NOTE: This post contains spoilers for Big Sky season 3 episode 6 "The Bag and The Box." Check out our previous recap for Big Sky season 3 episode 5 to catch up.
This week on Big Sky, Cassie (Kylie Bunbury) is locked onto the charred remains of the blue and white Suburban. She brings Hoyt (Katheryn Winnick) and Arlen (Jensen Ackles) out to the site where the truck was burned because she’s convinced that somehow the truck is connected to the death of the backpacker. Even though the VIN was burned in the burner Cassie gets a photo of the VIN etched into the engine block so she can use that to trace the owner of the truck.
The Trans Am and Mickey Mantle
While Cassie continues to follow her hunch about the backpacker’s death, a man is murdered in his garage and his prized collector Trans Am is stolen. Arlen and Hoyt get drawn into this case that all goes back to an ex-con searching for his two most prized possessions: the Trans Am and a mint collector’s edition Mickey Mantle rookie baseball card worth millions of dollars. Unfortunately, he won’t get to enjoy his treasures because he’s going back to jail for his involvement in a string of murders and thefts he committed to get these things back.
Arlen and Hoyt continue their completely cringey flirting. Hopefully this won’t turn into a drawn out "will they or won’t they" situation because no one wants to see this awkwardness continue.
Paige’s journal holds the key, literally
Paige (Madalyn Horcher) is still being held by Walter (Seth Gabel), but she’s turned the tables and now she’s manipulating him into doing her bidding. She is using Walter to search for her bag that contains a journal with an important key inside.
The key is really a string of numbers and letters that’s the password for an encrypted account that holds $15 million. Paige and Luke (Anirudh Pisharody) stole it, but now Paige is in the perfect position to take the money for herself. She can barely mask her manipulation of Walter but plays on his feelings for her so that he will go searching for the journal.
But she’s not the only one who wants the journal. Luke is forced to take Tonya (Jamie-Lynn Sigler) and Donno (Ryan O'Nan) to where Paige went missing, also looking for her journal and any clues they can find. Luke tells them he saw a man in the woods with a flashing light who could have taken Paige but they don’t believe him.
Until Donno comes across Walter lurking at the site. Watching these two size each other up and converse is a great comedic moment in an otherwise dark episode. When Walter tells Paige someone was looking for her and wants to know what she did, Paige tells him about the money but plays "damsel in distress" to get Walter on her side. He promises he will do whatever it takes to protect her.
Suspicion is everywhere
Even though everyone seems to be having fun back at Sunny Day Excursions, shady things are happening behind the tents. Cassie shows up to tell Buck (Rex Linn) the blue and white Suburban was registered to him and Sunny (Reba McEntire) insists on staying through their conversation. Buck makes up a story about selling the Suburban years ago, but it’s a weak cover and everyone present knows it.
Emily (Cree Cicchino) lets slip a conversation that Avery (Henry Ian Cusick) was snooping through Luke’s tent and Carla (Angelique Cabral) is very interested in why he was doing that. Carla may be starting to realize that she doesn’t know Avery as well as she thinks. While Avery manages to talk his way out of her questions, it’s clear that Carla isn’t going to let it go.
Cassie and Cormac
The slow burn relationship between Cassie and Cormac (Luke Mitchell) is still building, but Cassie’s focus on Buck and Sunny having some connection to the dead backpacker is going to cause some problems between them. Cormac of course wants to believe the best about his parents, but events are unfolding that will force him to confront the truth.
The point of no return
Toward the end of the episode, Sunny and Buck reach the point of no return. They’re already taking risks to protect Walter. But once they cross the line of deliberate murder there’s no going back.
Mary (Sofia Embid) is out running alone when she stumbles across Paige’s bag, with the contents strewn all over the ground, including her journal helpfully monogrammed with a giant "P". As she’s rushing back to the camp to tell someone, she runs into Buck and Sunny, riding. Sunny tells Buck to stay with the horses while Mary takes her to the site where she found Paige’s things.
Mary drops back on the trail and Sunny is leading the way when Mary suddenly stops in her tracks. She becomes a little hysterical as all the pieces of the puzzle start to fit. Mary asks Sunny how she knew which way the site was. She also questions why the bag and contents would be here when Sunny told everyone that she had heard from Paige, who was safe and sound in New York. If that had been the case her bag and her things would have been with her.
Mary starts to scream for help, but all of a sudden slumps forward. Buck had come up behind her and stabbed her in the back, killing her. Whatever options Sunny and Buck had to get cleanly out of the disappearance of Paige and the death of the backpacker just disappeared.
Who’s next?
Now that it’s clear that Sunny and Buck will do anything, even commit murder, to protect Walter and his secrets, who else won’t make it out of this season alive? Hopefully there will be more answers in next week’s new Big Sky episode.
You can catch up with Big Sky season 3, as all episodes are available to stream on Hulu.
