Disney takes on HBO with Big Sky – from the man behind Big Little Lies
FIRST THEY CAME for your husband, with Star Wars. Next, they came for your kids, with Marvel. Now Disney+ is coming for you. This month sees the launch of new strand Star, the closest the most successful streaming service rollout since Netflix has come to challenging HBO with actual grown-up, women-slanted drama. And it’s got a keen eye on your monthly direct debits. What’s £5.99 between friends?
The star of Star will be Big Sky, a gawdy, handsome new psychological drama from David E Kelley, the masterful showrunner of Big Little Lies. Its emotional centre is a love triangle between two private detectives fighting for the affections of an unusually butch Ryan Phillippe while investigating a missing persons case. Phillippe, as Cody Hoyt PI, is the full river-deep-mountainhigh masculine fantasy: edgelord tattoos, wardrobe hand-sewn from scuffed denim and leather, rigorously sculpted beard. His recently separated wife Jenny and workmate Cassie are quickly ensconced in a full bar-room brawl over who gets to share his bed. It’s that kind of drama.
Kelley throws a lot of story at his prestige launch. A transgender sex worker climbs into the cab of a trucker with mommy issues. Two playful teens go on an illicit road trip. An oafish highway ranger argues with his wife about how much sex she’s getting. Everyone has some Freudian backstory deftly woven into Kelley’s expert dialogue and fully-rounded characters emerge in two lines flat. He flips seamlessly between genre, touching on soap, horror and arthouse, all framed against the kind of breath-taking Montana scenery Ralph Lauren ploughs for his luxury ads.
For all its storytelling skill, this watchable romp feels slightly old-fashioned. Most of the characters could’ve been lifted from a middle season of 24. The soundtrack leans heavy on middle-american rock ’n’ country classics. There’s nothing like the subtext of Big Little Lies, which managed to weave a murder mystery through its thoughtful treatise on domestic violence.
But maybe that’s the point. Disney’s success is tied up in its aversion to coolness. HBO has that covered. So, don’t be surprised if you find yourself sucked in and £6 lighter by the end of Big Sky season one. Streaming on Star, launching 23 Feb