Big Sky Review: A Good Boy (Season 2 Episode 12)

It’s shoot-out galore at the WTF Corral on Big Sky Season 2 Episode 12, “A Good Boy.” Stand-offs, showdowns, and attempts at redemption make up this climactic episode, so needless to say, there are spoilers below. 

It has a very Western feel to it—more than the usual—and this cinematic aesthetic with the soapy drama is a surprisingly effective combination. And in this version of the modern Wild West, it is the women that reign supreme.

Frankly, and pardon my French, the men ain’t shit. 

This dynamic has been true for the entire run of the show, but it is the events of the last few episodes that has put it into sharp relief. Looking back, every storyline that’s been wrapped up has women at its heart and women responsible for the resolutions. 

It is Cassie (Kylie Bunbury) and Jenny (Katheryn Winnick) that find the missing girls in the case that started it all, and it is the girls themselves that bravely stall and stay alive long enough to be rescued. 

It is Jerrie (Jesse James Keitel) that joins Dewell & Hoyt in the manhunt following her trauma. It is Grace (Jade Pettyjohn) identifying State Trooper Rick Legarski (John Carroll Lynch) as part of a human trafficking ring. It is Merilee Legarski (Brooke Smith), his wife, who kills him when she learns of his sins. 

And this is just in the first half of the first season.

The second half of Season 1 features another story that’s decidedly Western with women as untraditional cowboy-types. The Kleinsasser women are outnumbered by the horrible Kleinsasser men. That is, until the end. All that remains is the evil patriarch, but I doubt he lives for too long if Mama Kleinsasser has anything to say about it. 

The women of Big Sky have been killing it on Season 2 as well.

With Scarlet (Anja Savcic), it’s literal killing when she teams up with Ronald (Brian Geraghty). She is psychotic, yes, but she also has the uncanny ability to keep a cool head amidst the violence and chaos caused by him. Even the woman is a more effectual bad guy on Big Sky. 

Which leads me to yet another badass chick, Ren Bhullar (Janina Gavankar). Ren breezed into town to reclaim drugs and money that belong to her father’s cartel. She smartly sees the opportunity for her family empire to expand, but must deal with a perfectionist pops and competitive little brother. This episode hints that Alicia (Constance Zimmer) might be a major player, too. 

The money and drugs are missing because men messed up, obviously, but also because a group of kids inadvertently get caught up in the crime. Then enter T-Lock (Arturo Del Puerto) and things really go haywire.

There’s a concerted effort to redeem Tracy and I am just not buying it. It’s just a little too late and he was just so awful, that it looks like a feeble, last-minute redemption grab that’s not even necessary. 

Jenny’s teary eyes almost sell it for me, but when Rachel (T.V. Carpio) feels the need to reiterate that he was a good man just seconds after her daughter and her are saved, it comes across as forced.

Not to mention they were kidnapped by Bob because of him, but RIP T-Lock, I guess. 

Thanks to Travis, Bob (Alex Knight) escapes with the money, so we’ve got that creep on the loose and Travis proving to be another useless man.

Although he’s pretty far from being useless, Mark (Omar Metwally) kind of lets Cassie do the heavy lifting as they pursue Ronald with the help of Wolf (also John Carroll Lynch). But it needed to be Cassie and Ronald in the final showdown.

I am relieved she gets the chance to avenge her father’s death, but will it provide sufficient closure? There are many loose ends to tie up, it’ll be interesting to see where it all goes from here.

What did you think of this episode of Big Sky? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Big Sky airs Thursdays at 10/9c on ABC.

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