Let’s be honest: one can never get tired of police/detective mystery thrillers and for some awesome reason, there’s always a new take it.
That’s probably because (sadly) there are so many different ways a crime can be committed as well as solved, which franchises like Law & Order, CSI, and Criminal Minds have shown us over their many years of broadcast.
And then, of course, there are those where the crimes are solved over the duration of an entire season (Sacred Lies, The Alienist, and Reckoning are some recent ones that come to mind!). These shows, often categorized as procedural dramas, are great because they manage to hash out all the details, narratives, and character developments to really tie the story together.
One new police procedural that we’re eagerly waiting for is ABC’s newest series, Big Sky. Here’s everything you need to know!
Who’s behind the show?
Big Sky was created by the talented writer and producer David E. Kelley, based on the first book in author C.J. Box’s series of novels (of which there are now four in total) featuring protagonist Cassie Dewel, The Highway.
Kelley is known for his extensive career over the four top commercial US TV networks on shows such as L.A. Law, Ally McBeal, The Practice, and most recently, critically acclaimed and multi-award-winning HBO series Big Little Lies.
Kelley will also be an executive producer alongside Ross Fineman, Matthew Gross, Paul McGuigan, and C.J. Box himself. ABC gave the show a straight to series order in January 2020, and it is being produced by A+E Studios in association with 20th Century Fox Television.
What’s it about?
Cassie Dewell is one-half of a private detective team based out of Helena, Montana. Her partner, Cody Hoyt, is a previously-retired, former cop-turned-private investigator.
In ABC’s Big Sky, Cassie and Cody join forces with Cody’s estranged wife and fellow ex-cop, Jenny Hoyt, to investigate the kidnapping and disappearance of two young sisters along a remote Montana highway.
As the investigation unfurls, they discover that these girls weren’t the only ones who have been abducted from the area. Once the reality of the crime really sets in, they must race against the clock to find out who is responsible for the disappearance before another victim goes missing.
Who are we going to see on Big Sky?
Casting announcements started to come in February 2020, with Ryan Phillippe and Katheryn Winnick in the roles of Cody and Jenny Hoyt, respectively. John Carroll Lynch was cast as Rick Legarski, a dutiful Montana state trooper, and Dedee Pfeiffer was cast as Denise Brisbane, the office manager at Dewell and Hoyt’s PI firm.
The next month, Kylie Bunbury, Brian Geraghty, Natalie Ayn Lind, and Jesse James Keitel were added to the cast. Bunbury is slated to play the protagonist Cassie Dewell. With Geraghty starring as Ronald Pergman, the troubled trucker at the center of the investigation, and Keitel as Jerrie, a gender-fluid artist who gets intimate with Ronald.
Lind will play Danielle Sullivan, one of the young girls who was kidnapped with her sister Grace, who was announced to be played by Jade Pettyjohn just this June.
Big Sky is premiered on ABC on Tuesday, November 17th. And just recently the show was given a bigger episode order, so Big Sky season 1 will now consist of 16 episodes.