Big Sky: Deadly Trails Season 3 Episode 3 Review: A Brief History of Crime
Big Sky: Deadly Trails Season 3 Episode 3, “A Brief History of Crime,” is a lesson to never trust a known grifter, even if she’s your mother. And Jenny Hoyt learns that lesson the hard way—again.
It’s a bit cliche to have this law enforcement character with a strict sense of justice have a parent who is a career criminal, but Big Sky has done cliche well in the past and does so on this episode. However, that doesn’t absolve it from its soap-opera-heavy content and hokey dialogue that is at the episode’s disservice throughout.
Jenny (Katheryn Winnick) is adamant with Beau (Jensen Ackles) that her mother is always pulling a scheme and cannot be trusted. Then they turn right around and do just that, spelling out their whole undercover plan—which, by the way, is the most ill-conceived, hastily thrown together, undercover operation. I expect more from Sheriff Beau Arlen and Under-Sheriff Jenny “Jenny Bear” Hoyt.
They don’t even get the simple facts of their stories straight and it honestly seems like amateur hour. The married couple angle is a tried and true trope in the shipping world, but I don’t really ship Beau with either Jenny or Cassie (Kylie Bunbury) as it stands now. They do make a great friend group that I’ve been enjoying since Beau moseyed on into town on Big Sky Season 2 Episode 18, “Catch a Few Fish.”
Furthermore, the show itself doesn’t seem to know which ship it’s leaning towards.
Beau and Jenny’s cover performances are over-the-top and kind of cringe. It could’ve played better if more significance had been placed on the development of Beau and Jenny’s relationship. Four episodes in with Sheriff Beau Arlen has not been enough time to create the delicious tension that ought to be in an undercover situation on a cop procedural.
The tension is mild—more of the lighthearted, teasing variety—but I want more in my soapy primetime drama.
That being said, the core plots are going in interesting directions, especially with Virginia (Rosanna Arquette) doing business with Jenny’s sworn enemy, Tonya (Jamie-Lynn Sigler), on Jenny’s home turf.
The Sunny Day Excursions storyline, too, is making some noteworthy setups with many possible outcomes. Sunny (Reba McEntire) herself is becoming unraveled as she loses control of her campers and her family. Aside from Sunny and Emily (Cree Cicchino), Beau’s daughter with his ex-wife, my concern for the characters involved is severely limited.
It is laughable to have Luke (Anirudh Pisharody) hook up with a random camper after he comes back from being missing in the woods all night and without his girlfriend. Half the group doesn’t trust him or his story and the other half seem to be fine to just go along with it.
Much to Sunny’s chagrin, this development is the thing that takes Emily’s true crime interest to the next level, and I am here for her amateur sleuthing.
Here’s hoping these missteps are merely just a case of shaking off the early season dust.
What did you think of this episode of Big Sky: Deadly Trails? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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Big Sky: Deadly Trails airs Wednesdays 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.