Big Sky Review: No Better Than Dogs (Season 1 Episode 12)
Jenny and Cassie get mixed up with the crooked Kleinsasser Family and the corrupt law enforcement of Lochsa County on Big Sky Season 1 Episode 12, “No Better Than Dogs.”
The episode picks up where the last one left off—with both Jenny (Katheryn Winnick) and Cassie (Kylie Bunbury) in harrowing situations. Jenny falls into a pit of dead cows (yuck!) and Cassie is unlawfully detained by the Lochsa County police (terrifying!).
Things were dire for them as Big Sky Season 1 Episode 11, “All Kinds of Snakes,” came to a close, and now it’s much, much worse. Rand Kleinsasser (Ryan Dorsey) is truly disturbing as he stands atop the pit, menacingly grinning down on Jenny. The ax he wields looks as natural in his grip as a chainsaw does in Leatherface’s hands.
Luckily, she is saved by John Wayne.
No, not that John Wayne, but John Wayne Kleinsasser (Kyle Schmid), the middle son of the family. He does show up in the nick of time, but he is no Prince Charming on a white horse, he’s an untrustworthy cowboy on an ATV. JW’s manner starts off a bit ambiguous. Is he violent like his little bro, Rand, or does he have some sense of moral integrity like the eldest Kleinsasser brother, Blake (Michael Raymond-James)?
We learn by the end of the episode that he leans more toward Rand, unfortunately, when he hits Blake with a shovel, laying him out in the grave of a ranchhand who Rand had murdered …also with a shovel.
These late-night shenanigans of the Kleinsasser brothers are not the only glimpses we get into the life of this family. If game night was awkward and miserable, we see that breakfast at the Kleinsasser’s is no picnic either. It serves as not a great homecoming for Blake; he’s written out of the will for violating the “moral turpitude clause of the ranch covenant.”
Apparently, they are having a word salad along with the bacon and coffee this morning.
I actually love the dialogue. It can be so extra at times but adds a certain je ne sais quoi to the show. I want to jump ahead to my favorite line from the episode, but I’d like to address the frightening path Cassie’s story takes.
The danger she is in at the top of the episode is particularly unsettling considering the racial injustice and police brutality that is so terribly rampant in reality. To see a Black woman pulled over, illegally arrested, knocked unconscious with a rock, and held captive is difficult to stomach. The insidiousness of the officer who abducts her and the lawless sheriff makes my skin crawl.
Luckily, she is saved by U.S. Marshal Mark Lindor (Omar Metwally).
I am so glad the violence against both Jenny and Cassie doesn’t go further, but there are too many men showing up to save the day, especially when there are plenty of bad-ass female characters on the show.
Bunbury plays Cassie well throughout the episode; you can feel her terror during and the post-trauma fogginess after. The show doesn’t take itself too seriously, in general, so it could’ve downplayed the aftermath for Cassie, but that would’ve been a mistake. It’s good to see Big Sky can refrain from being overly silly—it knows when to camp it up.
And that brings me to Ronald/Arthur (Brian Geraghty) and my favorite line.
Arthur: Willy Wonka was a good man. He gave that boy and his grandfather an opportunity of a lifetime.
It is so random, and I love it. The way he takes offense when his possibly sadistic girlfriend says that Willy Wonka “murdered those children” and then adamantly defends the fictional character is hysterical—all while wearing his ridiculous Arthur disguise.
The absurdity is what I like most about the show, but it’s nice to know they can toggle back and forth between the absurd and genuine, emotional moments quite seamlessly.
What did you think of this episode of Big Sky? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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Big Sky airs Tuesdays at 9/8c on ABC.
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Erin Allen
Erin is a former script supervisor for film and television. She's an avid fan of middle aged actresses, dark dramas, and irreverent comedies. She loves to read actual books and X-Files fan fiction. Her other passions include pointing out feminist issues, shipping Mulder and Scully, and collecting pop culture mugs.