Let's Talk About the Shocking Twist in the Premiere of ABC's 'Big Sky'

If you knew anything about ABC's new murder mystery show Big Sky, it was likely that Ryan Phillippe was one of the show's stars. Heading into the show, Ryan seemed like the biggest name in the cast, and the series was premised on the idea that he would be chiefly responsible for solving the murders at the show's center. At the end of the premiere, though, things took a pretty shocking turn. 

The end of the first episode of Big Sky seems to suggest that Ryan Phillippe's character may not be around for the long haul. Phillippe, who plays private detective Cody Hoyt in the series, seems to be killed off at the end of the first episode. The ending is slightly ambiguous, but most fans have assumed that Cody will not be returning to the show moving forward. 

The episode ends with Rick Legarski, the character played by John Carroll Lynch, promising to help Cody track down the two teenage girls who went missing on their way to visit Cody. Instead, though, Rick pulls a gun on Cody and quickly fires, leaving blood spatter on the window of Cody's car. The show doesn't show the actual impact of the bullet, or what Cody looks like afterward. 

The lack of those shots has led some to believe that the ending is a fakeout, but the angle of the gun suggests that Rick was aiming for Cody's head. What's more, the blood spatter suggests that Rick didn't miss his target. If Cody really is dead, it means that many of the storylines that Big Sky set up over the course of its first episode aren't going to pay off as expected. 

Cody was one of the show's apparent central characters, alongside Cassie (Kylie Bunbury) and Jenny (Katheryn Winnick), and the three of them were working together to track down the missing girls at the show's center. Ryan appeared to have a lead on their location, but it wasn't a lead he had shared with Cassie or Jenny. If he's dead, so is their best chance of finding the girls. 

Cody's death is also likely to have an impact on both Cassie and Jenny. Jenny is his ex-wife, and the two share a child together. Although they were separated, it was clear that she still cared deeply for Ryan. The same was true for Cassie, who appeared to be falling for Ryan over the course of the premiere. Now, those dynamics are unlikely to play themselves out as audiences might have expected. 

It seems like the show will pivot as Cassie and Jenny will be forced to work together to solve the show's central mystery and bring Cody's killer to justice. Whatever happens next, that juicy final twist is likely to keep many viewers hooked on the show for weeks to come. The show will continue airing on Tuesdays at 10 pm EST, right after The Bachelorette.