Welcome back to Big Sky: Deadly Trails. In the third episode of Season 3, titled “A Brief History of Crime,” we are introduced to an important character from Jenny’s past, played by recurring guest star Rosanna Arquette. With last week’s episode leaving us on a cliffhanger, we pick up right where we left off, with Beau’s daughter Emily stumbling upon an angry-looking Luke cleaning up his bloody wounds at the bank of a river.
(ABC/Michael Moriatis)
Emily Arlen (Cree Cicchino) has been caught taking a picture of Luke (Anirudh Bisharody) as he washes his bloody knee and face in the river. He looks livid and she pulls out her knife, warning him not to come closer to her. Luke doesn’t listen, running up the bank towards her. Emily takes off in a run and she’s making good speed, until she trips and falls. Her knife goes flying. We see that it lands near the tree with the carved bleeding heart. A man’s hands grab her and she screams, but it’s not Luke. It’s Cormac Barnes (Luke Mitchell), who becomes protective of Emily as Luke catches up to her. He tells Cormac that he fell and cut his head while looking for his girlfriend Paige. He says he doens’t know where she is. Cormac accompanies them back to camp, sending Luke first and promising Emily he will be right behind her. What she doesn’t see is that he finds her knife and picks it up, putting it in his pocket.
At Sunny Day Excursions, Sunny Barnes (Reba McEntire) tries to calm Avery (Henry Ian Cusick) down because he can’t find his stepdaughter Emily. In the midst of his panic, Emily returns with Cormac and Luke. Sunny asks about Paige and Luke shares that they got in a fight and she told him she never wants to see him again. She took off in the direction of a light and he believes he fell and hit his head around that time because that’s where his memory gets hazy. Sunny’s husband Buck (Rex Linn) suggests they check Paige’s tent and while Sunny goes to take a look, Luke tells the group that he feels like Emily saved his life because he was injured and lost. Sunny returns and announces that Paige’s bags are gone, believing she came back to camp, packed up, and left without anyone seeing her. Some of the campers raise concerns, but she ensures them that it’s just a couple of miles back to town on the same marked trails they’ve been hiking every day. “If she wanted to be gone, I mean, no one’s a prisoner here,” she reminds them. Buck tells the campers that he will call the ranger station and ask them to keep an eye out for Paige. Sunny suggests that everyone go to bed and when she and Cormac are left alone, he tells his mother that he’s going back on the trails to look for Paige. When he leaves, Sunny’s sweet smile drops. She returns to her tent with Buck, who shares that he thinks Luke was lying and believes he did something the Paige. Sunny tells him they will make sure she is safe, asking her husband to massage her tired feet.
Jenny Hoyt (Katheryn Winnick) and Beau Arlen (Jensen Ackles) arrive at the home of the Mooney Brothers, responding to a call from a neighbor about a dead body. Beau wants to knock on the door and ask permission to look around, but Jenny tells him that will get him shot. Hopping the fence, they soon find a man’s body face down near a blue truck in front of the home. “One dead body,” Beau confirms, “Happy Monday, Hoyt.” Inspecting the body, it appears he was hit on the back of the head and that his body was dragged where it lies. Their investigation is paused by the sound of a gun and they both duck behind the blue truck. Ivan Mooney (James Landry Hebert) stands on the porch aiming a rifle at them, declaring that he’s within his right to shoot trespassers, even when Jenny reveals they’re with the Sheriff’s Department. Beau calls Ivan’s bluff, standing up and holding his gun to the side, slowly puting it in his belt and saying he just wants to talk. Jenny follows Beau’s lead as Ivan tells them that the dead man is his brother. “He was just trying to save the ranch,” Ivan begins to cry, slowly lowering his rifle.
While questioning Ivan, Jenny and Beau learn that Ivan and his brother were scammed by two individuals from a company called “Starlight Mining” who claimed to have a mine of unrefined gold and an investment would secure them 10% of the stake. “A husband and wife team? A blonde woman?”, Jenny asks with concern. “No, it was just some guy and his sidekick,” Ivan says. Stepping away, Jenny tells Beau she has something she needs to look into.
Emily is in her tent scrolling through the photos she took of Luke at the river on her phone. Avery comes by and she tells him she doesn’t believe Luke’s story and is confused how Paige could’ve made it back to camp alone when he got lost. She adds that he didn’t look saved, he looked scared. Remembering that she found Avery in Paige’s tent, she asks her stepdad again about what he was doing there. He repeats that he entered it by mistake. “If you’re hiding something, I’m going to find out,” Paige warns as she gets up to leave. Avery asks where she’s going and she says she wants to go look for her knife, adding that it’s so important to her that she sleeps with it under her pillow. “My father gave it to me.” Avery says he promised her mother he would look after her and offers to join her in her search. “Fine, but I can look after myself,” Emily says as she leaves. Avery notices that she left her journal on her bed.
Beau finds Jenny in the hallway of the Sheriff’s Department and tells her that he let Ivan go when he received proof that he wasn’t home when at the time of his brother’s death, based on the coroner’s report. Jenny shows him a police file for a man named Harold Gardiner, who was arrested three months ago for aggrevated assault against a man who claimed Harold conned himi through a company called “Starbright.” Beau chuckles. “Starlight, Starbright, this guy’s got a thing for nursery rhymes,” he says. Jenny hands him another file of a blonde woman who was arrested with Harold. Beau asks if this is who she was referring to when she asked Ivan for details about the scammers. “She’s my mother,” Jenny says.
(ABC/Michael Moriatis)
Still searching for missing backpacker Mark Woodman, Denise (Dedee Pfeiffer) received a tip that his car had been found and she visits the scene with Cassie Dewell (Kylie Bunbury). The car is locked, but Cassie uses a tool to unlock it. Inside, they find Mark’s detailed trip itinerary. With this information, they will be able to retrace his steps. Back at Dewell & Hoyt, Denise spoke to a person at a trading post where Mark had a resupply package waiting for him that he never picked up. She also spoke to Mark’s family, who received a suspicious email from him a few hours ago in which he said he was at Logan’s Pass and didn’t have enough reception to call or text. His email included a photo of him in that location.
Jenny and Beau pull up to a motel as Jenny talks about not seeing her mother in years. The last she heard, her mom was running a gold mining scam in Idaho. She tells Beau that she doesn’t believe her mother is capable of murder, but that the situation with the Mooney’s has her style all over it. Beau asks Jenny how she knows her mother would be at this motel. “She has an arrangement with the manager,” she shares as they approach the door. Jenny warns Beau not to be seduced by her mother’s charm. Jenny uses a specific knock on the door and we hear it unlock. Opening the door, we get our first view of Jenny’s mother, Virginia “Gigi” Cessna (Rosanna Arquette). “Still wearing men’s t-shirts, I see, but just as beautiful as ever,” she compliments her daughter. Gigi hugs Jenny, who does not hug her back.
She hugs Jenny, but Jenny doesn’t hug her back. “I told you to keep your grift out of Montana, I know you scammed the Mooney Brothers,” Jenny accuses her mother. Gigi says she had nothing to do with the Mooney Brothers while twirling her hair. “You’re lying, you’re doing that thing with your hair. Why are you in town, mom?” Gigi comes clean and admits that Harold stole everything from her after she taught him the art of grifting. Beau asks if Gigi knows where they can find Harold. “Seems to me that we have mutual interests,” she replies, clearly attracted to the sheriff. Gigi explains that Harold will be searching for his next target and they could use her help. “You’re going to have to play his game.” Beau is excited to see Jenny go undercover.
Walter (Seth Gabil) sits at a bench in his shack whittling wooden dolls, looking at a photo of Miley Cyrus as inspiration. A knock on the door makes him hide the photo as he answers it to let in his mother, Sunny. She asks about Paige as she looks at the dolls. When Walter asks her not to touch them, she slaps his cheek. He is stunned, saying he hasn’t seen her. “If they come looking, it’s not going to be good for both of us,” Sunny warns. “Do you understand that?” She asks him to move the backpackers body farther away to avoid him being found. “I didn’t do anything,” Walter swears. Sunny tells him that doesn’t matter, he needs to listen to her so she can keep him safe. She hugs him close and sings “Do You Love An Apple.” Later, we see Walter dig up Mark Woodman. “Hello again, Friend, he says. “I brought you a present.” He stuffs a wooden doll he made in the likeness of the backpacker into his flannel shirt’s breast pocket. “It’s time to go home.” We see Walter load Mark’s body into the back of the cab of his truck.
Beau stops by Dewell & Hoyt to return another caserole dish to Denise, who is still making dinners for him. He catches Cassie in the middle of packing for their trip to retrace Mark Woodman’s steps and he tells her that Jenny’s mother is in town. She asks if Jenny is okay. “That’s not the word I’d use,” he replies. He reminds Cassie that his daughter is camping near the trails and asks her to contact him right away if she senses there’s danger nearby. She agees to do so, but also advises him to give Emily some space.
(ABC/Michael Moriatis)
Breakfast is served at Sunny Day Excursions where Sunny is caught putting butter in her coffee by Emily. “It’s my little secret to lasting energy, waistline be damned,” she jokes. Emily asks if she can use Sunny’s phone to try and check on Paige. She reminds her that the rangers are looking for her and adds that Paige will get a full refund on her trip for her troubles. Emily says it’s strange the way Paige just took off. “People come here for all different kinds of reasons,” Sunny explains, suggesting that she put that in her podcast.
(ABC/Anna Kooris)
That night, Jenny answers her door to find Gigi waiting outside. “Were you expecting that cute sheriff?”, Gigi jokes, holding up two grocery bags – one with ingredients to make a pineapple dump cake and the other full of wine. “Jenny bear, give me a chance,” she pleads. Sometime later, we see them on the couch digging into the cake Gigi made and drinking wine. Gigi talks about how she always tried to make this cake seem special for Jenny when she was a child, but the truth is it was all she could afford. “Why did you come back?”, Jenny asks. Gigi repeats her story about chasing Harold down after he stole from her. “The money,” Jenny affirms. “That’s it. That’s the only reason you came back here.” Gigi asks if there’s been any progress on finding Harold. “Found a notice for Starnight Mining at the Boot Heel Bar,” she says, adding that she and Beau are going undercover to meet Harold tomorrow. “Just be careful, Jenny,” Gigi says. Jenny asks her what’s in it for her and she says she just wants revenge. “And I’m helping my daughter,” she adds, bringing up how cute Sheriff Beau is. “He’s not that cute,” Jenny brushes it off.
The next day at the Sheriff’s Department, Madge Crowder (Melissa Chambers) makes Jenny sign for the $30,000 she’s borrowing to lure Harold, putting it in a red purse. Beau asks Jenny what they’re backstory will be. She says they’re a newly married couple looking for an investment opportunity. Gigi reminds Jenny to smile.
Jenny wears a brown wig and Beau has changed into a more stylish cowboy hat for their undercover meeting. Keith (Jermaine Washington) the security guard confiscates their guns before bringing them into the office. Harold Gardiner (Jay Huguley) greets them and gives them the same story he told the Mooney Brothers, offering them a 10% stake in a stockpile of unrefined gold, their investment helping to refine it for sale. They talk about how excited they are and Jenny asks if any other interested parties have given them any trouble. Harold seems a little suspicious as he refers to all of the investors as “Happy campers.” He asks how they found hiim again and, speaking at the same time, they both give a different answer. They then try to marry the two concepts of a friend through facebook and an in-person party. We see Harold give a signal to Keith.
As Denise and Cassie drive to begin their hike, they pass a truck with a smoking engine. Cassie pulls over and gets out, approaching a man inspecting his engine. It’s Walter, who declines Cassie’s repeated offers for help. She notices mud on his pants and boots and asks if he was hiking. She seems suspicious when she sees a tarp in his backseat. Behind his back, we see Walt pull out a knife. Denise unknowingly saves Cassie by revealing herself and suggesting they head on. “You have a nice day,” Walter says with a stern face.
Emily keeps an eye on Luke as some of the campers saddle up horses for a ride. He notices him flirting with Mary (Sofia Embid). Another camper, Doug (Dylan Kenin), noticed Emily seeing what he just saw and brings up how suspicious Luke’s behavior is. Avery steps in and asks what they’re talking about. “Just making conversation, that’s all,” Doug says, appearing to not trust Emily’s stepdad. Avery asks Doug to focus on the horses and Emily gets mad at him. He apologizes, saying if this is important to her, it’s important to him too. He offers to help her find her lost knife and help her find Paige.
Whatever concerns Harold may have had have evaporated. After counting the money and having Jenny and Beau sign their contracts, he congratulates them. “There’s just one more thing,” Beau says. “What’s that?”, Harold smiles. “You’re under arrest,” Jenny says as she and Beau both get up. Beau lunges for Keith, grabbing a gun and holding it to his back. Jenny grabs Harold, but their arrest is interrupted by a gunshot. Ivan has entered the building with intentions to kill Harold for revenge. Harold slips out of her grasp in that moment and begins to run. Jenny takes after Harold as Beau sets out in pursuit of Ivan.
“I can’t go back to jail,” Harold yells back at Jenny as he runs out onto the roof of the building. She begs him not to jump, but he does it anyway. However, the building is just one story. The fall seems to injure his ankle, but Harold will survive. Meanwhile, Beau reminds Ivan that this isn’t what his brother would’ve wanted. Ivan surrenders and Beau brings him to Jenny, who has handcuffed Harold. He recognizes Jenny as Gigi’s daughter. “Gigi always comes out on top, doesn’t she?”, he laughs. Jenny gets a look or realization on her face, dashing back into the building. The red purse full of money that was on Harold’s desk is gone. Beau enters in behind her. “My mother, she played us.”
(ABC/Michael Moriatis)
Cassie and Denise arrive at the location of Mark’s selfie that was emailed to his parents. They match up the exact place he would’ve stood to take the photo. That’s when they notice something. The mountain peaks in the photo have snow on them. The mountains in front of them don’t. This isn’t a recent photo.
Luke and Mary have entered her tent and begin making out. Things get steamy as they get into her bed. The camera pans over to the canvas side of the tent. We see an eye looking through it, presumably Emily’s but it’s hard to say for sure. Could it be Paige hiding and spying on him?
Somewhere in the woods, Sunny digs a deep hole. She open a cheetah print bag, just like the one Avery poked through in Paige’s tent in the previous episode. She searaches through it and pulls out a gun, deciding to keep it. She puts the bag at the bottom of the hole. The luggage tag has a foil “P” on it. Dirt begins to cover up the bag.
(ABC/Michael Moriatis)
A car parks, the door opens, and the missing red handbag appears. It’s Gigi, walking up to a door on the side of a building marked “Private Entrance.” She knocks and the door opens. “Hi there, thanks so much for stopping by,” Tonya (Jamie-Lynn Sigler) smiles. Donno (Ryan O’Nan) closes the door behind her.
(ABC/Michael Moriatis)
Jenny and Beau search Gigi’s motel room, she’s gone. “I can’t believe I let this happen,” Jenny exclaims, blaming herself. “Don’t worry, we’ll find her,” Beau comforts her. “She’s gone, she hasn’t changed,” Jenny says. Later, we see Jenny open her fridge to grab a beer, seeing the leftover dump cake Gigi made her.
Walter chops wood outside his cabin when Sunny walks up. “I assume it’s handled?”, she asks sweetly. “Sort of,” he responds. He tells her his truck broke down and a woman pulled up to offer help. She didn’t introduce herself, but he heard her friend call her Cassie. Sunny sighs. “You are such a disappointment,” she shakes her head. “You have to do better.” Walter starts to cry.
Big Sky: Deadly Trails will return next Wednesday, October 12th, with “Carrion Comfort.” ABC hasn’t yet released an episode description, but in the tease from the end of the episode, we saw a clip where Sunny asked Walter whose blood is on him. Until next week, happy trails.