#bigskyask

[whateverthedragonswant]

Just finished reading your latest Big Sky posts, and I agree with everything you said. Season 3 is such a far departure from what this show was when it first started, and I hate how they’ve sidelined Cassie this season. I thought it would’ve gotten better when the focus shifted toward the campsite, yet the focus is still on Beau and Jenny. I’ve also noticed how Kylie’s barely featured in Big Sky’s social media posts to the point that you wouldn’t even know that she’s the main protagonist of this show! I know you’ve touched on this before, but I would love to hear your thoughts on how Cassie’s been treated this season. And I’d like to know whether you’re going to watch the final 3 episodes of the season (especially after reading what Elwood shared in his latest interview)

Hey, Anon! My first Big Sky ask, thank you! =D Thank you so much for checking out my posts! I apologize for the delay in my response. I will admit, I was frustrated with this show, Elwood, and the writers after watching 3x10 and reading the interview you mentioned (thank you for letting me know about it!), so I wanted to wait to let that pass before replying. So this way my answer to you could be as objective as possible while giving my opinion but not containing any of that frustration (aka basically me going WTF the whole time lol) if that makes sense.

Let me start out by saying that I 100% agree with everything you said here. Full transparency, I still haven't seen season 2 (only 2x01 and 2x18 at this point) but I know the highlights, and compared to season 1, the writing for season 3 definitely feels like a departure from the story that the show set up from the very beginning like you said. I know they were attempting a new format this season but Elwood/the writers have consistently demonstrated that they really cannot handle the weekly stories alongside the big one of the season as well as an ensemble cast that rotates weekly guest stars. They're struggling to juggle too many stories, from big to small, and it shows. It was the wrong direction for them to go in though I give them points for at least attempting it.

Like you, I also hoped that once Cassie's and Beau & Jenny's stories started to intertwine that things would indeed get better. Instead, it only got worse. To the point where I as a viewer didn't even care that we got a little Beau and Cassie time in 3x10 (and I love the dynamic between those two). They were purposely throwing Beau and Cassie together into a few scenes and intentionally giving her a little more time this episode to hook more viewers for their return next year. Not even to set the story up and what's coming for 3B but as a hook. That's all it was. And what's even sadder about this is that while it's been made obvious what they're doing to the point where it's showing through the story itself, Elwood and the writers aka the creatives don't really seem to care. They're moving full steam ahead and that's that. Okay, yes, we all know how executives work in this industry, but for a supposed creative like Elwood, that's really concerning and almost kind of heartbreaking.

I'm going to get into how I feel Cassie has been treated this season in a moment but I do want to talk about the Beau/Jenny thing first because I feel it's a very big contributing factor as to what happened to her. Probably a lot more than some people realize.

Beau/Jenny has become Big Sky's meal ticket so to speak. It's not what every single fan of the show wants, but it's what the loudest and most engaging section of the viewers want aka #AcklesNation. This particular section not only engages with the cast (when they're with Jensen or they post about Jensen) but also regularly engages with the Big Sky social media accounts, they make content on here and other platforms, and they are guaranteed to tune into each episode as long as Jensen is on the show. They've become invested in not only Beau and his story line, but also into the "romance" of Beau/Jenny. The media picked up on it due to this overwhelming interest from this section (as they have with other things Jensen has said in public, i.e. Deadpool in the last month for example) and now they bring it up in each interview with either Elwood or the cast. (not to mention these questions are approved/guided by the show's PR team when submitted for approval so if they didn't want Elwood or the cast talking about Beau/Jenny for example, the question wouldn't be able to be asked) Why is this important? Simple, because it relates to my point below:

You brought up the social media (and lack of Cassie/Kylie in it), Anon, and you hit the nail on the head. Because it all relates. When you look at their twitter page for example, it is literally the Jensen Ackles, Beau, and Beau/Jenny show. And that's not a dig at Jensen or either character; it's just stating facts. We only get Dedee when she's with Jensen, we barely get any Poppernak. And even then we get more of them than we do Cassie (the main protagonist like you pointed out) or Kylie like you said. Not to mention, whoever is running that account is repeatedly engaging #AcklesNation, posted a tweet in the beginning of the season of how they were going to suck up to #AcklesNation by using Poppernak's and Beau's interaction from 2x18 as a segue to make this point, and they consistently interact with The Boys Twitter account (which I suspect is run by possibly Kripke himself, not sure though) over Jensen. While whoever is doing this job is doing it well as far as that's concerned, it literally has become the Jensen Ackles show (and for all you Jensen Ackles fans out there, I am not saying anything critical about Jensen nor am I blaming him - this is not his fault obviously and I'm just stating facts). So this is now a big factor in how the decisions were made for the story this season that Elwood has made obvious himself not only in interviews but also in the show itself.

Back in September, Elwood and the main cast did their usual round of interviews to promote the new season. We saw things like this:

While they obviously had to squeeze in for this shot, there is no reason Jensen should be in the back. They could have easily fit him into the shot. Or Reba should be sitting in Elwood's chair and vice versa. But they did this seating this way for two reasons: 1) "Beau" is in the middle between "Cassie" and "Jenny" while not stealing the spotlight from the two leads (from fans of the show before Jensen was cast) & 2) Reba is one of the big names being pushed/used.

And then we heard things like this:

(Elwood - TV Guide - that quote up above btw is hilarious because it has been shown that Jenny has been doing the modern version of swooning over Beau ever since 3x01 - this is why we can't trust anything this guy says, either he's very incompetent at his job and believes what he's selling or he doesn't care because he's only focused on getting the ratings up)

Elwood purposely said before the season premiered that he was playing it down the middle between Beau, Cassie, and Jenny. He said it was going to be a slow burn and he didn't want people to think of Beau and Cassie's relationship as "romantic" but he also kept talking about how Beau and Jenny were a "team" and "professional". Kylie herself made it pretty clear that she viewed Beau and Cassie as almost having a sibling type of banter (x). Anytime Katheryn was asked about Jensen's casting/Beau, she would mention how Jenny and Beau made a great team at solving crime who also had great banter but that was all she would say. When asked about the romanctic chemistry between Beau and Jenny, she would answer with a sort of non-answer (which turned out to be its own answer): “Well, they did cast Jensen. How can there not be when you, when you cast someone like that? If there’s something that maybe manifests or doesn’t manifest, you don’t really know. I don’t know yet.”

Jensen even jokes that he's the "potato" that adds to the "Cassie-and-Jenny" stew that Kylie refers to. And we know potatoes help to thicken stew.

So the show purposely sold it as a slow burn that would be a sort of 'who will Beau end up for falling for' type of vibe between the two leading ladies. So at this time, Kylie's/Cassie's involvement not only in the general story line but also Beau's was going to be neck and neck with Jenny's.

Then we also get:

The question wasn't about Jensen, Reba, or the cast. It wasn't even about the characters. It was about this new format he's introducing. Only after he talks Jensen up does he briefly mention Reba, then goes back into Beau/Jenny (sell, sell, sell!), and then talks about the new format and how challenging it was. And what does he end it with? "...and we've got some amazing guest cast coming in this year." He's made it very apparent what the focus of this season actually is: the big names they're pulling in. Jensen, Reba, Beau/Jenny (and Beau himself), and the other big names are the main draw to this little show and he knows it.

This also shows how the story is taking a backseat this season to the actual selling of the product. This is the season where they might possibly have their last hurrah, where they've pulled in all of these big names (aka stunt casting) so they can promote the hell out of them and the show, and they've changed up the format. It's like a sales team came in and changed up all of the advertising, the look of the product, and even changed the slogan, in order to repackage it and get it out to buyers as a last bid to try to turn a profit after the product initially failed to sell well. That is literally what's happening here. And when that happens, that means shortcuts are taken, corners are cut, and you're no longer getting top quality of that product.

In this answer, he is basically admitting that he/they came up with the weekly format not only to alter the pace of the narrative of the show, but it was also done so Beau and Jenny could go solve weekly crimes together, something he didn't do until Jensen was locked in for the season. While Beau is not supposed to be a lead character, from Elwood's answer here he is basically stating that Beau is now a lead which is why we get: "...and a guy who has done 15 or 16 seasons as a series lead, so he's a guy I've always wanted to work with." Translation: Beau is intended as a lead this season and they're already starting to push the Beau/Jenny factor.

And the breakdown of what we've gotten so far has been this:

3x01 - playing down the middle between Beau & Jenny/Cassie: Cassie and Beau have a friendship that developed over in between seasons & Beau/Jenny start solving crimes - ends with the movie night scene of the three of them

3x02 - playing down the middle again: Beau and Cassie go to talk to Sunny while Jenny has to go with Tonya - ends with ranch scene where Cassie is having a basic housewarming

3x03 - playing down the middle again but slightly less: Beau and Jenny solve crimes though Cassie is mentioned in convo by Jenny & we see a convo between Beau and Cassie in her office though it turns towards Jenny who is mentioned by Beau

3x04 - more Beau/Jenny - less Cassie - no more down the middle

3x05 - dun dun dun, big Beau/Jenny push - less Cassie

3x06 - Beau/Jenny push - less Cassie

3x07 - Beau/Jenny push - a little more Cassie

3x08 - Beau/Jenny push - same amount of Cassie

3x09 - Beau/Jenny push - a little more of Cassie

3x10 - big Beau/Jenny push - a little more of Cassie - we even get a few minutes of Beau and Cassie

That's literally how it plays out.

And now in December we have:

(Elwood - TV Insider)

The fact that the interviewer has to ask how Beau feels is a big indicator that the story is not being told well, especially given Elwood's answer here.

Then we get a whole big thing (aka sales pitch) on Beau and Jenny:

Cassie?:

Not so much expounding upon Cassie herself, barely a blip about the Cassie/Cormac romance itself, and a bit on the actual plot. A bit weird given that Cassie is the main protagonist of this show, right?

Because Cassie has been pushed aside in favor of pushing the Beau (Jensen) and Beau/Jenny narrative. They literally tossed her aside, sprinkle her into the narrative here and there to still be able to claim "oh, we're still having Cassie be important to the story, look!", and gave her a throwaway romance so not only could they parallel it to the Beau/Jenny relationship but also to keep Cassie busy so we get more time with Beau but remove any possibility of Cassie being a potential romantic rival for Jenny (so Jenny can confidently go after Beau) and so like Elwood said, two women don't fight over a guy (which again is hilarious because the only thing keeping Jenny from going all schoolyard this season is because Cassie is interested in Cormac).

This is why Kylie/Cassie has reduced time this season compared to the last two. This is why Kylie/Cassie are not being featured/pushed on social media. This is why you can barely find any Cassie scenes from this season on YouTube unless it features Cormac or Beau/Jenny. Because the Elwood and the show see the response they got once it was announced Jensen would be in 2x18 and what kind of response they got after it aired. Then they even saw the response to the announcement that Jensen had joined Season 3 as a regular. They see the consistent engagement from #AcklesNation on social media (which unfortunately is what counts these days in this industry; I don't care for Cocoa Brown myself but she said it best in that IG Live she did), something like Jensen has over 10M Instagram followers, and the desire for Beau/Jenny from that crowd (which is because Jenny is being used as self-insert for a lot of them and it's being accommodated by Jenny's characterization drop this season but that's a conversation for another time). Jensen and Katheryn do have chemistry but it's nowhere near what it should be for this type of "romance" to take place successfully. You combine that with poor writing/development and....well, you need to do other things to compensate, like moving the main protagonist to the back burner.

Saying all of this, now we look at that latest interview and it makes more sense why we see less of Cassie and read things like this:

"I think the modus is to go right to giving the audience what they want" What a statement to make about the direction one of your leads' stories is going in, especially when you are responsible for not only making that decision but you are helming the show itself. This show lives and dies with him.

If I hadn't seen/read everything I listed above and only saw this one interview, I would immediately know that this show no longer worth my time, not while it's under this guy. I get that he has to keep the show on the air but when you make it obvious that you're just a salesman who is saying whatever he has to in order to sell the product, then the product isn't really being given the attention it's not only due but deserves.

Imho, that one line says it all. It covers what their actual goal is, what their intention has been all along, and how things are operating behind the scenes.

And to break it down even further:

"I think the modus" - this word automatically makes one think of 'modus operandi' which is defined as: a particular way or method of doing something, especially one that is characteristic or well-established. Well, frankly speaking, this whole Beau/Jenny "romance" is not characteristic or well-established, but it's obvious this is how they chose to go about it. We've only seen the build-up from Jenny's side, never Beau's. And they purposely threw Cassie into the mix in the beginning and kept the mention of her as a device to not only keep those viewers (aka Cassie fans) hooked but also because of what Elwood says later in the interview.

"Is to go right to" - had Beau/Jenny had an organic build-up, then yes I could buy that they've been planning this from the start. And tbf to them, it is possible they chose to do this once Jensen was cast as a season regular after they saw how loud the purported #AcklesNation was in wanting not only more of Jensen/Beau but also Beau/Jenny like I mentioned above. This is exactly what they're looking for (hence the SPN Easter eggs thrown in as well). More proof? Having Travis step out at the same time Beau steps in doesn't make sense for Jenny's character development, especially when they made sure to mention in the episode that Beau was still in love with his ex-wife, Jenny lets Travis go so he can find the girlfriend he can't let go of, and she barely gets a breather in between. She literally is between two guys who have the same issue, just different circumstances. That is such bad writing (and bad character development for Jenny) that I can't help but think they didn't intend a Beau/Jenny "romance" at that time, especially since it wasn't announced that Jensen was locked in for season 3 yet. So this gives more credence to the belief that the Beau/Jenny thing wasn't an actual thing until they saw the response to 2x18 and locked Jensen in. Especially given the two very different interactions Beau has with Jenny and Cassie in that same episode. Had Beau/Jenny been the plan, Beau and Jenny's introduction would have played out very differently and the end of Travis and Jenny's story would have been changed up.

"giving the audience what they want" - talk about specific wording. This isn't something they necessarily want or that he himself wants but it's the audience that wants it. And they're giving it to them. This line makes absolute sense with what he says in the interview about Beau and Jenny needing to earn that "physicality". He and the writers could have given it to the audience in the beginning of the season, if that's what they really wanted to do but they didn't. Instead, Elwood says this: "I think it all goes towards earning those looks, earning any kind of physicality that may occur in the back half of the season, really earning it, and making the audience want to be there for it." They made it a "slow burn" so they could lock in viewers each week, that's it. While Elwood talks about earning it (and he's right, when it comes to actual character and relationship development, things have to be earned before they happen or else it doesn't make sense and feels off-kilter to the audience), the main reason they're having it happen in 3B is because they're trying to guarantee a viewership for as long as they can which they're hoping gets them renewed for season 4. So they consistently bait the hook with whatever they need to i.e. the stroking of Jenny's face out of nowhere (which bless Jensen, he was the one that made that even work as slightly as it did), the Beau and Cassie scenes, and the cliffhanger with Buck vs Cassie. In order to keep people coming back to watch so they don't get cancelled. (The Winchesters is actually doing this same thing btw; I don't know if you follow this show or not but if you look it up, you'll see they're doing the exact same thing - their bait is the earned Jary kiss in the fall finale, casting an SPN actor in the mid-season premiere in January, promising fans payoff in the season finale - it's the name of the game for these two shows because they're trying their hardest to ensure another season)

Bottom line: they don't care about the story; they only care about numbers. If the rumors of this show being on the chopping block last season are true (which after all of this, seems like a pretty good bet that they are), then that explains everything. It explains their consistent appealing to #AcklesNation online, the content they choose to repeatedly focus on which alienates the other characters and cast members (and their fans), and why they're giving "the audience" what they want. They're fighting to stay on the air. Which makes sense especially if you look at this season's casting compared to the casting of the last two seasons (when comparing household names I mean). They really stepped up their game. We have Reba, Rex Linn, Jensen, Jamie-Lynn Sigler (who was also made a season regular for this season), Rosanna Arquette, Henry Ian Cusick, Lyle Lovett, Darius Rucker...it's quite the lineup.

So that is why I feel Cassie has been pushed aside as much as she has. It's all about the numbers. And Cassie isn't producing numbers/ensuring ratings as much as Beau and Beau/Jenny are. And Jenny is perfect self-insert for a lot of people when it comes to Beau...and that's all I'll say about that (though I'm sure you get what I'm saying).

As for how I feel about it, I am just beyond disgusted, disappointed, and angry on Cassie's behalf. Disgusted because the story is literally being hijacked for numbers, and boy does it show. Disappointed because while Jensen/Beau was my gateway to this show, I did actually enjoy the show for itself after bingeing season 1 and falling in love with Cassie and her friendship with Jenny. Angry because they are literally not only moving Cassie to the back in favor of this bs but they're literally having a WOC prop up the white leads. Even though the WOC is the main protagonist and a lead herself. And I hate to say it but Beau has literally replaced Cassie, not just in Jenny's story but also in the main narrative of the show. He gets more screen time than Cassie does every single episode (which again is for the numbers). Not to mention, they literally used Cassie to help along the Beau/Jenny bs. She was used to make Jenny jealous (both romantically and emotionally), to help Beau open up to get him into position to be able to open up to Jenny, and to ease the way for Beau and Jenny in their own dynamic. And that is just so beyond wrong, I don't even know where to begin. For comparison's sake, check out the new show Alaska Daily. It's only half a season in but in those few episodes, they're handling the format of weekly cases vs the big case in the background way better and they're not sacrificing POC/WOC to do it. Eileen (Hilary Swank) is the main character but Roz is never pushed to the side or run over in favor of the white lead or to sell something for Eileen's story within the narrative. Roz is not used as a device by the writers to account for any incompetency or inconsistency or to solve a problem for them. The difference between the two is quite striking though they're literally on the same network lol.

But, back to Big Sky and Elwood, talk about ringing the death knell of what could have been a decent show. Anytime you see a showrunner doing fanservice like this (with the addition of making it obvious that you're only doing the fanservice for the numbers) rather than what actually serves the story and/or the characters, it's pretty much a done deal. Imho, it will only be a matter of time before this runs into the ground and completely disintegrates. Especially when romance is not supposed to be the focus of a show like this.

So I'm not going to continue to watch the show once it returns after the holidays. I truly have no interest. I think Reba, Jensen, and the cast are doing a phenomenal job trying to give life to these characters and give their stories their due, and the show has only lasted as long as it has due to the incredible work of the existing cast that the newbies got added onto. But seeing how little the showrunner actually cares about the story of the show based on not only the final product he's putting out but also his own responses and his moving the goal posts on certain parts of the narrative at large...no thank you. My time and energy can go to another show that tells a better story and gets it right, where the showrunner actually cares about the story and its characters.

After the season ends, I might binge it just to see the end because I don't like to say never and I don't like to leave things unresolved like that for myself, but I have to be honest, I highly doubt it. I love Cassie, I love Beau, and I do love Jenny, but it isn't worth it imho. And I feel super bad saying that because I do love Reba, Jensen, Kylie, Katheryn, Dedee, and the cast, and the work they do but even they can't make me forget the horrific and lackadaisical writing I'm witnessing.

I hope I was able to adequately answer your ask, Anon. I hope in somewhere in that long novel I made some sense lol. Sorry it took so long for me to reply! And thank you again for sending me my first Big Sky ask. =) I hope you have a wonderful rest of your day!!! <3

[whateverthedragonswant]

I knew the writers were leaning towards a Beau and Jenny pairing I just wish they didn't sideline Cassie so much it would be great to see Beau and Cassie friendship on screen instead of off. It feels like the writers are having her take a backseat for Beau and Jenny romance.

Hey, Anon! Ugh, yeah, I saw it, too, but I hoped beyond hope I was wrong. But c'est la vie.

Agreed! I would have loved to see their friendship develop further, like Elwood promised back in September (it's in print, Elwood! Just saying), but they definitely sidelined her to sell the Beau/Jenny bs. (I can't even call that romance, it's such bad writing) I feel like I'm watching the whole Jon/Dany show in GoT all over again but this time I'm abandoning ship before the whole boat goes down lol. There aren't any Starks, direwolves, or dragons to keep me invested. ;-)

They absolutely are and my thought is they're doing it to get the numbers up and stay on the air. I also believe that's why they're forcing the Beau/Jenny bs despite the low amount of chemistry the two actors have (and how it doesn't make sense for either character's story). And tbf to Jenny, she may be on screen way more than Cassie, but she also got sidelined for this as well. Jenny hasn't been in character for quite some time now, and you can see it when comparing her to season 1 Jenny, 2x01 Jenny, and even 2x18 Jenny. They literally are sidelining her as well to push this package that they're hoping will save the show.

Too bad for them that when shows tend to do this and sacrifice actual decent story telling in order to make the executives happy so their production doesn't get axed, the quality goes right out the window. And regardless of how this show might not have had the greatest quality of writing before (from criticisms I had heard before watching the show myself), viewers will see it. Whether that be right away or over time, it's going to be seen and unable to be ignored, because the story and characters will suffer. And with this particular show, we're already starting to see that.

The only time I think Cassie (and in-character Jenny) will be brought back to the forefront of their show is after Beau is gone (if the show survives long enough for him to make an exit). Then just maybe we might get them back but I do tend to doubt it.

Thank you so much for the ask, Anon! I hope you have a lovely rest of your night!!! <3