TV Show: Fargo
Network: FX
Grade: B+
Luverne, Minnesota was a calm place before the events of “Fargo” took place. Now, it seems every facet of life is being uprooted.
The Gerhardts are losing their footing at the negotiation table, Betsy Solverson (Cristin Milioti) is losing her battle with cancer and the Blumquists’ deception has been all but found out.
So who is benefitting from all this chaos?
Certainly not the police, who are still trying to solve the three-person homicide at a Waffle House.
Dodd Gerhardt (Jeffery Donovan) is one of the most brutal characters outside of “American Horror Story”to grace our TV screens this season. He’s the enforcer in the family business, putting fear into anyone who would dare cross the Gerhardts.
In “Fear and Trembling,” we see Dodd in his boyhood killing a man for the sake of his family and a grown up Dodd beating up two men from the Kansas City gang in a doughnut shop out of a fiery devotion to his family. The move costs the Gerhardts any chance of peace or stability.
It would seem that the Kansas City gang has the most to gain from a chaotic Minnesota and North Dakota. It’s looking to expand its power in the north and what better way to do that then to shake up the gang that currently controls the region.
Unlike Dodd – who seems to attack people without a larger plan – Mike Milligan (Bokeem Woodbine), the bruiser for the Kansas City gang, is clinical. After sleeping with Dodd’s daughter to get information on the Gerhardts, Mike Milligan and his two henchman set up an attack on Otto Gerhardt (Michael Hogan).
Dodd’s brutality and unpredictability leads to a falling out at the negotiation table between the Gerhardts and the Kansas City gang. It seems his own violent actions have guaranteed more violent actions.
In an unexpected moment of vulnerability, Dodd rests his head on his mother’s shoulder, seeming to realize the trouble his actions have landed his family in.
Meanwhile, Ohanzee Dent (Zahn McClarnon) figures out that the Blumquists killed Rye almost unrealistically quickly. Ohanzee doesn’t make a single mistake or hesitate for a second.
From finding a piece of glass to finding their car in the first auto repair shop he sees to finding Rye’s belt buckle in the Blumquists’ fire place, his detective skills are just too good to be believable.
Lou Solverson (Patrick Wilson), piggybacking on Ohanzee’s detective work, figures out that the Blumquists committed the crime after piecing together a few extra clues, making his realization much more realistic.
You almost have to feel for the Blumquists. They seemed like they were out of the woods and going to get away with a hit and run.
Their conversations had shifted from how to cover up a murder to domestic arguments over how to spend their money. Then, they come up to Lou sitting on their porch.
In one of the best moments of the series so far, Lou levels with the Blumquists, straightforwardly saying that he knows they killed Rye and that, more pressingly, the Gerhardts know the Blumquists killed Rye.
He tells them of his harrowing experience in Vietnam of seeing men who were dying in the mud, not knowing they were about to die. Everyone looking on knew.
And perhaps everyone watching “Fargo”can tell the Blumquists are in much deeper trouble than they realize.
Dan McKeon is a contributing arts writer. Arts desk can be reached at arts@ubspectrum.com.
