A hiker’s threatened by a creepy stranger and falls to his death in the first few minutes of ABC’s Big Sky season three episode one. Plus, it’s disclosed Cassie (Kylie Bunbury) broke up with Mark, and he and Jerrie are off hunting the cartel. (Cassie says what we all think – Mark and Jerrie are good together.) And Jenny (Katheryn Winnick), Cassie, and Denise (Dedee Pfeiffer) all agree Beau really fills out his jeans – all before the opening credits roll.
We also quickly learn the detective agency’s main case this season will be figuring out what happened to the missing hiker.
Beau (Jensen Ackles) scores major points by complimenting Denise’s veggie lasagna. Cassie notes Denise – who she calls Mrs. Robinson – has never cooked lasagna for her as Jenny and Beau head off to work.
A key player in season three, Sunny Barnes, is introduced – welcome to Big Sky, Reba McEntire! Sunny runs Sunny Day Excursions, a tourist destination with campsites and all sorts of activities.
Meanwhile, Jenny and Beau almost literally run into a guy wearing just his undies running down the road. Turns out he’s Corrections Officer Harry Miller (Brian Sutherland) and the prisoner he was transporting stole his clothes, weapon, and car, and is now on the loose.
Back at the sheriff’s office, Harry’s no longer naked and identifies Faith Cole as the prisoner who escaped. She was doing time for armed robbery and he was transferring her to another prison. Harry wants to call it in so they can set up a roadblock, but Jenny and Beau think they can handle this without State’s help.
Beau and Jenny know Harry’s lying since Faith only weighs 125 pounds. Harry claims Faith seduced him and then one thing led to another. Now she’s on the run.
Their suddenly uncomfortable discussion’s interrupted by Deputy Mo Poppernak (J. Anthony Pena) with news a woman prison guard just held up a market.
Cassie checks in with Sunny to see if she’s encountered the missing hiker. Mark Woodman of San Francisco was hiking the continental divide trail when he stopped checking in with his family. He must have taken a detour because that trail’s not close to this area.
Sunny takes a minute to reintroduce her son, Cormac (Luke Mitchell), to Cassie. She shows him the missing poster and he jokes that the guy will show up soon or maybe the bears will get him since they have to eat too. They promise to keep an eye out, and there’s a little flirting going on between Cormac and Cassie. (He tells his mom Cassie’s cute after she walks away.)
Sunny’s husband, Buck Barnes (Rex Linn), wonders what Cassie wanted, and Sunny fills him in on the missing backpacker. Sunny doesn’t think they should tell the guests, given there was a bear attack recently. They don’t want to spook the campers, but they’ll remind them all about the dangers of bears in the area.
Speaking of the guests, Emily (Cree Cicchino) and Avery (Henry Ian Cusick) arrive, and Sunny greets them with a warm welcome. They’re ready to relax with a little glamping. The only things missing are Avery’s wife (and Emily’s mom) and reliable cell service.
Sunny, Cormac, and Buck huddle to discuss all the guests, before Sunny greets the remainder of the visitors. Page and Luke are among the newcomers and it’s obvious Luke doesn’t want to be there. He’d rather be visiting Cancun for his birthday, but Sunny promises they’ll have a great time.
The entire group gathers for a welcome talk and a safety chat, with Sunny pointing out they need to always use the buddy system. Plus, they need to take their bear spray wherever they go and stay on the marked trails.
They should be “bear aware” and leave no trace behind.
Jenny and Beau check out the mini-mart and discover their fugitive stole cash and clothing. The manager, Bill Kemp, is missing but, fortunately, there are security cameras that might help them figure out what happened.
They watch the video, see Faith hold up Bill, and then take him with her. Now she has a hostage.
Catching up with some returning season two faces… Tonya (Jamie-Lynn Sigler) is selling real estate and Donno (Ryan O’Nan) is a cook at the café who doesn’t appreciate customers coating his food with ketchup.
Cassie and Donno engage in a stare-down as Cassie enters the café and takes a seat in a booth opposite Tonya. Tonya insists she’s a legitimate businesswoman but Cassie’s actually there to ask about purchasing the ranch. It was her dad’s dream and since he left her some money, Cassie wants to buy it.
Tonya claims she has numerous cash offers over the asking price. However, Cassie wonders if those potential buyers know about the drug lab or the murders that occurred there. Since Tonya’s a licensed broker, she should know she needs to disclose those issues to any interested buyers.
Cassie’s going to make her an offer she can’t refuse.
It turns out the mini-mart’s manager is the brother of Faith’s ex-boyfriend, and Faith blames her ex for her conviction. Beau admires that this is a revenge job, but Mo points out the ex is now in prison.
Back at the detective agency office, Cassie reports she hasn’t had any luck finding the hiker but Sunny’s checking out the trailheads. Denise has figured out the place the hiker went missing – Basin Trail – is the same place her neighbor’s son’s girlfriend disappeared 20 years ago.
She was eventually found – mutilated and with her heart cut out. They never found her murderer.
Other than the location, there’s really nothing that ties the two disappearances together at this point.
Beau has to break his movie night plans with Cassie since they’re hot on the trail of a fugitive holding a hostage. Jenny listens to their phone conversation, smiles, and wonders if they’re really just “friends.” Beau swears they’re just friends who bonded over the last couple of months. If Jenny’s feeling left out, she can join them for their movie night of beers and snacks. Beau explains they always mix things up and include a wide variety of genres in their screenings.
Beau and Jenny arrive in the parking lot of kidnap victim Bill’s apartment and suddenly from out of nowhere, a man lands on their hood. It’s Bill and he’s clinging to life. It appears he was pushed from his upstairs apartment, and Beau stays with Bill as Jenny races off to find Faith.
Gun drawn, Jenny heads up the stairs without waiting for backup. She makes it to Bill’s place and it looks like there’s been a struggle but the only living creature in the place is a cat.
Once back outside, Beau yells at Jenny for taking off without backup. Jenny tosses him a stuffed moose that Faith stole from the mini-mart. Jenny thinks maybe this is all about a kid. There was clothing and other stuff belonging to a young girl in the apartment, and maybe Faith grabbed her.
A short while later, Mo calls with the news Bill didn’t have any kids but Faith’s ex did. The girl’s name is Madelyn and her mom died of an overdose. Bill’s been taking care of her and there are more juicy details…Madelyn wrote Faith a letter saying she was moving to Ireland with Uncle Bill and her aunt. She called Faith “mommy” in the note. (Faith had stayed in the girl’s life after she and Madelyn’s dad broke up.)
Beau and Jenny’s next stop is at the salon where Madelyn’s aunt works.
Faith holds the aunt, May (Melanie Nelson), at gunpoint and demands to know Madelyn’s whereabouts. May says she’s on a school trip, but Madelyn (Aspen Martinez) slowly walks into the room because she wants to see her “mom.” Just as they’re about to reunite Jenny enters and orders Faith to put down the gun. Beau does the same from the other side, but she refuses to obey their order.
Madelyn runs to Faith and hugs her while Beau pleads with Faith to put the gun down for her daughter’s sake. She finally does, and Jenny’s about to place her under arrest when Beau asks that she wait a minute so Faith can say goodbye to her kid.
Faith will be going away for life.
Back at the camp, Paige (Madalyn Horcher) and Luke (Anirudh Pisharody) argue as they hike the area, and Paige pleads with her boyfriend to try and have some fun. If he can’t do that, he can leave. Luke accuses her of being interested in Cormac and Paige admits she checked him out a little.
Still pissed, they continue their hike on Basin Trail toward Deadman’s Drop. Paige is out of breath when she asks him to stop so they can take a break. They pause next to what looks like a heart carved into a tree; it’s either colored red with blood or paint. Paige hopes that it’s paint but either way, it’s gross.
Emily is lurking nearby, filming the couple on her cellphone, and Sunny surprises her when she comes up from behind. Emily draws her knife and Sunny’s impressed with its size. Sunny suggests Emily shouldn’t be spying on the others and Emily admits it’s for her podcast. She thinks its theme will be secrets and lies.
Later that evening, Cassie presents Tonya with her offer for the ranch that’s lower than the other offers Tonya’s received. Tonya accepts it “for old time’s sake.” Tonya thinks Cassie will be happy with the upgraded kitchen and the basement, which was a drug lab, is now a laundry room and storage.
They shake and Tonya hopes she’s invited to the housewarming. Cassie replies, “Don’t hold your breath.”
Sunny tells Paige it’s about time for dinner as a group, but Luke’s not around. Paige thinks he’s off sulking somewhere and she and Sunny joke about leaving him on his own for a couple of days in the woods. That’ll make him stop sulking!
They joke some more about men and Paige sets off to find Luke while Sunny actually looks concerned that he’s missing.
Paige discovers Luke sitting by himself playing on his phone and warns him if he doesn’t cheer up, she won’t give him his present which is sexual in nature. Their quiet makeup chat is interrupted by blood dripping onto Paige’s face.
Buck and Sonny discover the source is a coyote, but Paige is now on the same page as Luke. She wants to leave ASAP. However, now Luke’s decided this is way more exciting than sitting by a resort pool drinking margaritas.
Paige is shocked he’s had a change of heart, but Luke believes this will make such a good story when they go home. Reluctantly, Paige gives in.
Cassie and Beau relax outside his Airstream trailer, ready for their movie night. He thinks once she moves into the ranch, they can hold the movie nights there. Cassie says, “We’ll see,” just as Jenny shows up to join in the fun. They settle in with beer and popcorn, and Jenny suggests anything with Ryan Gosling. Cassie tosses her vote that way too, so Beau’s outnumbered.
Beau steps away to make a call as Jenny and Cassie discuss their options.
And it turns out Emily’s dad is Beau, and she ignores his call while roasting marshmallows around the campfire. She texts him to say she’ll talk later and she’s having fun now. She adds, “Luv U!”
Cassie and Jenny landed on a horror film for the night, and Beau returns to his seat looking distracted. He confesses Emily’s camping with her stepdad at Sunny Days. Cassie says Sunny’s a good person and that she just spoke to her earlier about her missing backpacker case. But, that’s nothing Beau should be worried about.
Still, Beau looks upset. He finally admits he feels like he’s missing out on Emily’s life while her stepdad gets to be there for everything. Cassie suggests he just be there for her when she needs him, and Jenny thinks he should tell her how much he means to her.
The episode ends with Sunny, alone, tossing the missing person’s flyer into the fire. She makes a smore, grabs her flashlight, hums, and heads out into the woods. She begins singing as she walks, calling out, “I know you’re out there. Momma brought you a treat.”
The man who made Matt fall at the beginning of the episode appears and Sunny says, “There you are.”
- Big Sky Season 3 Episode 2 Preview
- Season 3 Episode 3 “A Brief History of Crime” Preview
- Season 3 Episode 4 “Carrion Comfort” Preview
- Season 3 Episode 7 “Come Get Me” Preview
- Season 3 Episode 8 “Duck Hunting” Preview
- Season 3 Episode 9 “Where There’s Smoke There’s Fire” Preview
- Season 3 Episode 12 “Are You Mad?” Preview
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