The 'Big Sky' Season 1, Episode 3 Promo Ups The Stakes For Everyone

ABC's premiere of Big Sky ended with a big ol' twist at the end of the opening episode. With a second episode now under viewers' belts, fans finally have an idea of what the show is. But the real question, now that the show has revealed it's not simply a love triangle story or a retread of Twin Peaks in a new landscape, where does it go from here? The Big Sky Season 1, Episode 3 promo makes promising gestures in the right direction.

Warning: Spoilers (Big! Honkin'! Spoilers!) for Big Sky's first two episodes follow. Big Sky sold itself on the idea it was a story of P.I. Cody Hoyt (Ryan Phillippe) and the two women in his life: his partner Cassie Dewell (Kylie Bunbury) and his estranged ex-cop wife Jenny (Katheryn Winnick). The three live in a town where young girls, including Danielle (Natalie Alyn Lind), Jerrie (Jesse James Keitel), and Grace (Jade Pettyjohn), go missing on a disturbingly regular basis, and no one knows who is behind it or why.

But by the end of the first episode, both these premises are tossed out the window. Fans already know who the main antagonist is for the season, Montana State Trooper Rick Legarski (John Carroll Lynch from American Horror Story), who is all too aware of the man who is kidnapping these girls, Ronald Pergman (Brian Geraghty). And they know it because Rick has (rather usefully) disposed of the man standing between Cassie and Jenny being the best of friends by killing off Cody.

With Jenny and Cassie now a team, and Cody already becoming a distant memory, what's next? Check out the Episode 3 promo to find out:

Big Sky Season 1, Episode 3 is titled "The Big Rick." Here's the synopsis:

Still on the search for the missing girls, Cassie grows more suspicious of Legarski after a threatening conversation between the two. Meanwhile, Grace manages to make headway on the girls' quest for freedom. Merilee pleads with Legarski to open up emotionally before it's too late, and Helen finally confronts Ronald about his increasingly strange behavior.

Cody's sudden demise put the audience on notice that no one is safe in this series. And with Cassie already onto Legarski only two episodes in, fans are right to be worried about her future. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Lynch warned fans shouldn't be looking for happy last-minute rescues for the missing girls:

For those three women, they're very close to being erased — in one fashion or another. That's obviously what Cassie and Jenny are trying to stop, and Cody was trying to stop. It's going to get pretty dark. It's a particularly dark show for network [TV]. It's particularly dark for ABC. They were very brave to put it on.

Big Sky returns with a new episode on Tuesday, Dec. 1, at 10 p.m. ET on ABC.