believe that you didn’t tell me the SEC is investigating you,” Carla confronts Avery, who suggests that Beau is trying to sabotage him. “I made a mistake,” he says. “I should’ve told you. But the problem at my company has nothing to do with what is going on here.” Carla tells him she needs some space and that she and Emily will go to a hotel when they get back to town. Avery says they should go to the house and he will go to a hotel. “We can talk when you’re ready,” he says.
A ranger (Victor Samuel Armijo) stands at the barricade when a red truck approaches, driven by Tonya and Donno’s boss Tony (West Liang) and his associate Possum (Darius Rucker). The ranger approaches to tell them that the area is closed, refusing to tell them why. Asking them to turn their vehicle around, he is met with the business end of Possum’s silencer, falling down dead.
Jenny and Beau loop Cassie into the facts of the case and she suggests they ask Cormac about the spot where Paige went missing, where Luke reportedly saw a mysterious person with a flashlight, who may have been the mountain man they’re looking for. Cormac shows them where to go on a map and Cassie points out that it’s off all of the hiking maps the camp provides its guests. “Probably because my mom doesn’t want any of the guests to go there,” Cormac says, adding that it’s one of the places Buck reportedly saw the mystery man. Beau leads a team to that spot.
Tony and Possum watch as Tonya and Donno steal Paige’s journal from the evidence table. Tonya begins to look for the two pages with the highlighted key phrase, but discovers that they have been removed. We see that Avery has them, leaving his tent with his bags packed.
(ABC/Michael Moriatis)
Sunny races to Walter’s cabin, knocking on the door but there’s no answer. “The Sheriff’s Department is coming for you,” she calls inside. “Please, if you’re in there, run!” Walter was inside, and so was Paige, who asks him what they should do. “Nothing to do,” Walter says, saying that Paige hasn’t done anything wrong. “That’s not true,” she confesses. “If they take me, I’ll be dead by tomorrow morning.” She kisses Walter, telling him he will always be her prince. He leads her to a hatch and opens it to reveal a ladder that leads to a path that will take her to the edge of the woods. She says with her hurt leg, she won’t be able to run. “I told you, I’d always protect you,” he says, revealing that he will stay behind. He closes the hatch behind her and goes to the door, stepping out of the cabin with his hands up. Jenny, Beau, and Cassie all have guns pointed at Walter, ordering him to get on his knees. He looks up at Cassie and says “Nice to see you again.”
We see Paige emerge from the bottom of the path and proceed away from the woods.
Sunny stands hidden in the trees watching her first born son in handcuffs, tears streaming from her eyes.
We will have to wait until Thursday, November 30th, to find out what happens next in “Where There's Smoke There's Fire.”