REVIEW: Big Sky, Season 1 Episode Four 'Unfinished Business'

 REVIEW: Big Sky, Season 1 Episode Four 'Unfinished Business'

It's strange to think just how typical this series has become due to recent events. The bent cop angle doesn't feel a million miles away from the sad case of Sarah Everard, and it's unfortunate that in both real life and in fiction the police cannot be entirely trusted. But here we are, and all we can hope is that this series acts as a warning to any police officers thinking of betraying the public's trust, by showing the negative impacts it leaves on the family and friends left behind.

Just take Danielle (Natalie Alyn Lind) and Grace's (Jade Pettyjohn) mother Joanie's (Camille Sullivan) televisual appeal, for instance. Joanie appears on TV asking for anybody who may possess information on her daughter's whereabouts to come forward, and it's so hard to watch. Camille Sullivan acts it so well and you really get that hint of a mother's desperation to locate her daughters' whereabouts. I think these kind of scenes are always some of the hardest to watch in shows like this, because they really allow an actor to show their acting chops. Ronald (Brian Geraghty) is one of the viewers of this television appeal, which leads to his mother Helen (Valerie Mahaffrey) outright declaring her suspicions of his involvement to her son. My God, Ronald really doesn't treat his mother with much respect. Tipping the contents of his breakfast over the top of her head is hardly a very appreciative gift for a mother, and is a good way to show how much he has lost a grip on his sanity. He's fallen down the dark and murky rabbit hole of crime, and somewhere along the line his humanity has been mislaid. Helen's breakfast shower is far from the most disgusting thing to happen in this episode however. Grace's plan to deal with her wounded leg is another thing entirely. There's an open tin of Spam in the truck where they have been kept captive, and it's full of maggots. Grace's idea is to use the maggots as a means to fix her own injury, whilst also convincing their captors Ronald and Rick (John Carroll Lynch) that she is in need of serious treatment. This was a pretty gruesome concept to witness, and it had a part of me wondering if I had accidentally switched on an old episode of I'm A Celebrity. Mind you, I'm not sure Medic Bob would approve of maggots as a medical treatment. It was nice to see Jenny (Katheryn Winnick) get more agency in this episode; this time round, she takes a much more active role in proceedings, helping Cassie (Kylie Bunbury) to plant a tracker on Rick's car, and dressing as a prostitute to investigate a suspect. Jenny and Cassie feel more like a detective partnership here, as we get to see more of them teaming up rather than Cassie go it alone, and it's nice to get a greater sense of their dynamic.

Just when you thought you couldn't hate Rick any more, though, this episode just adds another reason to pile onto the list of why Rick is such a despicable human being. In his meeting with sheriff Walter Tubb (Patrick Gallagher), he spouts typical 'anti-woke' rhetoric, ranting about topics such as the black community and how they are apparently 'always out to get blue lives'. What's shocking about this speech is just how realistic it feels; you could easily imagine a deranged extremist like Tommy Robinson or Nigel Farage spouting nonsense like this, and it's that closeness to reality that makes you start to question just where society went wrong. I wasn't such a fan of Ronald trying to woo Rick's wife Merilee (Brooke Smith). His visit to the shop and her subsequent agreement to join him at the dance all felt a bit quick. She's only known him five minutes, and she's already sneaking off behind her husband's back to dance with a stranger! It just feels like a forced and unnecessary excuse to add more dramatic tension between Ronald and Rick, when they are already at each other's throats anyway because of how Ronald, in Rick's eyes, let his mother grow suspicious of him. The flashback with Cody (Ryan Phillipe) also feels a little on the nose. This takes the form of a past memory of Cassie's where Cody played the guitar, and his choice of song - We'll Meet Again by Dame Vera Lynn - seems very coincidental, given the shock ending to the first episode. We don't need such an obvious indicator for the tragedy that has befallen Cassie; we saw it happen at the start of the season, we know what she's going through, and we don't need it hammered home in such an obvious and ham-fisted approach. Plus: why are the flashbacks only with Cassie and Cody? What about Jenny and Cody? Jenny was Cody's wife, and yet currently it's starting to feel more like Cody was Cassie's husband! Overall, this was another great entry in the Big Sky series. Unfinished Business contains some excellent dramatic performances, a better use of its lead cast and politically skewed dialogue that feels shockingly close to how these sort of extremists speak in the real world. Ronnie and Merilee's journey towards potential romance feels a little quick however, and the decision not to feature flashbacks with Cody and Jenny as well as Cody and Cassie still feels a little bizarre.

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What are your thoughts on Big Sky's fourth episode? Let me know in the comments section.