In the off-season, when all your favorite shows are on hiatus for the summer, it can be tough to try and find a new series to binge through. While there are plenty of summer shows available and various streaming series that are still releasing episodes in the warmer months, there’s one lesser-known ABC drama that you ought to give a try while your favorites are on break. First premiering back in 2020, Big Sky shocked viewers with a twisty pilot that threw audiences head-first into a frightening mystery of abduction, murder, and human trafficking, back-dropped by the dark, wooded highways of rural (and not-so-rural) Montana. If you love shows like Tracker or Yellowstone and wondered what might happen if they mixed, Big Sky is the show you’ve been looking for.
‘Big Sky’ Is Inspired by C.J. Box’s Best-Selling Novels
If you missed out on David E. Kelley‘s Big Sky when it first premiered (yes, this show was made by the same visionary behind Big Little Lies), then you probably weren’t alone. The three-season mystery drama premiered on ABC in late 2020, throwing audiences headfirst into the dangers of modern-day Montana in a way far different from what Taylor Sheridan was doing on Yellowstone at the time. Instead of focusing on cattle ranching and land-grabbing plots, Big Sky dealt with issues of human trafficking, drug cartels, and backwoods serial killers, with Detective Jenny Holt (Katheryn Winnick) and private eye Cassie Dewell (Kylie Bunbury) at the helm to uncover every new suspect and clue. While Winnick and Bunbury are the clear heart of the show, if those characters sound at all familiar, it may be because you’d read (or heard of) the novels that inspired this series.
From the same creative mind who dreamed up Joe Pickett, Big Sky was loosely (and we stress loosely) based on the Cody Hoyt/Cassie Dewell series of mystery novels penned by famed Western author C.J. Box. In fact, the very first season was an adaptation of his 2013 novel, The Highway, which follows Cody Hoyt (played by Ryan Phillippe on the show) as he searches for two missing girls with the help of Cassie Dewell. But whether you’ve read The Highway or not, Big Sky throws out all your preconceived notions about what this show is supposed to be from the very beginning, and as it does so, it weaves a frightening and compelling narrative. As our heroes do everything in their power to find the girls who have been taken from the road, we are constantly unsure if they’re going to succeed. It’s certainly a show that knows how to create suspense.
‘Big Sky’ Forged Its Own Path as the Series Progressed
As time went on, Big Sky began to drift even further from the C.J. Box novels, so fans expecting a one-to-one adaptation (or even something a bit more faithful to the material) will likely be disappointed. But don’t let that deter you from giving Big Sky a shot, because every season of the series tackles a new case with a shifting cast of supporting characters that will keep you thoroughly engaged. Plus, if you give up too early, you’ll miss out on Jensen Ackles‘ tenure on the show. Arriving at the very end of Season 2, Ackles joined the cast as Beau Arlen, on loan from Texas, as the interim Sheriff of Lewis and Clark County when Hoyt and Dewell need additional support. He sticks with the show throughout the third season.
Admittedly, after a stunning “Pilot,” the earliest episodes of Big Sky can be a little rough. Some of them drag, and the show tests the boundaries of what’s allowed on network television. One bright spot is John Carroll Lynch‘s character, Rick Legarski. Lynch plays the role with a horrifying level of commitment, and it’s partially due to his performance and our attachment to the leads that many stuck with the show. Then, a little over halfway through Season 1, producer and showrunner Elwood Reid took over the reins, and Big Sky began to really shine. Reid may be known now as the showrunner of Tracker, but when it came to this ABC series, he helped give the show the creative voice it needed to say something interesting about Montana law. By the third season, which was retitled Big Sky: Deadly Trails, the series had hit its stride and added cast members like Janina Gavankar, Reba McEntire, Luke Mitchell, and Seth Gabel to its arsenal.
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Sadly, ‘Big Sky’ Was Cancelled Just as It Was Getting Good
The real tragedy of a show like Big Sky is that it was cancelled too soon. While the first season was a ratings success, Big Sky‘s viewership declined over time, prompting the network to pull the plug. According to Deadline, the show’s third and final season (which some would argue is its best) was the “lowest rated scripted series” on the network. It’s no wonder that ABC wasn’t confident in a fourth season, although many — including us here at Collider — called for the show to return. It’s a shame, too, because the chemistry between the third season’s leads — namely Winnick, Bunbury, and Ackles — was simply exquisite. As these three worked together as not just professional allies but friends (marking a serious turn from earlier in the series), it made it easy to tune in each week for a new Deadly Trails. To add insult to injury, the other C.J. Box-inspired series, Joe Pickett, was also cancelled that same year after only two seasons.
While you may be a bit heartbroken to see the series end, the truth is that Big Sky is still worth the journey. There are plenty of great characters to be found here (and plenty of not-so-great ones as well, to be sure), and there’s no doubt that the show reveals a different side of Montana that fans of Yellowstone would know nothing about. If you’re looking for a binge, this 47-episode mystery crime thriller is the series for you. Just be sure you don’t watch it too late at night…
Big Sky is available to stream on Hulu in the U.S.
Big Sky
- Release Date
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2020 – 2022
- Network
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ABC
