‘Big Sky’: Does Rick Remember His Part in the Abductions?

In the series Big Sky, a lot has happened recently. Two missing sisters, Danielle (Natalie Alyn Lind) and Grace (Jade Pettyjohn), along with Jerrie (Jesse James Keitel) are held captive by a corrupt state trooper named Rick Legarski (John Carroll Lynch) and a long-haul trucker named Ronald Pergman (Brian Geraghty). But does Rick even remember his part in the abductions after what happens to him?

[Spoiler alert: This article contains spoilers from ‘Big Sky’]

Cassie shoots Rick Legarski in ‘Big Sky’

Danielle’s boyfriend gets his parents involved in the quest for the missing girls who are abducted by Ronald. His parents, Jenny Hoyt (Katheryn Winnick) and Cody Hoyt (Ryan Phillippe), an ex-cop and a private detective, along with Cody’s partner, Cassie Dewell (Kylie Bunbury), track down every lead to find them. But Cody is murdered when he gets too close and Rick shoots him.

Now on the hunt for the missing girls and Cody’s whereabouts, Jenny and Cassie eventually narrow it down to Rick. Despite him being one step ahead of them, Cassie manages to track him down while looking for Danielle, Grace, and Jerry at a bar/store he frequents. When she finds him in the basement, the missing girls are down there too. Cassie has her firearm drawn, and Rick claims he “just showed up to rescue” the missing girls. Rick tries to manipulate the situation in his favor, pulling out his firearm.

“I’m going to count to five,” Rick says to her. “If you don’t put your weapon down by the count of five, one of three things will happen. A, I’ll put my weapon down, B, raise it in the air like Alexander Hamilton, C, shoot you. My money’s on C.” He gets to four when Cassie shoots him in the head, but miraculously he’s still alive.

Does Rick remember his part in the abductions?

The doctors at the hospital perform surgery on Rick, and his wife, Merilee (Brooke Smith), is under the impression that it’s up in the air if he wakes up, and if he does, he won’t be the same. They play music in an attempt to help wake him up, And at the end of episode 6, his eye opens up. In the latest episode, Rick’s fully awake and conscious after being shot in the head. But does he remember his part in the abductions?

He speaks to his wife, who relays the situation to Rick. “I did what?” he asks her.

“You and an accomplice kidnapped three women, girls, and held them underground in what appears to be a torture dungeon connected to a sex trafficking ring,” Merilee explains.

Rick doesn’t seem to be buying it. “That’s not funny,” he says.

“I am not being funny,” she tells him. “When a man tried to save one of them, you killed him. There’s a pile of police out in the corridor waiting to arrest you for all of this.”

“I kidnapped a young woman?” Rick says in disbelief.

“Three of them,” his wife clarifies. “And there have been others.”

“I killed a person?” he asks again.

“It appears to be the case,” Merilee says matter of factly. 

Rick doesn’t believe what’s going on. He doesn’t think he’s capable of committing acts such as the ones his wife describes. “I’m a Montana State Trooper,” Rick tells her. 

“It did happen!” his wife says, but Rick just keeps insisting, “I’m a Montana State Trooper,” looking dumbfounded.

Based on this conversation, it appears Rick has no idea what’s going on or that he was involved in such heinous crimes. Although he could be faking it, he sustained a brain injury and seems to have amnesia. Will he remember his terrible crimes? It’s too soon to tell, but as of right now, it doesn’t seem like he remembers events from his past, let alone the crimes he committed.

Rick even mentions that he should call his father, who has been dead for years, which adds to the fact that Rick probably doesn’t remember any of it. He also has a strange conversation with his lawyer, and he isn’t able to remember who she is after she tells him that she’s his lawyer.

Rick appears to not remember his part in the abductions, and it’s unclear where things go from here.