Denise Brisbane

**Denise Brisbane** is the main character of ABC drama series *Big Sky*. She is Jenny and Cassie's assistant.

## History

### Danielle and Grace's Disappearance

When Cassie and Jenny had a confrontation in the D&H office over Cassie's affair with Cody, Denise tried to stay out of it, though Jenny knew she knew about the affair. When Jenny left, Denise called Cody and suggested he might come in. When he did so, she told him he should have seen the train wreck coming.

Cody called her later when Justin's girlfriend, Danielle, and her sister, Grace, didn't arrive as planned. He had her check for accidents involving cars like Danielle's and then check area hospitals for patients matching their descriptions. She said she'd also called Rick Legarski, a state trooper who'd once been married to her cousin, Sally.

When Cody didn't return from his meeting with Legarski, Denise talked to him and he told her that Cody had gone to the church after they spoke. When Cassie went to meet Legarski and got bad vibes from him, she started to believe he was involved in the disappearance, an assertion Denise denied, saying Legarski couldn't hurt a fly.

Denise helped Cassie review security footage of the truck stop from before Jerrie's disappearance. Cassie asked Denise to write down every license plate she could decipher so they could look them up to find the trucker working with Legarski. They also went to plant a tracker on Legarski's truck, which Denise advise against, as getting caught would lose them their license. Despite Denise's reservations, they did it. She had trouble getting full plates, so she had to start with what she was able to get. They could then use that information to go undercover to get items from inside the trucks to look for the girls' DNA. Denise opposed this plan as well, not wanting Jenny to go undercover without backup. Jenny insisted that Cassie could be backup. When Cassie and Jenny got detained by Sheriff Tubb after a confrontation with a trucker, Denise came to the sheriff's station to pick them up. She also showed them where Legarski had gone, including a place off the grid where he'd spent some time.

Jenny asked Denise to look into some missing indigenous girls and see if any of them had spent time at truck stops. When Cassie came in, she showed them the blueprints of the property they'd visited, which showed an underground space. Denise noted that Legarski was again at the property, so Jenny and Cassie left to go back out there. When Jenny was arrested for criminal stalking when they found Legarski there without the girls, Denise went to bail Jenny out of jail, but not before telling Cassie that they'd found the missing fisherman's truck less than two miles from the property.

When Cody's body was found in his buried truck, Denise consoled Jenny on her loss and gave her all Cody's documents from the office. When Jenny said they’d have a small, simple service, Denise said she’d arrange it all. Denise also reminded Jenny that Cody died on a rescue mission and Jenny completed the mission.

When Denise came to the office and found Jenny working, Denise said she wasn't where she should be. Jenny countered that she needed to be working because at home she just wallowed and she needed to be strong for Justin. Denise warned her not to run away from her emotions. Jenny then realized how much Cody meant to Denise and said she knew that Denise took care of him. Denise said they took care of each other.

Denise attended Cody's funeral, where some of his ashes were released to the wind before a party where a band played and people danced and drank.

After watching the news report on Legarski's condition, Jenny and Cassie said they were sure the trucker would try to dump his truck because of the heat on it, so Denise gave them a list of used truck dealerships in the area. When the sketch of the trucker came from the police sketch artist, Denise hung a copy on the board in the office.

After a near miss with Ronald at the Legarski house, Denise used information from Merrilee to help them search for Ronald. She checked into the dance hall, but found their security cameras self-erased. Later, she greeted Rachel Westergaard, who came in after her son didn't return from his paper route. After speaking to Rachel, Denise came to believe he'd been taken by Legarski's accomplice because Erik figured out who he was. Denise talked to the paper and got a list of Erik's customers and the police started going door-to-door. While they searched, Denise stayed with Rachel, reassuring her as they waited for the police to find Erik.

Denise helped go door-to-door to look for any information about Erik, but had no luck. However, Cassie ended up at Ronald's house and belatedly recognized him. Denise stayed at the office with Rachel while the police, Jenny, and Cassie set up a perimeter in an attempt to get Ronald to surrender himself. After the house exploded, Denise reported to Rachel that there was no evidence that Erik was in the house at the time. Denise then helped them track down Ronald's escape vehicle. Denise then comforted Rachel while they waited for news until Erik was found and returned to her safely.

### Continued Search for Ronald and Kleinsasser Case

Three months later, with the trail on Ronald cold, Cassie and Jenny were forced to work domestic cases, mostly trailing cheating spouses. Denise took a call from a farmer who was convinced aliens had taken his cows. Denise and Jerrie had also both taken calls where the person on the other side of the line only breathed into the phone before hanging up.

When Jenny found a bottle of whiskey at the caretaker's cabin while searching for clues regarding Rosie's assault, Denise confirmed it was the same bottle Blake had purchased that night at the bar.

Denise later called Jenny and Cassie to tell them a body had been discovered on the Kleinsasser ranch, a possible suicide. She also called Cassie later to tell her they'd gotten a tip about Ronald, so Cassie returned to Helena to investigate it. When she got there, Denise played the message for Cassie and Mark left by Mary Leyendecker, who claimed to have seen Ronald. Denis believed it was genuine because Mary sounded scared, making them believe she'd really seen him. Jenny later called Denise to give her the name Cole Danvers, which she'd gotten from Cheyenne. Denise found a missing persons report which had been dropped as Cole was an adult, but promised to do a more thorough search and get back to Jenny.

Denise later gave Jenny the address for Nora Danvers, the mother Cole Danvers. As Jenny had just been in a motel that was hit by a truck, Denise asked Jenny to promise to go home and rest before going to the house to see her.

Denise stayed at the office while Mark went to go find Scarlet when they were able to ping her cell phone. He insisted that Jerrie should stay behind, but later, when Scarlet's phone showed her heading back to town, Denise knew Jerrie would be leaving and told her to be safe.

After Ronald was arrested and they prepared to interrogate them, Denise gave Jenny the Legarski file and everything they had on the syndicate. She and Jerrie then found out that Scarlet, the woman Ronald was with then he was arrested who was assumed to be a victim, had been in a facility for the criminally insane when she was sixteen, for an unknown reason.

## Relationships

### Familial

She has a cousin named Sally who was once married to Rick Legarski.

## References

1. ↑ Pilot, 1x01
2. ↑ Nowhere to Run, 1x02
3. ↑ Unfinished Business, 1x04
4. ↑ A Good Day to Die, 1x05
5. ↑ The Wolves Are Always Out for Blood, 1x06
6. ↑ I Fall to Pieces, 1x07
7. ↑ The End is Near, 1x08
8. ↑ Let It Be Him, 1x09
9. ↑ Catastrophic Thinking, 1x10
10. ↑ No Better Than Dogs, 1x12
11. ↑ White Lion, 1x13
12. ↑ Nice Animals, 1x14
13. ↑ Bitter Roots, 1x15
14. ↑ Love is a Strange and Dangerous Thing, 1x16
15. ↑ Pilot, 1x01