REVIEW: Big Sky, Season 1 Episode 15 'Bitter Roots'

 REVIEW: Big Sky, Season 1 Episode 15 'Bitter Roots'

Last week's episode of Big Sky left us in a place where we were considerably worried for the life of a child. Phoebe (Zoe Noelle Baker) had stumbled across Ronald (Brian Geraghty) burying Scarlet's (Anja Savcic) sister Mary in the woods, and like any kid she was curious to know what he was doing. 

This instalment picks up from where we left off, with Ronald facing this potential problem. He's very sly with the way he manipulates young Phoebe into keeping his burial a secret, by claiming it is a deer that he is burying and that if Phoebe tells anyone some 'bad people' could come and dig it up. Ronald's talent for slipping out of any difficult obstacle is incredible. The meaty stuff here though is his conflicted thoughts on whether or not to kill Phoebe, as he holds a rock above her head. This was something I was hoping they would do, as it would be interesting to see whether Ronald's potential emotional attachment could get in the way of him making another murder. They really do reap this for all the dramatic potential it possesses, effectively exploring Ronald's loyalty towards his new family, and how far he's prepared to go to betray it. As it turns out, he can't face killing Phoebe after all, suggesting that maybe he does have a heart.

The main chunk of the episode concerns the Kleinsasser family, who are chasing our protagonists Jenny (Katheryn Winnick) and Cassie (Kylie Bunbury), as well as Rosie's (Michelle Veintimilla) Dad Gil (Carlos Gómez) through the forest. This chase sequence has a really strong vibe; it feels ripped straight out of a psychological thriller, with dark hues and grim lighting making up the cinematography on display. It helps to convey this very murky atmosphere which is in-keeping with the psychotic family at the heart of the ranch storyline, again communicating this threatening hold they have over the nearby vicinity. 

Horst (Ted Levine) is perhaps the worst. You never quite seem to know what to expect from Horst, as he has this crazed energy that makes him very hard to predict. His first actions in this episode are to kidnaps Gil, someone who the episode then proceeds to keep out of the narrative for an extended period of time, leaving us wondering what could possibly have happened to him. A part of me even wondered if Horst may have actually killed Gil, because he's hardly afraid to keep his hands dirty.

Horst also holds Jenny captive, meaning that once again we get the irony of the detective becoming the one who needs saving. It happened earlier in the season when Cassie was kidnapped, and this time it's Jenny's turn. I like how she takes absolutely no nonsense from her captors too. When they invite her for breakfast, she tells them she absolutely doesn't want it. She even smashes things over the head of her captor, showing that she means business. It echoes the strength of her character, someone who isn't afraid to make a stand.

Cheyenne (Britt Robertson) also finds herself made a victim of her Dad's appalling conduct, as he hands her a gun and insists that she must kill Giles. The script does a brilliant job at conveying the emotional weight here, as she is forced to answer the question of whether she is a killer like other members within her family, or whether she's someone with the potential to be better. It makes it all the more tragic when a later tussle between herself and her brother John Wayne (Kyle Scmid) causes her gun to go off, killing him in the process. The family ultimately ends up becoming its own downfall, as its their disagreements that lead to them paying the price. Cheyenne in terms of guilt, John Wayne with his own life.

This week we also find out more about that body found by Mark Lindor (Omar Metwally) in Mary's house. Turns out it was Scarlet's abusive ex and Phoebe's Dad, and as suspected Scarlet was the one responsible for his death. In a neater twist, we discover Scarlet has worked out that Arthur is Ronald as Mary thought, and that she knows at least some of the stuff that he has done. She doesn't care though, because she herself has done terrible things, and there's something undeniably poetic about this. These are two individuals who have been hiding their true selves, can finally be truthful to one another and who it turns out are actually more similar than they believed. Both are killers, and both have hands that are dirty. They are undeniably well suited.

Overall, 'Bitter Roots' is another great episode of Big Sky. Providing a consistent tone, further developments regarding Ronald and Scarlet and some interesting moments regarding the Kleinsasser family, it proves a decent penultimate episode before we reach the season finale next week.

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