Big Sky Season 3 Episode 9 Review: Where There’s Smoke There’s Fire

We finally break free from the campsite, with everyone settling back into life away from the great outdoors.

And things are just as messy as they ever were.

While Sunny tries to plot her next move, Cassie sets her sights on getting to the bottom of what happened in the woods during Big Sky Season 3 Episode 9. And she is so damn close to putting everything together.

Some time has passed from Big Sky Season 3 Episode 8, and in that time, the police are no closer to figuring anything out about the murders at the campsite.

Walter isn’t talking, and they’re not pressing him either, which is surprising, though Beau and Jenny do find themselves involved in another case that takes up much of their time.

But Walter is content to sit in jail (does he have a lawyer?) and keep his mouth shut, which is a bold move. Clearly, his every move right now is rooted in his desire to protect Paige, but other than that, I’m not too sure what he plans to do here.

The only person who can get anything tangible out of him is Cassie, who at least has the wherewithal to recognize that there are many discrepancies in the murders. Besides their proximity, there isn’t much that connects them where you could say for sure they were all committed by the same person.

And, of course, we, as viewers, know that, but it’s starting to sink in with Cassie.

Walter’s answer about the figurine makes sense if only because, for as sociopathic as he is, we’ve also seen another side to him. As misguided as it was, he did bring Mark to Sunny, so there’s a part of him that perhaps would want to bring a little comfort to someone with his little figurines.

Maybe?

People always think the worst of me.

Walter [to Cassie]

Walter is by no means some innocent party in all this, but there’s much more going on here. We know he didn’t kill Mary, and we never saw who killed Luke, so what actual deaths are on Walter right now?

And that newspaper clipping Cassie found only adds to the mystery, now that we know a boy AND a girl were missing after the fire. It could be nothing, or it could be something. And my money is on something because Big Sky rarely does anything by accident.

Buck: Sunny, been over this.
Sunny: I don’t care. He’s my boy, and I want to see him.
Buck: Well, you’d be giving us up. And you made a promise.
Sunny: I’m his mother. He needs me. And you don’t get to tell me what to do!

Speaking of Walter, his half-brother finally learned of his existence, and boy, does it suck to be Cormac right now. One second he’s living his best life in dancing shoes with literal goddess Cassie Dewell, and the next, he’s finding out his parents have withheld a brother from him and said brother could be a murderer.

It’s a lot to take in, and Buck and Sunny have no regard for his feelings at all. Sunny only comes clean because there’s no use in lying anymore, even though they very conveniently leave out the whole Buck is a killer too thing, but that’s not important because all they need is for Cormac to keep his mouth shut!

Poor Cormac is barely even allowed to react before his parents want him to move on and protect them. And he seems like such a good guy, so he’ll probably do as they say while being completely torn up about it and it’ll further complicate and probably ruin his budding romance with Cassie, and he deserves so much better than that.

Unless Cormac has me fooled.

I don’t know what to make of so many of these new characters and their agendas. But the guessing game is a large part of what makes this season so enjoyable.

Sunny and Buck are actually terrible human beings, and they hide behind their genial smiles and ‘aw shucks’ attitude when all they care about is protecting themselves and the life they’ve built. And it was very easy for them to hide Walter for years, so what else could they be hiding?

We all saw Buck’s creepy blood moment with the heart, but that felt like a red herring if I ever saw one. They’re treating the Bleeding Heart Murder mystery like a plot point that will eventually become super relevant, but they’re just dangling it in front of the audience now and then, so it’s not forgotten about.

It’s why it’s hard to imagine we find out Buck is the real killer in a random throwaway scene like the one we got. But seeing as we’re halfway through the season already, we should probably be getting more movement on the mystery than less.

Beau: Okay, well, listen, your mom’s going to be here any second, and she’s expecting me to feed you, so you’re gonna need to lie.
Emily: It’s fine. I had some of that cereal in there. That expired a year ago.
Beau: Perfect. Told you those expiration dates are a scam.
Emily: No, it was stale.
Beau: Oh, you’ll live.

Beau and Jenny spend this hour investigating a former smokejumpers murder, and it’s another cool case of the week that isn’t the most groundbreaking, but it’s still enjoyable.

It’s tough to make some of these cases genuinely shocking because there’s not enough time to have multiple suspects and avenues to explore all the time. Every minor character we meet is a suspect, and then you slowly cross them off the list until the bad guy reveals himself.

But they’re still fun and a nice balance to the long-form storytelling.

Can we briefly discuss the Beau, Jenny, and Cassie of it all? When the season started, I was dreading the love triangle, and they’ve steered clear of that by pairing Cassie off with Cormac, but they will subtly bring it back up. And it makes me wonder if it’s supposed to just be Jenny projecting or if there really is a plan to go there eventually.

I’ve thoroughly enjoyed Beau and Jenny’s dynamic, which is based on their partnership and their respect and appreciation for one another. There are definitely flashes of flirting and moments where you can’t help but see the chemistry shine through, but they always pull it back.

Even with Carla’s introduction, having her size Jenny up immediately made it appear like we were heading toward a romantic pairing. But it’s still never happened, and then out of left field, we get Jenny wondering if Beau is jealous of Cassie and Cormac, and Beau can play it off like he wants the gossip but could it be more than that?

Big Sky literally began with Cassie and Jenny coming to blows over a man, and we DO NOT need that repeat, but it’ll be interesting how the back half of the season treats the ladies, and Mr. Arlen in particular.

Beau still has strong feelings for Carla, but from the outside, it seems pretty obvious why they didn’t work out and why it’s probably best they keep co-parenting Emily amicably and leave it at that.

But also, Jensen Ackles is in a scene with anyone, and the chemistry is just there, so nothing would shock me at this point.

Odds and Ends

• 
  I’ve said it before, and I’ll repeat it, Beau’s airstream set-up is top-tier. Everything about it is gorgeous!

• 
  Beau Arlen having a George Foreman Grill is so on-brand.

• 
  Poppernak needs to invite himself to those movie nights! You just know he probably has the worst taste, but he’s so endearing in his love for B-list action flicks that you can’t even be mad.

• 
  Is Cassie allowed to interview murder suspects? Is that a thing?

• 
  Avery knows he’s in over his head, but he must be smart enough to realize that the more he lies to Carla, the more his marriage suffers. She doesn’t seem like the type to stick around for a man who lies and puts her daughter in danger.

• 
  I like the sneak peeks we get into Beau’s past because it feels like we simultaneously know so much and so little about him.

• 
  Emily is probably too young to hang around Dewell & Hoyt, but she and Denise somehow make a fun little duo.

• 
  They never miss an opportunity to let REBA sing, and I thank them for it.

• 
  There is no use in figuring out what Paige’s endgame here is because it’s totally unclear.

Nine episodes have passed us by just like that! And things are heating up.

Drop me a line down below and let me know what you thought about this hour and where things currently stand. There is so much to discuss, so make sure to comment and remember you can watch Big Sky online via TV Fanatic if you need to catch up!

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