Big Sky Review: Wakey, Wakey (Season 2 Episode 1)
Big Sky is back with melodramatics and mayhem on Season 2 Episode 1, “Wakey, Wakey.” But, by Big Sky standards, it’s fairly tame.
It’s six weeks after the events of the Season 1 finale, “Love is a Strange and Dangerous Thing.” Ronald is still on the lam and Cassie Dewell of Dewell & Hoyt is obsessed with looking for him, ignoring the incoming jobs that will actually pay. Jenny, the Hoyt of their PI business, is looking for a different approach.
Jenny (Katheryn Winnick) rejoins the force as undersheriff to Walter Tubb who was pushing for her to last season. Thankfully, though, she’s still partners with Cassie (Kylie Bunbury), they confirm it over beers at the bar. The very same bar where they had their brawl back on the pilot episode.
There’s even a funny callback to it. Jenny says, “I promise no hair-pulling” as she’s leaving. It’s like it’s acknowledging how absurd it was and how it can still be.
New characters are introduced along with new crimes to solve. Among them is a group of teenagers who witness a car crash and immediately get mixed up in some nefarious dealings.
New crimes mean new bad guys, and Big Sam is one that could cause a lot of trouble. At least, he does until he’s shot. Played by Eric Weiss, a relative newcomer, Big Sam fits right in on Big Sky as an exaggerated bad guy persona who says things like, “‘Cause eagles aren’t late, bro.”
Dewey (Andreas Apergis) falls into the same category as Big Sam. He’s been a great bad guy for the series but he’s also killed on this episode—stabbed with his own gardening shears.
It was mentioned in the finale of Season 1 “Love is a Strange and Dangerous Thing” that Rick Legarski has a twin brother, and he shows up at the very end of this premiere episode in a very weird situation with Ronald (Brian Geraghty).
This is such a genius, soap opera-y way to keep John Carroll Lynch on the show. He created an interesting, sinister character in Rick on Season 1. I think he will do great things with his twin.
Hell, he already is. As shown in that final scene, the man has about 45 seconds on screen and says only a dozen words, but it is the best part of the episode. No question.
The drama is there and the cheese-factor is high, but the camp levels could use a boost. This episode contains too many scenes that are too long with the less interesting characters.
This lag time is something I’m not used to on Big Sky, and hopefully, it’s just a matter of shaking off the dust at the start of a new season.
Stray Observations:
- Mark Lindor is just as annoying as ever.
- Jenny likes to say “badge.”
- But more annoying than Mark is this Travis guy. I do not understand the appeal. At all.
- Speaking of, Travis and Jenny hooking up is actually a very unpleasant thing to watch.
What did you think of this episode of Big Sky? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
Critic Rating:
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Big Sky airs Thursdays at 10/9c 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.