REVIEW: Big Sky, Season 1 Episode Thirteen 'White Lion'

 REVIEW: Big Sky, Season 1 Episode Thirteen 'White Lion'

If there's one thing Big Sky has featured a lot of in its first season, it's cold blooded murder. Everybody from mothers to corrupt cops have passed away at the hands of another human being, which I suppose isn't too surprising for the genre of crime drama. It's still a fun thing to note however, especially in an episode like White Lion, which features two deaths within the space of its forty five minute runtime.

The first is Blake. We saw Cheyenne (Britt Robertson) witness this at the end of the previous episode, but we had no idea until this instalment as to whether it was manslaughter, or if Blake was actually dead. Well, it turns out John Wayne (Kyle Schmid, not playing the actor) did in fact kill him with the shovel. This family are truly corrupt to the bone. They pass off their own family member's death as a suicide, even though they know full well it was murder; even Cheyenne, who previously seemed to have her head more screwed on than the others, decides to cover it up to protect her brother. The episode does a really good job at setting up the Kleinsassers as a major threat, as you get a sense of this extreme amount of hold they have over their neighbourhood. The locals are frightened to even speak about them, because they have this crazy degree of influence, and it really seems as though our protagonists Cassie (Kylie Bunbury) and Jenny (Katheryn Winnick) are in dangerous territory here.

The quieter moments really shine here, as we get to learn more about our lead characters through their shared experiences of grief. We see both Cassie and Jenny open up about those they have lost, and it gives a nice breather from the main storylines. They're a duo who both know what it's like to experience pain and loss, which allows them to relate to each other on a more personal level. It's easy to see therefore to see why they enjoy working with each other so much.

You'd imagine that if this was real life they'd be starting to feel a bit useless by now though, given that they've not only failed to protect their client in Blake but they still haven't managed to catch Ronald (Brian Geraghty). This week he acquires a new truck, and goes full Norman Bates once again as he talks to a picture of his dead mother as if she's really there. There's a real uneasiness in seeing Ronald suffer this psychotic breakdown, especially as the last few episodes he's been the father figure in a family with a young kid. This guy's clearly not a safe person to have hanging around a child, considering that in the first part of the season he literally trapped the paper boy in a cage within his house, and he's losing more and more of his sanity by the minute. 

Scarlet's (Anja Savcic) Mum Mary (Jaycie Dotin) has discovered the truth about Ronald, and manages to voice her suspicions to Scarlet, before later sending a message to the detective agency. Ronald's really unnerving in these scenes where Mary is suspicious, voicing Scarlet's (Anja Savcic) Mum Mary (Jaycie Dotin) has discovered the truth about Ronald, and manages to voice her suspicions to Scarlet, before later sending a message to the detective agency. Ronald's really unnerving in these scenes where Mary is suspicious, voicing thinly veiled hints at her death through superstitions about the middle person in a picture being the first to die. This screenplay is truly great at making you fear for Mary, and worry for her safety. It sets up that expectation that Mary is getting too involved, and that sooner or later she will pay the price. 

And sure enough, she does. Ronald calls at her house and restrains her in a green cloth, before later killing her with a knife. It's a really dark scene which sells that no matter how much Ronald pretends to be 'Arthur', he's still the deranged and psychotic Ronald deep down. This is a guy who goes around singing 'Pop Goes The Weasel', but subtly changing the words to include the name of his latest victim. He takes a certain delight in his murders, which is a little unsettling, and it really shows how far this man has fallen.

The climatic scene, where Ronald crashes his truck through the hotel room where Jenny is staying, has got my curiosity piqued for sure. Is it a case of wrong place, wrong time for Angela (Rachel Colwell), given that she has nothing to do with the Ronald case, or are Ronald's antics in some way linked to the Kleinsassers? I have a feeling it's going to be the latter, because Ronald must have found out where Jenny was staying somehow, and if he is involved with the Kleinsassers then it's not unreasonable to assume that the corrupt Sheriff Wagy (Sebastian Roche) told Ronald where Jenny is. Perhaps Ronald is trying to silence both Jenny and Angela, and his kidnapping from the first half of the season has some sort of connection to the Kleinsassers?

Overall, 'White Lion' is a fantastic episode of Big Sky's first season. It's an instalment of the show that gives us a magnitude of reasons to hate the Kleinsassers, whilst raising further questions about our detectives' cases. It's clear that the world of Big Sky is very complex, and that there are still many things which us viewers are yet to be aware of in terms of the ins and outs of this world, but I for one am looking forward to seeing how this story unfolds, and if Ronald's victims finally get the justice they deserve. 

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