Big Sky

Big Sky is a police drama set in and around Lewis and Clark County, Montana.

Private detectives Cassie Dewell (Kylie Bunbury) and Cody Hoyt (Ryan Phillippe, Shooter) stumble onto a case when two girls go missing on the way to the town.

The girls in question are two sisters Danielle and Grace Sullivan and Danielle is dating Hoyt's son.

The sisters have been kidnapped by a truck driver on a remote highway. But when Hoyt and Dewell discover that these are not the only girls who have disappeared in the area, they must race against the clock to stop the killer before another woman is taken.

Helping them is Cody's estranged wife Jenny Hoyt (Katheryn Winnick, Wu Assassins) who is also an ex-cop.

So the thing I should point out about Big Sky is that season one has 16 episodes and thankfully the search for the missing girls doesn't dominate all of them.

There is more to the story, namely continuing the search for the truck driver who escaped, while also dealing with a new mystery.

Is Big Sky Worth Watching

Honestly, I'm not sure if it is. It is painfully slow to watch. In fact, it takes five episodes for the girls to be located, leaving eleven more to resolve the whole kidnapping syndicate element.

If you were drawn in by the idea of Ryan Phillippe being in it then you are in for a big disappointment. He barely registers in the show before he's gone!

Other issues include the fact that there is absolutely no mystery to it.

As viewers we see everything that is going on and basically have to watch the private detectives play catch up which is incredibly boring. No twists, no turns.

There is far far too much emphasis placed on the private lives of the characters involved, leaving the whole point of Big Sky, the kidnapping and crime, as a secondary plot.

It's basically about two women, both in love with the same man, having to cope with working together to solve a crime that could have been wrapped up in eight episodes.

And if all of that wasn't enough, the script is dire. Or at least Katheryn Winnick's is. Wooden and forced, it's either over-acted or naff. Either way, it's not believable at all.

On the upside, Big Sky does have an excellent premise and some of the characters are brilliantly played.

That includes Brian Geraghty as Ronald Pergman and Valerie Mahaffey as Helen Pergman, his mother. They very much have a Bates Motel vibe to their relationship.

Also props to Jade Pettyjohn as Grace Sullivan who is very convincing as a young girl desperate to escape and John Carroll Lynch as Rick Legarski who plays the state trooper.

Season Two Of Big Sky

Despite not particularly enjoying Big Sky, for those that did, the good news is that there is a second season.

As season two begins, the truck driver is still missing (yes really!), while Jenny decides to rejoin the county sheriffs, becoming entangled with local drug dealers and the cartel that supplies them.

Creators really doubled down on Season two of Big Sky, with 18 episodes in this season, as opposed to the 16 episodes in the first season.

Season Three of Big Sky

Season two has finished airing in the US but the good news is that a third season is on its way.

Previous seasons took eight months to film so season three of Big Sky won't be with us until autumn of 2022.

Typically the episodes are still being filmed as the newest season airs which is the case with most network shows.

Generally, Big Sky starts filming in August, so the first episodes will begin airing in September 2022.

Where Can I Watch Big Sky?

In the UK you can watch Big Sky on Disney+.

Internationally, the series premiered on Disney+ under the dedicated streaming hub Star as an original series.

Created by David E. Kelley and based on The Highway series of books by C. J. Box, Big Sky can be seen in the US on ABC.

Where Is Big Sky Filmed?

Filming was originally set to take place in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Las Vegas, Nevada, but the series was moved to Vancouver, Canada in July 2020.

The outdoor locations and mountainous wilderness were filmed around Squamish and Fraser Valley, along with other locations in British Columbia.

Aerial shots of Helena, Montana's capital, were also used as the show is supposed to take place in Montana.

The second season of Big Sky was filmed on location in Rio Rancho, New Mexico.

Big Sky Cast

As mentioned above, season one wasn't exactly a slam dunk when it came to the characters in Big Sky.

Some were definitely better than others but at least everybody cast is worth watching.

Katheryn Winnick as Jenny Hoyt, an ex-cop who freelances as a private investigator.

Kylie Bunbury as Cassie Dewell, a private detective who co-owns an agency

Brian Geraghty as Ronald Pergman, a long-haul trucker involved in several unsolved kidnappings

Valerie Mahaffey as Helen Pergman, Ronald's mother

Dedee Pfeiffer as Denise Brisbane, the receptionist for the Dewell & Hoyt agency

Natalie Alyn Lind as Danielle Sullivan, one of the kidnapping victims

Jesse James Keitel as Jerrie Kennedy, a transwoman and kidnapping victim

Jade Pettyjohn as Grace Sullivan, Danielle's younger sister, also kidnapped by Ronald

John Carroll Lynch as Rick Legarski, a Montana Highway Patrol officer with a shady past

Ryan Phillippe as Cody Hoyt, a troubled former cop who runs a private detective agency with his partner Cassie

Ted Levine as Horst Kleinsasser, a ruthless rancher who must pass the torch to his estranged children after suffering a stroke

Anja Savcic as Scarlet Leyendecker, girlfriend of Ronald Pergman after he changes his persona

Janina Gavankar as Ren Bhullar, daughter of a drug lord who oversees the cartel's expansion in Montana

Logan Marshall-Green as Travis Stone, a former lover of Jenny's who is a sheriff's deputy working undercover with a local drug ring

Omar Metwally as Mark Lindor, a Deputy U.S. Marshal who has an interest in the Ronald Pergman case

Britt Robertson as Cheyenne Kleinsasser, Horst's daughter