CJ Box writes books set in the great outdoors and Big Sky based on his Highway series is set in the vast wilderness of Montana.
In the first two seasons, of the show created by David E. Kelly, private detective Cassie Dewell (Kylie Bunbury) and cop Jenny Hoyt (Katheryn Winnick) hunted for the pychopathic head of a human trafficking ring after two teen girls get kidnapped, then fought and a drag cartel run by the Bhullar (yes, Indian origin thugs) cartel. The handsome Beau Arlen (Jensen Ackles) becomes the town’s sheriff and gets along famously with the two women.
Season 3 begins with the disappearance of a backpacker on a hiking trail. Sunny Barnes (Reba McEntire, the country music star) and her family run a glamping site, Sunny Day Excursions, near the trails, so there could be a connection. Sunny has hidden away a son, Walt, in the forests, and there seems to be a link to past crimes. Jenny and Beau go on the hunt for a fugitive who kills on the way.
The waitress, Tonya Wallis (Jamie-Lynn Sigler) who worked with the Bhullars in the last season has gone legit as a realtor, and runs a diner along with a man mountain of a boyfriend, Donno (Ryan O’ Nan). She comes to the cops to complain about a squatter, Jef, on one of her properties, who has the law on his side and resists eviction. Jef turns out to be a whistleblower hiding from an airlines corporation. There is an attempt made on his life in jail, and the US Marshall who comes to get him for a witness protection programme is corrupt.
As Beau’s daughter, Emily, from his estranged wife, comes to the Barnes’ camp, with her stepfather Avery (Henry Ian Cusick), where a criminal couple is laying low for a while, then they walk away from camp and there’s some fishy business going on there.
All the stands of the plot get tangled by the time Episode 2 ends. One episode drops a week on Disney+Hotstar, and with a pulse-pounding beginning, there is an interest built up to watch the rest. The actors are terrific and the locales stunning. Big Sky is one of the better thrillers on streaming platforms right now.
Created by David E. Kelley
Cast: Katheryn Winnick, Kylie Bunbury, Jensen Ackles and others
On Disney+Hotstar
