Episode 4 of Big Sky season 3 is finally starting to connect the dots of all of the moving parts surrounding this season's new mystery. From Jenny's mom's appearance in episode 3 to the mysterious Luke and Paige, who are hiding out on Sunny's backpacking trip, it seems like we're getting much closer to answers on how everything ties together. But one of the biggest mysteries so far lies in the character of Walter, Reba McEntire's onscreen son. We finally got some backstory into Sunny Barnes and Walter, and the big reveal was not what I expected.
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Walter's backstory
We know that Walter (Seth Gabel) has been living in the woods alone, with Sunny the only one who seems to know about his existence. She's been keeping her visits out to his cabin secret from her husband Buck and her other son Cormac, but we got some insight into the history of the situation when Buck figures out where she's been going late at night.
It turns out that, as we know, Walter is Sunny's son. But she put him up for adoption years ago, and he was taken in by another family. According to Buck, he locked his adoptive parents in their house and burned it to the ground, which is...a lot to take in. I can only assume there's more to the story since Sunny remains fiercely protective of Walter and her goal of keeping him safe. My big question is, has he been living peacefully hidden away after that incident, or is he behind all of the mysterious disappearances throughout the surrounding trails? It seems a bit too convenient to put Walter behind those crimes, but we'll find out soon enough.
What or who has Walter been hiding?
Buck tells Sunny that Walter needs to go, so they head to his cabin together to help move him to another location. Walter refuses to leave and is visibly upset that Buck is there...Sunny even has to come between them. But the real shock came after they left, and Walter opens up a side door to reveal the missing Paige. Remember, Paige disappeared when she and Luke were lost in the woods and had seen a light of some kind in the distance she went after for help. It appears she found help in the form of Walter, who assures her that he'll keep her safe.
Now that means that maybe we've been wrong about Walter all along. He technically didn't push that missing backpacker off the cliff, just moved his body to another location. And he might not be behind everything else going on in the area. He seems to genuinely care about keeping Paige safe, even if that means risking his own safety since the authorities could easily find his cabin while searching for clues. This was quite the twist, and I'm anxious to see where the writers go from here.
