Spoilers ahead for Episode 7 of Big Sky Season 1 on ABC, called "I Fall to Pieces."
One half of Big Sky's villainous duo remained bedridden in "I Fall to Pieces" after miraculously surviving the gunshot to the head in the winter premiere, but Ronald was still on the loose while Legarski dealt with a case of amnesia that left him ignorant of the past few years of his life... or so he would have everybody think. While of course Legarski would be left with effects from getting shot in the head, the exact nature of his purported memory loss is awfully convenient, which begs the question: is he faking it?
Considering Legarski's memory loss just so happened to span the few years that he was involved in trafficking women with Ronald, I was initially pretty firm in thinking he was faking it and just throwing in some Jaws quotes to seem more confused. After the deadly twist courtesy of Ronald before the end of the episode, however, I can see why Big Sky might not be messing around with Legarski's memory loss and playing it straight. Let's dig into why he might be faking or not faking after this latest episode!
Why Legarski Might Be Faking It
As much as Legarski proved himself to be a pretty loathsome person during the first half of Big Sky Season 1, he was also the brains of the operation between him and Ronald. I could definitely see him rolling with the punches and deciding to take advantage of his situation by claiming that he had no memory of his crimes, perhaps in the hope that he'd avoid jail time.
The biggest effects also seem to be the quoting of Jaws lines, short term memory loss to go with those missing few years, and occasional incontinence, which could be pretty easy for Legarski to deliberately do to try and sell the ruse that he's still the man who wouldn't participate in trafficking young women. Besides, I figured that if Legarski is going to actually serve a purpose to the story, it has to be as more than somebody in a hospital bed with no memory of what made him important. Then, Ronald did something that makes me believe that Legarski might not be faking his symptoms at all.
Why Legarski Might Not Be Faking
Ronald finally well and truly snapped in this episode when his mom told him that she intended to call the authorities on him, and he responded by breaking her neck. Murdering his mom was the culmination of Ronald slowly but surely unraveling throughout the episode, all due to the news reports that Legarski was improving after being shot. Ronald knew the risk that Legarski could regain consciousness and spill to the police, as Ronald was actually the one who did the physical kidnappings. Legarski didn't need to actually do anything to still make all the difference to Ronald, symptoms or no symptoms.
The episode ended with Ronald's mom dead and Ronald in Merrilee's house, with Merrilee possibly only moments from death herself if not for the arrivals of Cassie and Jenny, although Big Sky hasn't yet revealed what happens now that they've arrived and outed Ronald to Merrilee. Legarski's unlikely survival and return to consciousness might have nothing to do with Legarski as a character, but simply as a plot point to push Ronald over the edge, so his convenient amnesia might be legit with not a single symptom faked.
Either way, I won't be surprised if Legarski still dies from the effects of his gunshot wound, considering it would bring him full circle from shooting Cody in the head, but I'm still about 50/50 on whether Legarski is faking or his survival is just a plot point for Ronald. Vote in our poll below about whether Legarski's symptoms are reveal, and tune in to ABC on Tuesday, February 9 at 10 p.m. ET to find out what happens next on Big Sky. A whole bunch of new characters are on the way, so whatever happens, Legarski and Ronald's stories may be ending soon.
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