Friday, November 6, 2015

What I’m Watching: Fargo


Fargo: Season 2, Episode 4 “Fear and Trembling” (B+)

This episode had a renewed focus on the mob conflict in the Midwest while also allowing Lou to make some solid progress in his own local case. Starting with Otto’s 1951 murder of a competitor with the help of a very young Dodd, whose early kill helps to explain how he has turned into the man he is in 1979. Unfortunately, Dodd’s enthusiasm for violence and shows of strength manifested themselves at a bad time, as his donut shop beatdown prompted Joe to declare that nothing short of unconditional surrender would be accepted. Floyd vowing to go to war ensures that plenty of innocent people will get caught in the crosshairs, especially those living in Minnesota, which finds itself right along the way from Kansas City to Fargo. The news that Simone is sleeping with Mike and that she’s more than willing to see her father killed as part of the conflict is interesting, and that will all but certainly complicate matters and end up resulting in more people dead. I love that Nick Offerman’s Karl reasserted himself into the story with a solid save after a serious visit to the bathroom, and he helped tip Lou off to the fact that Ed is hiding something big. Lou put it all together in a very impressive way, and Peggy’s insistence on keeping it all secret is only going to get them into bigger trouble than admitting to the crime ever would. Something tells me Peggy will make it out alive and Ed will be forced to suffer the consequences. Having Betsy find out about the clinical trial put a damper on things, but it was an exquisitely filmed and written scene.

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