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‘Big Sky’: John Carroll Lynch Calls Major Episode 9 Death ‘Perfect’

“Big Sky” went into its mid-season hiatus in a big way. Even actor John Carroll Lynch is applauding the way this major character went out.

The show hasn’t been afraid to offer its fair share of shocking twists and turns. Just ask poor Cody Hoyt who went out during the series premiere. But on the latest episode of the hit show, it was corrupt police officer Rick Legarski’s turn to meet his maker. For much of the series, Rick has been the mastermind behind a human trafficking ring. But all of his bad deeds finally caught up to him.

Ultimately, Rick’s wife Merrilee is the one to take out her husband once and for all.

“It was perfect,” Rick’s actor John Carroll Lynch told Entertainment Weekly. “In this kind of thriller story, there’s a moment where you want to have the person most victimized have revenge on the monster. I mean, that’s part of what is satisfying about these stories is that the person who’s been so horrible gets their comeuppance. It’s rare that you’re able to write a story where it successfully goes the other way. This was never going to be that story; it was going to be the first kind.”

John Carroll Lynch Reflects on His Character’s Fate

But even Lynch was surprised how his character ultimately went out. Cassie had shot Rick in the head a few episodes back. But instead of dying, the character slipped into a coma. Awakening in the hospital, Rick claimed that he couldn’t remember his past actions or deeds.

This ruse worked for a little while. Lynch called his wife by his mother’s name and pretended to be out of sorts. But he slipped up when his wife sang the song “There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly.” It was a tune Rick had sang himself when he planned to kill Merilee with a hammer.

After the song, Merilee realized that Rick was faking his memory loss. And she took matters into her own hands, bludgeoning Rick with a hammer herself. Lynch confessed he always thought Jenny would kill the character.

“Surprisingly, I would have expected that it would be Jenny, frankly,” Carroll said. “Because in essence, Cassie got her revenge with a bullet in the head so now, if it weren’t going to be Jerrie or one of the young women, Grace or Danielle, then who would it be? When it became Merilee, it was very clear that that was a perfect choice of emotional and moral clarity.”

Despite being out of a job, Carroll couldn’t have asked for a more perfect ending for his character.