Previously on "Big Sky"...
- [CELLPHONE RINGING]
- JUSTIN: Dad?
What's going on?
Danielle...she and her sister never showed.
They're not answering their texts or calls.
[SCREAMS]
Something is not right.
LEGARSKI: Cody Hoyt?
You're looking for a couple of missing teenagers.
How do I put this?
This isn't the first.
What do you think he plans to do with us?
What's going on?
Are you sleeping with my husband?
I thought you two were over.
Tell me, Cody.
Are we working on us?
LEGARSKI: Woman problems.
A man's got a woman.
Then he got problems.
- Let's go.
- Oh, one other thing.
[g*nsh*t]
Ronald.
You've been sloppy.
♪
♪ River Jordan is deep and wide ♪
♪ Heaven ain't goin' nowhere ♪
♪ Perilous crossing to the other side ♪
♪ I reckon heaven ain't goin' nowhere ♪
♪ Mmm ♪
♪ Heaven ain't goin' nowhere ♪
♪ Don't worry about putting nothing away ♪
♪ Money's no good come Judgment Day ♪
♪ I reckon heaven ain't goin' nowhere ♪
♪ Mmm ♪
♪ Heaven ain't goin' nowhere ♪
♪ ♪
[SIGHS]
Any word from Cody?
Nothing.
I'm gonna get the sheriff involved.
What about this Montana State Trooper?
I'm about to go see him.
He said that Cody left at sunrise for the church cult, but that he went alone.
Wait, what?
You said they were both going.
- That's what Cody told me.
- He could be off the grid and out of cell range.
Or [EXHALES SHARPLY]
in the middle of it.
Or there's a third scenario.
The last time we spoke to him, he was at a bar.
Not a chance.
Not a chance?
- He's an alcoholic, Denise.
- I haven't seen him drink.
Okay.
I hate to ask, but just how involved were the two of you?
Look, I'm not...
This is not about your private life with my husband...
- Alright.
- ...
so much as I need to get a sense of Cody's psychological state, whether he could be off on some bender.
How did you two leave things last night?
I told him we were over.
And how did he take that?
I'm not sure.
Not great, I think.
Is he in love with you?
I don't know.
♪ [METAL CLATTERS]
[CHUCKLES LIGHTLY]
Are you a fan of irony, Ronald?
Myself, I'm a big fan.
I like to button my day, curl up in bed with a warm glass of milk, and read a little Hunter Thompson.
In fact, that's what I was fixing to do when my ex-wife's cousin called.
I don't like irony.
And I don't like it when people wax on, be it poetic or philosophic, or somebody just likes the sound of his own voice.
♪ ♪ The irony here...
I hand-picked you in part because of your good judgment.
This was not good judgment, Ronald.
Can we talk about yours?
sh**ting an ex-cop in the head?
The idea is we take girls who won't be missed.
Dirty girls.
The kind of gummy-scummy we scrape off the bottom of our boots.
But you took two wholesome teenagers, the type people...friends and family...go looking for.
That's what brought Cody Hoyt to me, Ronald.
Kidnapping doesn't always go easy-peasy.
Mr.Hoyt had already tumbled to the idea that a long-haul trucker might be responsible.
That's why I had to deal with him.
I had to clean up a mess you made.
[CELLPHONE VIBRATING]
[SIGHS]
- [CELLPHONE BEEPS]
- Yes, ma'am?
Sounds good.
I'll be here.
[CELLPHONE BEEPS]
Like the little old lady who swallowed the fly.
I had to k*ll the spider that came looking for the fly, and now there's a little bird by the name of Cassie Dewell come looking for the spider.
We got ourselves a predicament, Ronald.
♪ Nobody knows where we are.
- I'm so scared.
- Hey.
[CHAINS RATTLE]
Mom has a tracker on your phone.
Let's just hope that works.
What?
She has a tracker on my phone?
Why?
Why do you think?
Well, does she have one on your phone?
She doesn't have to worry so much about me.
[SIGHS]
I don't suppose you have a tracker on your phone?
[CHUCKLES]
I don't suppose.
This is like my biggest nightmare.
I'm gonna be on "Dateline."
- Hey.
- [CHAINS RATTLE]
Hey, look, this guy...
he went berserk in a fit of rage, right?
Maybe once that rage passes, he'll come back to his senses.
[BREATHING SHAKILY]
- I can't believe this is happening.
- Danny.
- Not the time to panic.
- Oh, really, Grace?
- When would be a good time?
- If he was going to k*ll us, he would have done so.
Probably 'cause he wants to do something to us.
Oh, God.
He wanted to talk.
He didn't just zap me.
He wanted to talk first.
I think we're dealing with a very lonely person.
Okay.
Good.
So, how do we trade on that?
♪ Only meant to feel your empty bed ♪
♪ I never meant to whisper words I said ♪
[LAUGHS]
I can't believe you grew up in Montana and you don't know how to rope.
I don't need to rope.
Be it animals or people, I just call 'em over.
[LAUGHS]
"If a man has charisma, he don't need no rope."
Seeing I got you by my side, I must've done something right.
♪ But now I've gotta get back the feeling, Lord ♪
♪ That scared me away from you ♪
All night?
Really?
Something came up.
Which doesn't explain your failure to call.
[WATER RUNNING]
Mom.
I worry.
Can you get that?
Once you bring a child into this world, you'll understand.
You worry.
When he's a baby, you worry, "Is he gonna fall victim to SIDS?"
When he's going to school, "Is he gonna make a friend?"
You worry!
Forever.
Even when he's a grown man, driving a truck.
Maybe especially then.
I'm getting sick of you not respecting me.
This country is in supply chain crisis.
The trucker is today's American hero.
I am a hero, whether a mother can see that...or not.
Ooh.
Seem pent up.
You get this way, and it does not become you.
Are you okay?
I'm fine.
Hmm.
I don't think you are.
You're pent up.
Go back to your room and masturbate yourself while I make us some lunch, and you return with a better attitude.
Ronald?
Ronald?
What happened to your neck?
- Officer Legarski?
- [GRUNTS]
Cassie Dewell.
My stars.
You're beautiful.
- Thanks.
- I beg your pardon, but we don't get many beautiful women in Montana.
And you're Black.
We don't get many Black people in Montana.
Beautiful and Black and Montana.
What are the odds?
They give out odds on that sort of thing?
[CHUCKLES]
I truly beg your pardon.
My wife, Merrilee, tells me that there isn't a shoe size too big which my mouth does not accommodate.
Have a seat.
Can I offer you some coffee?
Uh...
Uh, there's not much food.
- The restaurant's closed down.
- I'm good.
Thank you.
I can never keep track of all the conflicting studies on coffee.
One of them says they're good for you.
- The other says not so much.
- [COFFEE POURING]
All I know is...
nothing beats a cup of joe.
- I hear ya.
- I'm glad of that.
'Cause your partner, Cody, truth be told, he wasn't too keen on hearing me.
What do you mean?
I don't think I'm telling you anything you don't already know, but he's a bit renegade.
Oh, when I brought up probable cause, kind of in one ear, out the other.
The last I spoke to him, he was headed out to the Church of Glory and Transcendence with you.
That's right, but then he started banging on about searches without warrants and conversations in custodial settings.
My loose cannon radar started beeping, and I told him, "I think you're gonna need to fly solo on this one, partner." ♪
Two teenaged girls were possibly abducted.
The police officer tells the private citizen to go at it alone?
Well, I take your point, but the girls aren't officially missing.
And even if they were, certain protocols need to be observed.
Like what?
[CLEARS THROAT]
Cassie, uh...
my, you are a pretty thing...
I'm kind of about safeguarding my pension this time in my life.
I couldn't risk Cody leading me down the...the rogue path.
You last saw him when?
: a.m., driving right out this parking lot.
- And you weren't curious?
- Beg pardon?
I'm assuming you haven't heard from him.
Did you try calling him or...go out there?
What...
What are you implying?
I'm just trying to get a sense of things.
Get a sense of me?
♪ I am a Montana State Trooper.
I was off-duty when I came out here to help.
I'm out here yet again, helping you, a private citizen.
You are out of line.
Now, we could start over, try to get on the same team, but I could just leave you be.
It's your call.
Shall we go to the compound?
Glory and Transcendence?
Well, we could, but same thing I told Cody...
we need probable cause.
In all likelihood, we'll be refused entry at the gate.
You know a friendly judge?
Seems to me, you go to him, you tell him about the missing girls, Cody's vanished...
Oh, hell.
Why not?
Great.
This'll take a few hours, though.
Okay, um...
maybe I'll...
I'll drive around for a little bit.
Oh, no need to hang about.
If I get a warrant, I'll have no trouble rounding up a small posse to go up there.
Head on back to Helena.
Maybe I'll hit a few truck stops.
Come again?
Last night, I did some digging on the FBI Highway Serial k*ller Task Force, and there's a possible connection to long-haul truckers.
These girls could have stopped for gas at a truck stop.
Got grabbed.
Never know.
No.
We never do.
♪ [BIRD CHIRPS]
-- DENISE: What do you mean "creepy"? Creepy how?
I can't say creepy how.Just creepy.
Rick Legarski is as harmless as they come, honey.
Word is he doesn't even give out speeding tickets, that he lets everybody off with a warning.
I don't know.
I got a vibe.
I take it still no news from Cody?
Um...
no.
This isn't good.
[GASPS]
Whoa, there.
Can I, uh, have a private word?
[DOOR UNLOCKS]
- I'll call you back.
- [CELLPHONE BEEPS]
Oh.
[DOOR UNLOCKS]
♪ [DOOR CLOSES]
Why'd you lock the door?
Habit.
Something my father taught me.
A stranger...any stranger...
which includes people you think you might know, but possibly you don't.
If I'm your daddy, I'd have concerns with you driving around out here, hitting truck stops all by yourself.
Carry a g*n, Cassie?
I carry a g*n.
You ever use it?
Why do you ask?
Never had the opportunity myself.
I hope to.
I...
I suppose every law enforcement officer secretly wants to.
Mm.
We all wonder how we'll respond when our number's called.
When it's all on the line.
Will your hand shake?
Will you have the guts to pull the trigger?
We all want to know ourselves in the end.
You ever wonder?
I trained at the academy.
I'd pull the trigger.
Good girl.
But my point...
well, it can be the Wild West out here, and no place for a pretty girl if she's not prepared.
Like I said, I trained at the academy.
But you didn't graduate.
I do my homework.
What happened?
[CHUCKLES]
I know those boys at the academy.
Pretty thing like you, I would reckon they'd grade you on a curve.
So, is...is the goal here to intimidate me?
'Cause it's not working.
[SIGHS]
[WATER DRIPPING]
I think we're underground.
[CHAINS RATTLE]
You said that he got you at a truck stop, right?
What, he just grabbed you?
I actually made the mistake of climbing into his rig.
I work in human services.
Human services?
Oh.
To pay the bills.
By trade, I'm actually a singer.
A famous one, in fact, although the fame part is still ahead of me.
[EXHALES SHARPLY]
[WHISPERING]
Grace.
[WHISPERING]
What?
I think she...is a he.
What?
She's a boy.
- No.
- Yes.
JERRIE: What's all the whispering?
[NORMAL VOICE]
Look, um...
we could be stuck in here a long time.
Might as well get to know each other.
Can I ask you a personal question?
Sure.
Do you have a penis?
- [SIGHS]
- As a matter of fact, I do.
[NORMAL VOICE]
You'll have to excuse my sister.
- Why?
- You can't just go around and ask people if they have a penis.
I'm not making a judgment, Grace.
You're not gonna try to take advantage of me now,
- are you, Danielle?
- What?
- God, no.
- Will you please shut up?
Look, I'm so sorry.
Please excuse my sister.
What did I do?
[CHAINS RATTLE]
[FOOTSTEPS APPROACHING]
[KEYS JINGLE]
[BREATHING SHAKILY]
♪ ♪ Please.
You called me a loser.
I didn't mean it.
You didn't mean it?
But you repeated it twice.
Loser.
And then you yelled it at me.
[BREATHES SHAKILY]
- Loser!
- [YELPS]
Sir.
How old are you?
- .
- .
Cleopatra was fixing to assume power when she was .
I forgot how empowered girls can be at that age.
And entitled.
You probably think it's your world, with your pretty little face, your pretty hair.
My mother would make me wash my hair every night so it would smell pretty.
[BREATHING SHAKILY]
[SOBS]
- Yours smells pretty.
- Sir, please.
[BREATHING SHAKILY]
How old are you?
.
?
What's your name?
I asked what your name is.
Grace.
How's your hair smell?
You think I'm an evil person, don't you, Grace?
I'm actually not.
Right, Michelle?
I, um...
- Tell her!
- He's not evil.
See?
I'm not evil.
You kidnap us.
You tase us.
You have us locked up in some dungeon, and you think you're a good person?
Grace...
Don't play with us, okay?
You want to be a monster?
Go ahead.
But at least be an honest one.
You sick pervert.
You creep.
[BREATHES SHAKILY]
I'm not a monster.
Do you hear me?
- You're hurting me.
- I'm not a monster, and I'm not a pervert.
Do you understand?
- Aah!
- Oh!
Ow!
You stupid little bitch!
- Broke my nose!
- Hey!
These girls are just kids.
Do what you want with me, but they're kids, for God's sake.
You think I won't k*ll you?
I will k*ll you.
[BREATHES SHAKILY]
♪ ♪
[CHAINS RATTLE]
[BREATHES SHAKILY]
I'll be back.
[LOCK RATTLES]
[GENERATOR POWERS DOWN]
♪
- Hey, Jenny.
- Hey.
You here to eat this time or just order?
Yeah.
Um, sorry about that.
I was, uh, a little out of sorts yesterday.
I didn't notice.
Just coffee.
Can I ask you a question?
Sure.
Is there a way to report somebody missing to the police in a way not to incriminate that missing person, if she were doing something illegal at the time she went missing?
What do you mean?
That woman you saw me talking to yesterday...
she kind of moonlights as a prost*tute.
And she always checks in with me.
Haven't heard from her.
I'm getting worried.
She was working last night?
Yes.
Where?
I think a-a truck stop outside Helena.
It could be coincidental, but maybe not.
Disappearing on the same night.
- And you said Helena?
- I know the stop.
- I'm gonna head out there.
- Wait, no.
Come look at this first.
It's not good.
[SIGHS]
This is the web page for the Highway Serial k*ller Initiative.
All these dots.
Interstates and highways.
Some analyst in Oklahoma detected a pattern.
VICAP created a national matrix.
We've had more than m*rder victims along or near highways.
suspects, almost all long-haul truckers.
Excuse me?
Mostly women.
High-risk lifestyles, transients, substance abuse.
What did this trooper have to say?
Not much.
For my money, he's involved.
- The trooper?
- Oh, please.
Yeah.
Gut feeling.
That and Cody was last with him before falling off the face of the Earth.
Rick Legarski doesn't even have the imagination to be bad.
Can I talk to your cousin?
The one he was married to?
Cassie, honey, you're wasting your time.
The man strikes me as a sociopath, and an ex-wife would know.
Okay, fine.
I'll call her.
God, if they're in there somewhere, it's no man's land.
♪ Looks pretty swollen.
Sure she didn't break it?
It ain't broken.
[CHUCKLES]
She's vicious, that little one.
Oh, my God.
She's also beautiful.
All three of them are.
But the little one...
she's .
Probably a virgin.
I think we could get triple for her.
Those girls aren't marketable.
Uh, the lot lizard is,
- but the sisters...
- Why not?
I told you.
They're wholesome.
They're college-bound.
They've got families.
I don't think Canada will dare take them.
They'll bring scrutiny,
- which puts us in a bind.
- [CELLPHONE VIBRATING]
[EXHALES SHARPLY]
[VIBRATING STOPS]
I'm busy!
Problems at home?
It's my mother.
She's been on me.
- About what?
- Everything.
Saying that I need to aspire more.
That driving a truck is no way to make...a living!
[CLEARS THROAT]
Ronald.
We need to make peace with the fact that most people don't get what we're about.
We're the noble soldiers.
This nation is mired in muck.
We clean that muck up.
[CHUCKLES]
I get the same thing at home, too.
Merrilee just wants to wallow in her menopause melancholia and blame all her unhappiness on me.
It's what women do.
Let me give some thought on those sisters, but in the meantime, that prost*tute is a bona fide deliverable.
Get her cleaned up.
We should be able to move her out quickly.
- And this Cassie Dewell?
- I'll manage her.
You get the deliverable shiny and bright.
- [DOOR OPENS]
- Yes, sir.
[LAUGHS]
[DOOR CLOSES]
♪ I got all the trouble ♪
♪ I'm ever gonna need ♪
♪ And I just don't want no more ♪
♪ ♪ The deck is stacked against you ♪
♪ Life's a losing hand ♪
♪ Even when you think you're up ♪
- ♪ You're right back down again ♪
- Catchy song.
And on point.
Sorry?
Bad feeling.
I get them.
The day my husband...
I somehow knew all day without even knowing.
[SIGHS]
When I heard the clank of the car door, it sounded like a boom.
I looked out the window...
I saw the soldiers dressed in formal uniform.
I knew.
Bad feeling then, and I got one now, about Cody.
And goody-goody-two-shoes Rick?
He's all over this.
Well, I certainly hope you're wrong.
On both.
The way I figure, we need two different plans for survival.
One physical, the other emotional.
For physical, I was thinking Stockholm, unless one of you guys have a better idea.
- DANIELLE: Stockholm?
- Yeah, it's not just captives that fall for their captors.
Sometimes it works the other way around.
We just need to get him to emotionally bond.
Danielle, you're our best sh*t.
Me?
[SPITS]
You're his Cleopatra.
Yeah, he seemed more into you until you busted up his nose.
You said it yourself.
All the boys fall in love with you.
Yeah, I don't want him to fall in love with me, Grace.
Danny, our lives are at stake.
And as...as creepy he was, he seemed kind of shaky.
- Fragile.
- Fragile.
You said that he struck you as lonely, right?
- Vulnerable?
- As psychotics go.
Okay, well, maybe you can charm him.
[CHUCKLES]
I'm not.
Look, if we can just get him to get the chains off, then it's not impossible.
He does want to be liked.
I think he's got mother issues.
He brought her up in the truck.
So, what?
He takes the chains off.
Then what?
Hmm?
Then we att*ck as if our life depends on it.
I didn't realize you had a real plan, Grace.
Look, we either fight back or we don't.
That's all we've got.
♪ Anybody that might have seen her at all?
Hey, you got a sec?
No.
Do you recognize her?
She was here the other night when you were working the cash register in the mini-mart.
Yeah, she was here.
So what?
So you just made yourself bucks.
But now I'm gonna need the surveillance camera photos of her from the security camera.
- No!
- Yeah.
'Cause if you don't, I'm gonna report you to the ABC for serving underage girls smokes and beer.
The girls told me you were.
The franchise loses its liquor and tobacco license, and you won't be able to find another job in Montana or the Dakotas.
Come on.
So, what's the "emotional" survival plan?
Any ideas on that?
- As a matter of fact...
- Oh, God.
You said you sing, right?
Yeah.
Danielle and I sing.
A little bit.
We used to be in choir together.
Figured we'd start a...a girl band.
Oh, my God.
Seriously?
Look, there are studies that link mental health and music.
Oliver Sacks, musicophilia...
Where do you come up with this stuff?
You wonder why you have no social life.
Was it a church choir?
Yeah.
Why?
Well, we're looking to bond with a psychopath.
They tend to be religious.
Maybe we sing a little for his soul.
♪ ♪
♪ ♪
♪ WOMEN: ♪ Glory be to the Father and to the Son ♪
♪ And to the Holy Spirit ♪
♪ The three in one ♪
♪ As it was in the beginning ♪
♪ Is now, and will be ♪
♪ Forevermore, amen ♪
♪ Amen ♪
♪ Glory to the Father and to the Son ♪
♪ And to the Holy Spirit ♪
♪ The three in one ♪
♪ As it was in the beginning ♪
♪ Is now, and will be ♪
♪ Forevermore, amen ♪
[DOOR RATTLES]
Time to go, Michelle.
On your feet, please.
Time to go where?
To a much better place, I promise.
That doesn't sound good.
We've got new clothes for you.
Shampoo.
It's time to clean you up.
What's going on?
- Let's go.
- Where are you taking her?
I'm taking her to the National Republic of None of Your Beeswax!
Look, don't make this worse, assh*le.
[STUN g*n ZAPS]
What did you just say to me?
Our uncle's a cop, and when you scared us on the highway, I took a picture of your plates and I texted it to him.
He ran them.
It's only a matter of time.
♪ You're lying.
I'm actually not.
♪ ♪
[METAL CLATTERS]
She was lying, right?
I wouldn't know.
I wasn't there.
Whatever.
I need you to shower.
RONALD: Let's go.
Take off your clothes.
I'd rather keep my clothes on.
I'll look the other way.
Tell me what's going on.
You say you're not evil.
I believe you.
Please tell me what's going on.
I did tell you.
You're being sent to another place tomorrow.
A better place.
Where you do what you do.
But it will be safer.
I don't want to go to this other place.
- [WATER RUNNING]
- Well, you're going.
And don't make me use this again.
Take off your clothes and get in the shower.
And you're going to wash your hair.
- Please.
- Let's go.
♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪
Make sure you use the shampoo.
♪ Turn around.
You can't be finished already.
I want you to look at me.
Look at me.
♪ ♪ This is me.
[GENERATOR POWERS ON]
[KEYS JINGLE, LOCK RATTLES]
[CHAINS RATTLE]
♪ ♪ ♪
[DOOR THUDS]
Are you okay?
Yes.
What happened?
He had a plan.
Now that plan is ruined.
We need to focus on the positive.
[EXHALES SHARPLY]
Which is what exactly?
That we're not dead.
Yet.
What was the plan that you ruined?
They're into trafficking.
They sell us off as sex slaves.
Oh, my God.
How did you ruin it?
I showed him the goods.
Got me out of going there, but...
I'm still here.
Still here is better.
Hey.
You've got us.
Don't forget that.
CASSIE: I'm headed to the trooper's ex-wife now.
When someone talks that much, they have something to hide.
JENNY: She knows you're coming?
Denise set it up.
How'd you do?
She was definitely at the truck stop.
I got surveillance video that'll confirm it.
As for what happened to her, I'm still thinking it has to be connected to the Sullivan girls.
All three of them go missing along the same highway on the same night.
Okay, I'm pulling up now.
I'll call you after.
[CELLPHONE BEEPS]
♪ Nothing yet.
Why aren't the police out looking?
It hasn't even been a day.
Plus, this particular area, there's not a lot of manpower.
If it goes on long enough, maybe the FBI will get involved.
So, we just sit and wait?
No.
They're counting on us.
We do not wait.
She didn't send any photo.
There's no service in that area, and she didn't send anything from her cell, because I checked 'em before I destroyed them!
Are you % sure that the other one has...
male equipment?
Because sometimes, women have been known to have outward-facing thing-a-ma-goos.
I'm positive.
Oh, God.
[LAUGHS]
I swear.
Okay.
A little curve ball.
We adjust.
That's what leaders do.
Let's just go home, sleep on it, pray on it, start with a fresh mind-set in the morning.
I'm sorry.
This is my doing.
I'm sorry.
We will get through this, Ronald.
But things are about to take an uglier turn.
♪ Sally.
SALLY:
I'm not calling about alimony.
You got your nose in something?
I'm sorry?
There was a private detective here.
She was asking questions about you.
I beg your pardon?
Are you honest?
Are you dangerous?
Are you prurient?
Please tell me you haven't been hanging around the strip malls again.
And what was the name of this private detective?
Her name is Cassie Dewell.
Works with my cousin Denise.
[SIGHS]
She's not a fan, Rick.
♪ [CELLPHONE BEEPS, CLICKS]
[FLOORBOARDS CREAKING]
♪ ♪ ♪ [GASPS]
I couldn't sleep.
JERRIE: ♪ As I went down in the river to pray ♪
♪ Studying about that good old way ♪
♪ And who shall wear the starry crown ♪
♪ Good Lord, show me the way ♪
TOGETHER: ♪ O, sisters, let's go down ♪
♪ Let's go down, come on down ♪
♪ O, sisters, let's go down ♪
♪ Down in the river to pray ♪
♪ O, fathers, let's go down ♪
♪ Let's go down, come on down ♪
♪ O, fathers, let's go down ♪
♪ Down in the river to pray ♪
- ♪ As I went down in the river to pray ♪
- [SIGHS]
♪ Studying about that good ol' way ♪
♪ And who shall wear the starry crown ♪
♪ Good Lord, show me the way ♪
♪ O, sinners, let's go down ♪
♪ Let's go down, come on down ♪
♪ O, sinners, let's go down ♪
♪ Down in the river to pray ♪