REVIEW: Big Sky, Season 1 Episode Five 'A Good Day Yo Die'
REVIEW: Big Sky, Season 1 Episode Five 'A Good Day Yo Die'
The greatest antagonists in the media are the ones that keep you guessing. The kind that are so unpredictable in their methods that it becomes virtually impossible to second guess their next move. These sort of antagonists create a real feeling of unease, and Big Sky is a drama that has two great examples of villains who go by this narrative code.
Take Rick Legarski (John Carroll Lynch), for instance. In this episode, he approaches his wife Merilee (Brooke Smith) in bed, after having discovered her dance with trucker Ronald (Brian Geraghty) in the previous instalment. He believes his wife has been unfaithful, and we see the thoughts he has in his head about murdering her in his sleep. As an audience we are left wondering whether or not he will go ahead; we're fearful for Merilee's safety. It's a great way to dive into the psychology of this character, and show the kind of dark ideas that flood the mind of a man who's clearly very disturbed.
Ronald goes one step further. This man actually gets violent with his own mother, Helen (Valerie Mahaffey), and those scenes are truly shocking to watch. There's something very disturbing about watching a character turn violent towards their own mother; it's the ultimate betrayal, and helps to make us despise this most despicable of villains even more.
It does seem, however, that Ronald has been somewhat brainwashed by Rick. You see, in this episode we are given a flashback to before Ronald started these kidnappings, a time when Rick pulled him over on the road and essentially manipulated the guy into this criminal underworld. It means there's something a little tragic about Ronald, even if he still obviously is not a very likeable character.
Ronald is the one to discover that somebody has visited the place where the missing girls are hidden. He discovers another layer of tyre tracks different to his own, and immediately realises Cassie (Kylie Bunbury) and Jennie (Katheryn Winnick) have discovered their location. This demonstrates neatly what Ronald brings to his and Rick's operation. He is the observant one, the man who discovers things that may otherwise have gone unnoticed. If Rick provides the brains, then Ronald provides the attention to detail.
We are only five episodes in to a sixteen episode run of Big Sky, and with that in mind the ending to this episode is a little surprising. The case, at the moment, seems half-resolved, and yet there are still eleven episodes to go. It makes you wonder what the rest of the season will entail, as there doesn't seem much more story left to tell.
Danielle (Natalie Alyn Lind) returns to being very annoying in this episode, and honestly it's a wonder that character doesn't get herself killed. I really don't understand why you would start goading this highly dangerous criminal, who you know full well could kill you if given half the opportunity. Danielle's speech as a result is quite frustrating to watch, and it doesn't feel natural to how a person in this kind of scenario would really react, if their life was in the hands of this dangerous man.
Overall, this was an excellent episode of Big Sky. 'A Good Day To Die' forwards the plot surprisingly fast, and offers a deep dive into the main antagonists of the piece. Unfortunately however Danielle returns to her default mode of being an irritating presence, and you find yourself kind of surprised she has managed to survive as long as she has.
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What are your thoughts on Big Sky's fifth episode? Let me know in the comments section.
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