Big Sky Season 1, Episode 8 recap: Ronald racks up a body count

The walls close in on Ronald as he begins unraveling in Big Sky Season 1, Episode 8. Meanwhile, Rick takes a polygraph test.

Caution: The following article contains spoilers for Big Sky Season 1, Episode 8.

Big Sky has a significant pacing problem. I discussed it previously when the kidnapping plot dragged on, and now the cat-and-mouse game between Ronald, Cassie, Jenny and the cops has fallen into the same trap.

The series has aired three episodes since returning from winter break, and not much has happened throughout the three installments. Rick is in the hospital, and no one is 100% sure if he’s faking his memory or not. Ronald is on the loose and unraveling at an alarming rate. Jerrie is scared for her life. Those three facts could have applied to any of the last three episodes, which means the status quo hasn’t changed since it came back from the winter break.

I feel like a lot of what happened between Episodes 6 and 8 could have been condensed into one or one and a half episodes, max.

Big Sky Season 1, Episode 8 recap: Ronald kidnaps the local paperboy.

Last week established that Ronald has officially gone off the deep end after killing Helen. This week, Big Sky continues beating us over the head with Psycho references by having Ronald cart his dead mother into the basement.

When we last saw Ronald, Cassie and Jenny had gotten a much better sketch and taken it to Merilee. Ronald managed to flee before they could catch him, but the sketch is published all over the news and local papers. Paperboy Erik (Evan Whitten) recognizes the photo as one of the men on his regular route.

He hides in Ronald’s yard to snap pictures of him when he comes outside to grab his paper and tries to contact his mom (Sara Canning) to tell her what he’s found. Ronald gets to Erik first and takes him hostage in the conveniently placed cage in his basement. Then Ronald gets a visit from a suspicious clergyman that’s been chatting to Helen. The whole subplot with Ronald killing this guy felt irrelevant as if we needed more proof that Ronald has unraveled. We already know that.

Erik is a smart, savvy kid who manages to get the upper hand on Ronald with his own taser and a staple gun, albeit briefly. Being bested by a kid doesn’t sit right with Ronald, and the last we see of him, he’s dumping gasoline all over the house, prepared to rid himself of three bodies at once.

Big Sky Season 1, Episode 8 recap: Is Rick faking it or not?

Cassie and Jenny each take a run at Legarski to see if he recognizes them or not. He doesn’t budge. They both start to accept that Rick might genuinely have lost his memory. The guy who committed those murders and did all those awful crimes could be long gone. He even passes his polygraph with flying colors, although it doesn’t necessarily prove anything.

As a member of law enforcement, Rick would know what’s needed to fake the results. In short, Rick could get rehabilitated via a psych facility and eventually be released. He might never face real justice.

But Rick is also the only shot the cops, Jenny and Cassie have at tracking down Ronald. They know what he looks like, but no one knows his real name or identity. Merilee is their last resort. She tries to coax her husband into telling her anything he knows about Ronald, but Rick continues claiming he has no idea who that man is.

Then he starts tapping his fingers by his side, and the action causes Merilee to realize something. We don’t find out what. We’ll have to wait until next week to figure out what Rick’s wiggling fingers mean and to find out if the team can rescue him before Ronald blows up his whole house and everyone in it.

New episodes of Big Sky Season 1 air Tuesday nights at 10 p.m. ET on ABC.