Big Sky ended on a high note on Wed, Jan. 18, wrapping up a whirlwind season filled with murder, mystery, and deception.

And naturally, fans are already craving more, especially as each season of the series delves into a new storyline centered in Helena, Montana, and involving Dewell & Hoyt’s Cassie Dewell and Jenny Hoyt. 

Unfortunately, ABC decided not to renew Big Sky for a fourth season.

In terms of ratings, the series kept steady with 2.4 million viewers and a 0.2 demo, which seemingly wasn’t enough to convince the network despite a very dedicated fan base and some A-list actors joining in the third season, including Reba McEntire and Jensen Ackles.

The third season wrapped up many lingering storylines, giving fans closure to the mystery plaguing the season, however, there’s always more to explore when it comes to the dynamics between the core characters. And something tells me, there’s no shortage of criminal activity in Helena.

While Cassie and Cormac finally made things official, fans were likely hoping to see a bit more romance for Jenny and Ackles’ Beau. The show has been toying with their chemistry, sparking a “will they or won’t they” debate, but when it finally came down to solidifying their relationship, they left it open-ended. 

When TV Insider asked Ackles if he’d return for a fourth season, he explained, “I don’t know. They haven’t even picked up the show yet for Season 4, so I don’t know if anybody’s coming back for Season 4 yet. That’s above my pay grade.”

However, he added, “But if they do decide to pick up a Season 4 — which I would hope they would, I think the show’s really great, and I think it’s got a lot of story left to tell — I don’t know. They had me for one season. They were probably like, well, let’s just bring him in for one, and we’ll see how it goes, and then we’ll go from there. So they’re waiting to hear what happened with the show, and then they’ll probably talk to [showrunner] Elwood [Reid] and try to figure out what to do with the characters, those that are returning and those that they want to return.”

It was fun while it lasted, I guess. Keep the good times rolling by reading our review of the Big Sky Season 3 finale right here. 

Big Sky is pulling out all the stops for its two-part season finale. 

This season has been a beautiful mess, with one intriguing and twisted mystery after the other. 

And somehow, they had us all thinking that Emily and Denise were kidnapped by the men coming after Avery. Oh, how naive of us. 

The series pulled off the mother of plot twists, shocking even Beau Arlen himself, when it was revealed that the kidnapper was Buck Barnes. 

Of course, Buck would survive the whole ordeal with Paige. I was naive to think that she had succeeded in killing an evil man. 

While Paige managed to get herself to safety, so did Buck, and when Jenny, Cassie, and Beau finally located the bunker in the woods, it was Buck-less. 

They did, however, find themselves completely disturbed by the hearts in jars, proving once and for all that Buck is the Bleeding Heart Murderer.

Sunny was shocked to learn all about her husband’s dark side, or, at the very least, she wanted everyone to believe she was shocked. But somehow, I’m not buying it. I don’t believe that she didn’t know anything about it, especially when Walter revealed that he told her that he’d seen Buck the night of Blaire Lucan’s murder. 

Who would have thought that after everything, Walter would’ve turned out to be the normal one? Upon finding Paige alive at Sunny’s wielding a huge kitchen knife and covered in blood, the police released Walter. And while he didn’t kill Paige, didn’t they find out that he did murder his foster parents? How was he able to walk free? And what about Luke? Are we just going to forget about him? My guess is that Buck also killed him, but why hasn’t that been made clear?

Walt realized that this whole time, his mother made him feel like he was different and dangerous when in reality, she and Buck were the rotten apples. He said his goodbyes, which didn’t sit well with Sunny, but I doubt that their paths will diverge for long as they’re both going to be motivated to find Buck now that they know he’s alive. 

BIG SKY: DEADLY TRAILS – ÒAre You Mad?Ó Ð Jenny, Cassie and Beau uncover the truth about the Bleeding Heart Killer, but before justice can be served, chaos breaks out. AveryÕs involvement with TonyÕs crime family escalates to a standoff; Emily and Denise are put in grave danger; and despite her recent revelations, SunnyÕs family ties continue to pull apart. As Cassie, Jenny and Beau work to clean up the mess, the killer is still on the loose, ensuring no one is safe on ÒBig Sky: Deadly Trails,Ó WEDNESDAY, JAN. 11 (10:00-11:00 p.m. EST), on ABC. (ABC/Anna Kooris)
HENRY IAN CUSICK

Walter will want revenge for what Buck did to Paige, while Sunny, well, I have no idea what card Sunny is going to play now. She’s always been loyal to Buck, but she’s also a force, so I feel like she might finally do the right thing once she realizes Buck kidnapped the Sheriff’s daughter. 

Throughout all of this—and while injured—Buck still managed to kill another innocent victim. Gabriel, much like the Mark the hiker, was simply at the wrong place at the wrong time. It was heartbreaking to see his dog, Lulu, whimper and stay behind with the body after witnessing such brutality. 

But for now, enough about Buck as he’s going to be the star of the second half of the season finale. 

The first half tied up the whole $15 million/Avery storyline with a bloodbath. Avery, Tonya, and Donno showed up for their meeting with Tony, but things took quite a nasty turn. Avery should’ve known better than to get into bed with a bunch of reckless criminals, but by being greedy, he sealed his own fate. There was no way he was going to get out of this alive. He was constantly in way over his head, and as Beau explained, he thought he was smarter than everyone else, which was his biggest flaw. 

The moment he gave up his control of the money, Tony shot him dead. Rest In Peace, Avery. 

Avery wasn’t the only one who let greed get the best of him as Tonya’s money-hungry ways led to Donno’s untimely death. I know that Donno was a terrible person who killed people for a living, but god, his death was a gut punch. He went out in a blaze of glory. How is it possible that the sweetest love story coming out of season 3 was between Tonya and Donno? The kiss broke my heart! 

In the end, they all lost.

Other Notable Moments

• Jenny put her full support behind Beau to help him find his daughter. Her feelings for him are evident, even though this definitely ins’t the right time. However, with Avery out of the picture and Beau going the extra mile to protect his girls, does Jenny stand a shot against Carla?
• Carla truly is a boss babe. She may have been terrified, but she didn’t let on in the slightest when confronting her stalker. 
• Cormac finally found out the truth about his family, and I feel for that boy. His whole life has been a lie, he has a half brother he never knew about, and his dad is a serial killer. And now that he knows it, it jogged a traumatizing memory of when he was a kid and sort of witnessed his dad commit the crimes. He’s going to need a lot of therapy. 
• I really bet all those people wished they’d never went glamping. 

It’s unclear why Buck kidnapped Denise/Emily, though it definitely seems like he’s not even doing anything with a purpose anymore. He kills for the thrill of it—and he found two people that would motivate everyone to hunt him down. 

Will they get to Emily and Denise in time? Will Buck finally get what’s coming to him? The second half of the season finale airs next Wednesday! 

Big Sky Season 3 Episode 11 served as both the midseason premiere episode and the penultimate episode as the ABC drama is set to air its two-hour season finale next week. 

And while that’s slightly disappointing for fans who were hoping for a bit more time in Helena, Montana, the good news is that there’s still plenty of drama and twisted cliffhangers to address. 

“Super Foxes” added momentum to the brewing storylines involving Sunny, Paige, Buck, Avery, and finally, Jenny’s mom, Gigi—which fans have wanted to see pan out for quite some time.

And with Big Sky, you should know to expect the unexpected, and thus, Gigi’s life of crime once again did Jenny a disservice, dragging her through the mud and nearly costing her her life.

You know when Gigi is involved, it’s never going to be boring, but I don’t think even Jenny could’ve imagined the mess that her mother got herself into. It was a pretty extreme turn of events when an elderly woman known as “ma” ran a crime syndicate with her sons at the helm and held Gigi and her partner-in-crime (some man?) hostage. She blamed the duo for cheating her son out of money and indirectly killing him, and thus, revenge was on the agenda. All of that would’ve been fine had there not been an audience of children who watched the execution pan out and even voted on the type of revenge that would be enacted. To say it was strange would be an understatement, but at least Gigi and Jenny go to work through some of their dysfunction while walking the plank, and I’m just hoping those kids get the care and therapy they need. 

It was also slightly disappointing as I thought that Gigi would be more directly involved with Tonya and Donno, who are honestly losing their edge this season. They weren’t able to find Avery and the $15 million yet Tony and his men, and even Beau, all located him without so much as lifting a finger. I’m disappointed Donno! 

Avery started off the season a bit of a mystery, but he quickly spiraled into a money-hungry man who is in way over his head and completely naive to the dangers that lie ahead. He keeps thinking that he has the upper hand when he really doesn’t. When he told Beau that he was doing this all to “protect his family,” my eyes quite literally rolled to the back of my head. Beau showed incredibly restraint by not punching Avery right then and there. Avery may have married Carla, but don’t get it twisted—that is Beau’s family, first and foremost. He’s the one protecting them right now, though, I do wish that he put some kind of police detail on Emily. It was careless of Denise to send her on a coffee run alone knowing that there are dangerous men after her.  

Emily was immediately targeted by Tony, and her gut instincts were on point—she should’ve been terrified by him. Beau will never forgive Avery if something happens to his little girl as this was his fear all along. He didn’t make things better by shooting Tony’s henchman, but he honestly had no choice as the man pulled a gun on him as he walked away. I just hope nothing happens to the poor girl and that she gets a successful podcast out of this. 

There was definitely a moment between Beau and Carla, but hopefully, it was just a “caught-up-in-the-moment” thing. Second chances can work, but there’s a reason their relationship ended. I truly hope that they don’t find themselves reuniting simply over the shared trauma of Emily’s kidnapping.

 I’m firmly rooting for Beau and Jenny—did you see the way she caressed his arm in the brief scene they had together? Beau doesn’t worry about Jenny because she knows she can handle her own, but it would be sweet if she was allowed to just be vulnerable for a bit with him and vice versa. They’re both carrying a lot of weight all alone, and they deserve someone who can help them shoulder it. 

Buck finally met his match, and who would’ve thought the person to end him would be Paige? Get him, girl! 

Reba once sang about being a survivor and fighter—and she probably didn’t know she was indirectly singing about Paige, who managed to evade a plethora of bad guys hunting her, including Buck. And she’ll be the one to bring to light that he is the Bleeding Heart Murder. It’s not exactly clear how much about Buck’s past Sunny knew, though she definitely knew about the drinking and suspected something was off when she smelled alcohol on his breath. 

At this point in the series, I have mixed feelings about Sunny because it always seemed like her heart was in the right place, but she also kept a chunk of secrets and put so many people in danger, including her own sons. From the promo, it seems as though Walter knew the truth about Buck, while Cormac, well, he’s just a good guy caught up in a terrible family situation. I really feel for him, but I’m not surprised he turned his back on his mom. The bombshell about his dad being an unhinged serial killer is going to be the cherry on top… and I hope he finds some comfort in Cassie’s arms.

Where does that leave us going into the finale?  Well, Avery was finally captured by Tonya and Donno, and they want what’s theirs—the money. Avery has it, and he’s willing to give them a bigger piece of the pie if they promise to keep him safe from Tony and his men. Of course, Tony’s men already have their claws on Emily and Denise, so my guess is that they’ll only let the prisoners walk in exchange for Avery and the millions. This is a mess of his own making, so I hope he has what it takes to provide a resolution. 

Paige knows entirely too much, but I have this gut feeling that she’s going to stand by Walter in a sort of Stockholm Syndrome situation. There’s definitely some loyalty on her part for everything he did to keep her safe.

Big Sky has always been an intense series—that was evident from day one with the introduction of Ronald Pergman—but somehow, the show managed to top itself this season providing one heck of a wild and twisted ride.

Let’s hope that the handful of good guys introduced this season like Beau, Cormac, and Emily stay around for the long haul as the show has definitely benefitted from the addition of their characters. 

How do you think it will all go down? Will Sunny look for revenge? Will Avery do the right thing? Will Beau find a way to save his daughter and piece his family back together? Will new relationships finally take off once the drama subsides?