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Reviews
Big Sky: Flesh and Blood (2022)
The mystery continues... Or does it?
I'm not even sure what the mystery is in this season. I found season One to be an interesting and well written show, mostly based on the writings of C. J. Box, even if it detoured off into it's own thing. And even if it did, the first season and parts of the second season were a good representation of the "World" that Box has created in his novels.
There was always a strong story thread through the first season and a half that was fun and interesting to follow. Even toward the end of Season Two, most of that thread remained, despite the wacky new thread that was introduced. This season? The thread that is there is uninteresting and we've seen it all before. The characters somewhat resemble characters that you might find in a C. J Box novel, but not in the subtle way that they appear on the printed page. And the format has gone from epic story lines to a more episodic one, meaning the characters are resolving plot lines within each episode, rather that over the course of half a season. That just makes it another cop show. We've seen all of those already.
The new sheriff is dumb, dull, and not a good representation of what C. J. Box is known for. Why is his ex wife's boyfriend camping with his daughter? And why did it take so long for her to show up? What's the deal with the airplane tech whistleblower story? So, those are the big threads for this season? Sure, Walter is creepy, but not Ronald Pergman creepy. He's just a run of the mill psycho living out in the woods. We've seen that before as well.
Big Sky: Do You Love an Apple (2022)
The big mystery is why I am still watching this.
Since when do people from Montana have a southern accent? WTF?! Reba just comes off as annoying, and well, yeah, if that's the point, then OK, but really?! Maybe, like a lot of C. J. Box's characters, the family is a transplant, but that is unstated here. Jenny still gets the dumbest lines (choke! Choke! I'm gagging and laughing at the same time.) They ditched two or more of the most interesting characters from the last season and the replacements are a joke. The other thing is that the show has taken a decidedly episodic approach, meaning they resolve one mystery within each episode, leaving the story thread that somehow survives, rather weak. And one other thing: How long is a camping trip in Montana? When multiple people either disappear or show up dead, isn't it time to pull up stakes and get the hell out of Dodge? Or... er... Helena?
Big Sky: Wakey, Wakey (2021)
Off the Rails and Missed Opportunity
When I first watched Big Sky, I could tell that there was some good writing behind these stories. The credits contain "Based on The Highway series by C. J. Box", so I read the series, to confirm that Yes, indeed, there is some good writing behind this TV series and became a fan of C. J. Box. The first season of this show, more or less, follows the story in The Highway by Box, which is actually the second in the series featuring the character Cassie Dewell. The second half of the first season does resemble the novel Bitteroots, but some convenient differences. By Season two though, the story is completely off the rails. Which is too bad because they missed a very good opportunity by omitting the character of Cassie Dewell's mother. She would have made a great character for this series. There are a few other omissions that would also have been good to see in this series. And, of course, the obvious thing is the character of Jennie Hoyt. She is a minimal character in the book, but features largely in the series. She also has one of the worst lines I have ever heard on TV: "You don't want to piss off a woman holding a gun" or some such nonsense. And I'm pretty sure that is the moment that this show went off the rails. In Season Three it appears as though they will continue down this path. I'm not saying this is a bad show. It's pretty good, really. I just don't think the credits should include the bit about being "Based on the Highway Series by C. J. Box" I liked the way Ronald buys it in the end in the book as well. It seems more fitting, I guess.