Sheriff Beau Arlen (Jensen Ackles) is going to fit in very nicely on Big Sky next season. In fact, both Beau and Ackles bring a new energy to the show that may very well give it the boost it needs.

That’s not to say that he gets off to the best start, especially with Cassie (Kylie Bunbury) and Jenny (Katheryn Winnick). But he does get their — and our — approval and welcome by episode’s end. (We would say it’s because it’s Ackles playing Beau and he of course will come across as charming, but we’ve seen The Boys footage in the trailer and Supernatural’s Dean wasn’t a saint. Ackles can play terrifying well. It’s just the way he plays Beau.)

Sheriff Tubb (Patrick Gallagher) brings in Beau — he’d been retired after working in Houston — to temporarily take over, and so he comes to town knowing all about its law enforcement, including Cassie, whom he rubs the wrong way by telling her she doesn’t know anything about cars because she’s a woman. She proves him wrong — he’s the one in the dark — and he does apologize as she gives as good as she gets. He’s “very Texas or Houston, one of those kinds,” Cassie later describes to Jenny. And while he’d claimed to be on his way to a grief counseling meeting, she doesn’t buy it.

Jenny does think that Beau might be able to help her when it comes to Travis (Logan Marshall-Green), who’s planning to kill Veer (Bernard White) to avenge Kate. Jenny walks in while Beau’s in the middle of introducing himself to the department — “you are all free to check my bona fides, I will admit there are some things in there I’m not exactly proud of” — and asks to speak with him in private. Once in Tubb’s office, she doesn’t take too kindly to him calling her “darling,” which he explains by saying everyone in Texas has a nickname. He’s very chatty, she notes. “Shoot, you should meet my brother, he likes to chop it up, as the kids say,” Beau tells her.

ABC/Anna Kooris

When Jenny tells him about Travis’ plan and hers to stop him by arresting Veer, he’s on board to help. But what they don’t know is that Ren (Janina Gavankar) has already sent her father off with Travis. “Quite the glow-up on the partner, Jenny Hoyt,” Ren remarks upon seeing Beau, adding, “he’s so rugged and direct” after seeing him in action. She eventually tells them where Travis and Veer are after he threatens to take her to jail to make her talk.

On their way, Beau advises Jenny not to beat herself up, that there are some people who can’t be saved from themselves, trust him, he knows. He gets making stupid choices, too, sharing he followed his ex-wife to Montana, where she and their daughter now live with her new rich husband. Jenny deduces he’s still in love with his ex. By the time they reach Travis, he’s punched Veer quite a few times in the face … and the other man has revealed that Kate’s actually alive! Veer survives … this encounter. His son, Jag (Vinny Chhibber), kills him in the hospital later. Granted, Veer did previously leave Jag to die, so…

Though Travis is taken into custody, Beau suggests Jenny take him for a cheeseburger and beer on the way to bringing him to State … and isn’t surprised at all to find out that she lets him go find Kate. (She does make Travis agree to turn himself in after.) In fact, the episode very much ends in a way that sets Beau up for a big role in Season 3, meaning Ackles’ series regular promotion makes sense: He joins Jenny and Cassie at the bar for drinks as they welcome him to Montana.

And with the finale, we’ve met a Beau who has flaws and have been given enough information to tease his backstory and where he can go next season, and it’s easy to see why Big Sky has brought Ackles in as a regular because he works very well with Bunbury and Winnick. Should we start wondering when they might pair Beau and Jenny together? She really doesn’t have the best luck with love and he is only sticking around for one season, so it could very well be possible. But what did you think of Beau? Let us know in the poll below.

Big Sky, Season 3, Fall 2022, ABC