Previously on Big Sky, conflict continues to arise due to Walt’s presence near Sunny Day Excursions. Meanwhile, Cassie and Cormac have found the missing backpacker’s body. Donno and Tanya are about to get mixed up in something rather nasty involving making Paige and Luke disappear. Read on to see what happened this week in “Flesh and Blood.”
Walter and Paige
Paige questions why Walt’s hiding out in the woods and discovers Sunny’s his mom. Walt believes he saved Paige from Luke hitting her in the head with a rock. Paige argues she didn’t need to be saved from her own boyfriend, but Walt, having spied on the camp, reports he’s already cavorting with other women. Walt seems to have developed an obsession with her. He’s not coming across as the most stable. Paige uses this to her advantage and asks Walt to sneak into the camp and get something for her. We can assume this is the bag that Sunny buried to hide evidence of Paige’s mysterious disappearance.
Panic! At the Garage
Beau is seen looking at motorcycles. He’s always wanted to teach Paige how to ride, but Carla didn’t like the idea. It feels like he’s trying to outdo her and Avery and earn the “cool dad” title. Outside, the dealer starts shaking a guy who tried to steal a bike down. Beau gives chase but loses the guy when he hops in a van. Beau gets the license plate.
Beau brings in Poppernak to help work the case. On the scene, Poppernak speaks to a female mechanic and asks her if she’s seen the truck that drove off with the criminal. As he asks, a gun is put to his head. Beau talks to the manager to try and get the lot logs and shortly after realizes Poppernak is MIA.
Jenny comes on the scene to try and find Poppernak. The two find his phone in the garage. Jenny notices a radio on the ground. They’re unsure of the motive to take Poppernak unless something bigger is going on, like an underground bike theft ring.
In the back of a truck, Poppernak is tied up with the guy who held a gun to his head and the mechanic. Another man joins them. They’re planning to rob a bank, but now they have Poppernak on their hands.
Trent Dillard, a former motocross rider, is identified as the guy who was at the garage that took Mo. Beau realizes that Trent and his crew are stealing way more than bikes. We cut to the bank robbery where Trent shoots a bank attendant unprovoked and starts shooting in the air. The mechanic is freaked out, saying that shooting the lady was unnecessary. Back at the precinct, Beau’s figured out Trent’s game and they’re monitoring banks to catch Trent and find Poppernak. All of their resources are aimed at finding him; he’s one of their own.
Jenny and Beau are alerted about a bank that’s not answering the station’s calls. Cutting back to the bank, Trent and co are seen breaking open lockboxes and bagging cash. The mechanic can’t find her mother’s things, which is what she came to get in the first place. When she doesn’t want to leave in favor of continuing to search, Trent goes to shoot her, saying she’s not cut out for this. Poppernak rams the vault door closed, but the woman aims a gun at him, asking what he’s done — even though he’s just saved her life… show some gratefulness girl.
Jenny and Beau arrive at the bank where the patrons are still frozen in fear on the found. Beau gives chase to Trent on a motorbike (Jensen Ackles, always one for action) while Jenny stays behind to find Poppernak. During the chase, Beau spots the empty truck that the group was using as a getaway van and stops chasing Trent to investigate.
Meanwhile, Jenny frees the hostages and calls for a bus for the employee who was shot. She hears a noise at the back and goes to investigate. Jenny opens the vault and finds the mechanic with a gun aimed at the back of Poppernak’s head. Henny drops her weapon. The mechanic wants a way out of the situation, but when Henny realistically says that probably won’t happen, she clocks Pop in the back of the head to try and force Jenny into action.
Trent circles back to the truck and drives the motorcycle into it, thinking he’s about to make an escape. Beau corners him. Meanwhile, Jenny tells the mechanic it’ll take time to get her the money she asked for since the bank doesn’t have enough. Transportation out is allegedly on the way for her. Poppernak tells Heather that she’s acting out of a personal grudge with her mother, and Jeny says she can help. In a moment of distraction, Jenny whacks her with one of the strewn deposit boxes and cuffs her.
At the bar, Jenny and Beau tell Poppernak he’s fired for terrible policework. He’s genuinely worried before he realizes they’re messing with him. Beau asks Jenny how she’s holding up after everything. The day got her thinking about everything with her mom. Beau reminds her that relationships have to be a two way street, even when it’s blood — especially when it’s blood. Jenny jokes about his cowboy wisdom and they shake off the tension with the clink of a few beers.
Backpacker Case
Back in the woods, Jenny is on the scene where the missing backpacker was found. The two theorize about how the body ended up there. Cormac leaves, saying there are new campers he has to help get ready for but offers up his company/assistance to Cassie at any time (flirting). Jenny definitely clocks the vibes between the two, but lets it go… for the time being. On the body, Jenny finds the stick doll Walt crafted and left.
Back at Dewell and Hoyt, Cassie tells Jenny about her run-in with Walt. Denise is still convinced that the backpacker case is related to the murder 20 years ago even though the death’s been ruled an accident. Mark parents are coming into speak to them later about Cassie’s findings.
Mark’s parents talk to Cassie and Denise, who tell them that they don’t think that this death was an accident. They want permission to continue to pursue the case. It’s not adding up that. Mark was an experienced backpacker and somehow died in such a seeming accident. Cassie shows them the doll, which they don’t recognize and vows to find out the truth.
Cormac turns up at Dewell and Hoyt at the invite of Cassie. There’s vibed, but this is a business meeting. Cassie asks if Cormac’s seen a creepy man lurking about camp (Walt). She shows him the stick doll, on which Cormac recognizes a heart carved into the foot. It’s the heart we’ve been seeing carved into trees in the woods.
Cassie goes searching the woods… alone… at night. She finds what she’s looking for, though — the heart carved into the tree. She spots light from afar and upon inspection, it’s the van Walt had the body in… in flames. Unbeknownst to her, Walt watches her from the woods.
Meanwhile At Sunny Day Excursions…
Carla is shown into camp by Cormac. Who else is joining but Tanya and Donno, no doubt on their mission to eliminate Paige and Luke. Cormac tells Sunny about him and Cassie finding the missing backpacker in the woods. She warns him off her behind the guise of her using him and possibly breaking his heart.
“I want to ride a horse. A white one… and I will name him Gandalf. And he will be my squishy”
Donno
Suny and Buck argue about Walt some more. Buck doesn’t want Cormac to find out about Walter. Sunny finally opens up about what happened to the backpacker (with some creative flare) since Cassie found the body. Buck isn’t willing to protect Walt, but Sunny argues that since Cassie saw Walt with the truck, they can’t go to the police since now they’re linked. Sunny states their solution is to forcibly move Walt far away for good and Buck agrees.
Emily confronts Luke about the person Luke said he saw in the woods. He warns her that she should stay out of it. He tells her that Paige isn’t as innocent as Emily thinks. Luke is interrupted by Donno and Tanya, prying for information and asking where Paige is. Sunny watches the suspicious interaction from afar.
Luke walks into his tent to Tanya sitting on his bed, inquiring about Paige’s whereabouts. Donno creeps up behind him with a hatchet. Luke says he doesn’t have what they’re looking for; Paige took the $15 million. Tanya’s face drops in shock. They tell Luke he better stay at the camp while they’re there or else Donno will work his magic.
Carla has joined up with Avery and Emily at the camp. Carla questions why Emily was talking to Luke. Emily spills her concerns about Paige and Carla wants to call in Beau. Avery convinces her that everything is fine and that he would sense if something was off as “a professional warrior.” There is something going on with that man, I’m telling y’all.
Sunny reiterates to Buck that she’s always going to love Walt as her firstborn. As Buck goes to sneak off into the night with some gas cannisters, he hears a noise and sees Walter creeping around outside the tent.
Luke is shows washing up when Avery corners him. He tells him he saw Paige’s journal and the gun. Under the guise of watching out for Emily, he demands information, but Luke refuses, claiming he doesn’t know anything and just wants to enjoy the rest of the trip. It’s still up in the air what Avery’s motivations are, but I’m sure more will be revealed as the season progresses.
Big Sky: Deadly Trails airs on Wednesdays at 10 p.m. ET/9 p.m. CT on ABC. If you haven’t already, be sure to catch up on the first two seasons on Hulu, check out our other content on the show here (including episodic recaps), and stay tuned for more updates.
