Showing posts with label Allison Tolman. Show all posts

Archer S6E4 - "Edie's Wedding" Recap


Pam is an emotional wreck at work and Archer considers ignoring her but opts to ask what's wrong instead. Pam says her sister is getting married and has only asked Pam to be a bridesmaid instead of maid of honour. The main of honour instead is a woman named who had "stolen" a boy whom Pam had liked. Archer offers to be Pam's date to the wedding, which will be in rural Wisconsin.

When Pam and Archer head to the airport, they're spotted by Barry Dylan, who decides to follow them to Wisconsin and enact his revenge. Lana is angry to learn that Archer has run off because he was supposed to look after the baby while Lana went to survival camp. When Pam's sister Edie shows up to the motel, Pam attacks her. When Edie starts throwing verbal low-blows, Pam runs out upset and gets abducted by Barry.

Barry calls Archer to tell him about kidnapping Pam and that the abandoned farm they're heading to, Edie knows the location of. Edie doesn't want to help so Archer knocks her out and kidnaps her to make her do so. Archer and Barry start to fight while Edie begins insulting Pam. Edie attacks Barry instead when he insults her. Pam ends up saving Barry when he's choking her by shooting her with Archer's explosive shotgun shells. The group sets the farm on fire and leave but Barry's mechanical endoskeleton is still alive. Edie is furious to learn that her husband cheated on her at the rehearsal dinner and when Edie yells at Pam, demanding to know if she's happy for ruining her life, Pam says yes and that it's all she ever wanted.

Archer airs on Thursdays on FX at 10PM.

Fargo S1E10 (Finale) - "Morton's Fork" Recap


Lester heads into his Insurance company and looks over yet another dead wife. He then heads to Lou's coffee shop and orders food and drinks for him and his wife. He feigns needing to use the restroom before sneaking out the side door and calling with a voice/accent change to call in the sound of gun fire. Lou informs Lester a man had come asking for him and that he didn't like his demeanour.

Molly is called regarding the murder and arrives on the scene with the chief. Lester comes in and puts on quite the show of a grieving husband. Molly tries to ask if there's any connection to the murders in Las Vegas. Lester is about to be escorted out but asks if he can say goodbye, which the chief gladly allows. He tries to retrieve the tickets to Mexico from his jacket pocket but Molly tells him he can't touch the body.

Malvo is listening in on the investigation with his police scanner and grabs some knives in a cabin in the woods.

Pepper and Budge are at the station and are filled in on the finding of the tickets and the fact that the gunshot was close-range to the back of the head, execution style. Lou provides Molly with an alibi for Lester but does let her know about Malvo stopping by, asking about Lester. He was driving a Red BMW but he can't be certain his face matches the blurred surveillance footage of Malvo that Maolly shows him. She asks him to call Gus for her and say it's going to be all night. He says he'll do better and get his gun and sit on their front porch to make sure his granddaughter is safe.

Pepper and Budge are brought into the interrogation room to ask Lester some questions. They try to ask about Malvo but Lester won't talk without a lawyer, shouting that his wife is dead. Molly warns him that Malvo's not going to stop.

The following morning, Gus finds Lou on his porch and is horrified to learn of the new murder and the threat of Malvo. Gus tells Lou to keep an eye on his daughter while he goes after Molly. Gus calls Molly and warns her to be safe and not leave the building until Malvo is dead. He tehn hits the brakes to avoid hitting a wolf and notices a red BMW near a cabin in the woods. Gus pulls around the side and sneaks closer on foot. He sees Malvo come out of the cabin and drive off in the car. Gus sneaks into the cabin.

Molly updates the Chief, who says he's quitting after this since he doesn't have the stomach for it. He tells Molly he didn't see before but does now that she has the right instincts to take over and asks her to think over the idea of doing so after she has had the baby. She says she will and they discuss the plan they have to trap Malvo. What they don't know is that he is parked right outside. He calls the office pretending to be an FBI chief and uses it as a way to get the names of the agents. He then calls FBI, pretending to be Budge and cancels the back-up Budge had just called. He then heads to a dealership to get a new car.

Lester is told he's being let go and that Agents Pepper and Budge will drive him home to protect his safety. Before leaving, Lester tells Molly that he's not the monster she thinks he is. He's dropped off by the agents, who stay put to guard him from outside. Molly later tells the receptionist who had unknowingly spoken to Malvo that she's heading out but to call her when back-up arrives.

At Lester's home, Pepper and Budge spot a black car roll up and they approach with their weapons drawn, ordering the driver to step out. They find the car salesman inside with his hands duct-taped to the steering wheel. Malvo comes up from behind and shoots Pepper in the head and Budge in the throat. As Malvo reaches the car, the salesman asks him to spare him, saying he has a little girl.

Malvo heads for the house and Lester sees him coming. He tricks Malvo into thinking he's in the bathroom but then he gets caught in a bear trap set up by Lester, who comes up from behind and shoots at him. Malvo throws something hard at his face, causing Lester's nose to bleed, thus echoing the show's premiere and their introduction. Lester flees into the next room and Malvo shoots at him through the door. Lester shoots back but then all goes quiet. After a moment, Lester goes back in and finds that Malvo has gotten out of the bear trap and follows the blood trail down the stairs and outside where he finds that Malvo has driven off.

Malvo arrives back at his cabin and begins tending to his leg wound. It's quite nasty and it reaches all the way to the now-exposed bone. Once he re-sets it, he spots a wolf outside. Gus then reveals himself, with his weapon exposed. He tells Malvo he's figured out the riddle he had presented to him and when Malvo asks for the answer, Gus fires at him multiple times. Malvo doesn't die at first, but stares menacingly at him with blood coming out of his mouth. Gus fires more shots and finally, Malvo dies.

Later, Molly and other law enforcement arrive on scene. Gus shows Molly inside and points out a case in which Malvo has several labelled cassette tapes. Molly pulls out the one with Lester's name on it, plays it, and hears the call Lester had made to Malvo asking for help right after he killed his first wife.

2 weeks later, Lester is pursued by local law enforcement, fleeing on a snowmobile in the woods. Lester crashes onto the open frozen lake and begins running while the officers shout at him to stop. The ice begins to crack beneath his feet and he falls through it.

Molly gets a call informing her of Lester's death and then she heads into the living room to join her family who are sitting watching television. Gus tells her he's going to be receiving commendations for his bravery. His daughter says he's not brave and cites his fear of spiders. He responds by saying that Buzz Aldrin was afraid of spiders and went into space. Gus tells Molly she is the one who should be receiving the award but she is fine with it, reminding him that she gets to be chief.

Fargo S1E9 - "A Fox, a Rabbit, and a Cabbage" Recap


Malvo has been posing as a dentist named Dr. McMike in Kansas City. At a party, he speaks with Dr. Burt Canton, who reveals the location of his brother who had been put into witness protection after testifying against the mob in Chicago. Burt invites Malvo to tag along with him to Las Vegas to meet him. Malvo replies, "Aces."

In Las Vegas, Lester comes over to Malvo at his table, showing off his plaque for Insurance Salesman of the Year. Malvo pretends not to know him and ushers his group of people away but quietly warns Lester to "walk away." Lester remains undeterred and follows after them into an elevator. Lester says he's worked too hard and Malvo menacingly questions him if this is what he wants. When Lester answers yes, Malvo quickly shoots his three "friends" dead in the elevator. Malvo tells Lester that's on him. Malvo's less than pleased, as he had spent six months working on this guy. Malvo tries to get Lester to help him dispose of the bodies, but instead he strikes Lester over the head and runs off with Malvo calmly calling out that he'll see him later, see him soon. Lester returns to his room and tells his wife to get dressed and pack everything up, after which they hurry back to Bemidji.

Molly gets a call about the elevator murders and is asked to question Lester as a possible witness. She later manages to weasel her way into their home by using her pregnant condition. Malvo is closing in on Lester, visiting his old home and asking the new owners how to find where he is currently. Molly's questioning Lester about Last Vegas and Linda picks up on the fact that he's in trouble so she covers for him by saying that she was homesick and therefore wanted to leave early. Molly tells them to stay in town and Linda almost tells her they were about to leave to Acalpulco but Lester manages to stop her before she spills.

Agents Budge and Pepper get word that Deputy Solverson (Molly - without a first name, they assumed it was a man) has been making frequent calls and claims to know who committed the murders that got them stuck working in the file room. They head to Bemidji where Molly shows them her whiteboard of her theory. Chief Oswalt comes in and is disappointed that Molly is showing them her theories and tries to apologise for her doing so but Agent Pepper asks him if he doesn't care that Malvo was seen at the hospital with Lester or that he ended up in Duluth in direct conflict with the Fargo henchmen. Agent Budge tells Molly she has done tremendous work and adds that he'll be questioning Lester in the morning.

Lester grabs Linda and they head off to his office to pick up their passports so they can leave. She relays a sweet story about how she always had a crush on him, coming to America at the age of three, and their love story has made her feel like Cinderella. Upon arriving at the office, he tells Linda that he's tweaked his back and asks her to go inside and retrieve the documents. He also gives her his coat, telling her to put her hood up so her lovely face doesn't freeze, and I might also add that he was seen printing out just one one-way ticket to Mexico. Lester is truly beyond redemption now. He watches from outside as the silhouette of Malvo is shown to shoot Linda right in the head, after which he checks the body and sees that the body is not in fact Lester. Malvo steps outside and lights himself a cigarette while Lester is still sat in his car.

Fargo airs on Tuesdays on FX at 10PM.

Fargo S1E8 - "The Heap" Recap


Lester has a new washing machine delivered to his place and it's symbolic of his starting life anew, following his getting away with murdering his wife. Molly has recovered from being shot and is more determined than ever to get Lester put behind bars but the Chief is having none of it.

Mrs. Hess comes storming in to confront Lester over the fact that she didn't receive any of the life insurance she thought would be coming to her following her tryst with Lester. She wants two million dollars by the end of the day and tries to have her sons beat Lester up to make a point. He in turn smacks each of them in the face with a stapler, insisting that everyone stay calm. He promises to make some calls but adds that if her husband missed some payments, they're well within their rights to not give her her claim.

Agents Pepper and Budge get assigned indefinitely to the file room for being sat in the car while 22 people were killed (by Lorne). Lorne pays a visit to Mr. Wrench and recruit him to work for him, informing him that he is no unemployed since all his bosses have been killed. He also gives Wrench the key to the handcuffs, telling him to come see him before heading out.

Fast-forward a year to 2007. Molly is pregnant and has moved in with her baby-daddy Gus and his daughter Greta. She also hasn't gotten over her investigation into Lester and Lorne and continues to try to find a way to take them down.

Lester wins a Salesman of the Year award and has gotten married to his co-worker, Linda. But a little while later, he's at the bar alone when he spots Malvo at a table and his new-found confidence seems to falter. All the memories of what he's done seem to come rushing back and things no longer seem so resolved.

Fargo airs on Tuesdays on FX at 10PM.

Fargo S1E7 - "Who Shaves the Barber?" Recap


The gun Lester planted falls out of his nephew's backpack at school and needless to say, things begin to kick off. Police officers head to her home with a warrant in hand and say that they have announced little Gordo. They cut the lock on the weapon cabinet and find the murder weapon, the undergarments, and incriminating photos.

Lester is brought in for questioning by the police chief. They know his hand wound is from a shotgun pellet that places him at the scene of the murder. But now with all the planted evidence, signs point to his brother Chaz. He falsely confesses that he heard Chaz arguing with his wife, the murder, and the eventual death of Chief Thurman. Following this, he walks out and seems pleased with himself. Chaz shouts out to him from his cell but Lester carries on walking.

Molly wakes in the hospital and Gus tells her one of the criminals is upstairs after she shot him twice. Gus tells her that he was the one who shot her, accidentally, because he couldn't see well through the blizzard. She seems okay with what happened, not blaming him in the slightest. She'll need a new spleen but apart from that, she's doing fine. Gus heads out when her father comes in to visit.

Lester arrives at home and calls for a cleaner since his place has still yet to be tended to following the murders.

Malvo is actually shown to be in Reno, Nevada to enquire after those that came after him. After getting his confirmation, he heads off to take out the Fargo operation.

Molly goes to visit Mr. Wrench and they communicate through lip-reading and a whiteboard. She tells him his partner is dead and tries to get information about Malvo and Lester but as he becomes non-communicative, she gets a bit existential on him, noting that he's going to spend the rest of his life in jail and for what? But she's still investigating and piecing things together regarding what really happened with Malvo and Lester.

Lester goes to visit Gina Hess, as he is supposed to tell her that Sam had stopped paying the premiums on their policy. He uses this as an opportunity to get her to have sex with him by implying that she'll better be able to get the money with his help. It's pounding, vengeful sex as he stares hatefully at the photo of her with Sam on the wall.

Molly returns to the station and learns of Chaz's being incriminated. She's not happy to learn that all of what she has pieced together has been undermined. She heads back outside and momentarily looks as if she'll lose it, as her father asks if she's okay, but I doubt that she'll be down for long.

Fargo airs on Tuesdays on FX at 10PM.

Fargo S1E6 - "Burdian's Ass" Recap


A group of men who are members of crime syndicate are shown to be having dinner at an Asian restaurant. The leader says the name, "Sam Hess," and it's his men (Mr. Numbers and Mr. Wrench) that are pursuing Sam's killer. Another man at the table, with an Australian accent, relays the findings from those henchmen to give an update as to their progress. It doesn't appear to be connected to Sam's business but may have something to do with an extramarital affair of his wife's. They are on their way to apprehend the person who they think is responsible but the leader sternly insists that he wants the killer dead and not apprehended.

Malvo lets Don Chumph out of the closet and then has him call Stavros using a voice scrambler and read the following message: "Once upon a time, there was a little boy. He was born in a field and raised in the woods. And he had nothing. In the winter the boy would freeze and in the the summer, he would boil. He knew the name of every stinging insect. At night, he would look at the lights in the houses and he would want. Why was he outside and they'd be in? Why was he so hungry and they fed? It should be me, he said. And out of the darkness, the wolves came whispering." The time and place for the ransom drop is set.

Gus tells Molly that his neighbour spotted a shady character outside the apartment building and he was real menacing along with having a police scanner. The neighbour got a plate number which Gus ran and traced back to a grocery chain (Stavros' grocery chain).

Lester is recovering at the hospital and is alarmed to find see there is an officer sitting outside his room that will dictate if and when he can go home. He checks his window to see if he could escape through it but finds that it won't budge. He gets back in bed when he hears someone coming and finds it his brother Chazz, demanding to know what he has done. He tells Lester he is a suspect in the murders and angrily tells him not to lie to him. Lester tells Chazz he needs to stand by him but Chazz tells him he's done with him and that he has been a burden to him his entire life. Lester then moves the patient next to him into his bed and wraps his own face in bandages so he is wheeled out in disguise. When left alone, he dresses in some stolen clothes and leaves the hospital.

Malvo sets Don up by duct-taping him in place and a gun to his hand before sending out some shots that bait the local law enforcement to come there so there's no one to get in the way of the blackmail exchange.

Lester makes it back to his place and retrieves the hammer from the hole in the wall behind the poster in the basement. He takes the weapons and a pair of Pearl's undergarments and plants them in Chazz's arsenal of weapons. He also takes one of the revolvers and plants it in Chazz's son Gordo's backpack. As he is leaving, he is spotted by little Gordo, who merely looks at him for a moment before turning away, leaving Lester to walk out being noticed by no one else.

The police officers surround the house in which Don is trapped. His mouth is taped shut and he can't get outside. He is told that if he doesn't come out, they'll start blasting. There's a wire rig set up so that when they police approach, a rifle in the window begins shooting. All the police officers then begin shooting into the house while Malvo listens in on the commotion from his police scanner. The police approach again and upon knocking the front door open, all they're able to see is a figure with a gun and Don is shut dead with countless bullets.

Malvo's car is rammed and the Misters begin shooting at him with machine guns. Amazingly, he manages to get away and then lays a trap for them by nicking his hand with a knife and creating a blood trail. He stabs Mister Numbers with a knife, demanding to know who sent him and when he says "Fargo," Malvo cuts his throat.

Malvo, likely due to some religious delusion, decides to skip the blackmail exchange and goes out to the snowy fence line where he first found the money in 1987. When there, he buries the suitcase filled with a million dollars and marks it with the red-handled windshield scraper just as he had found it. He begins driving back to town to meet his son Dmitri but then stops upon finding that the road is littered with dying fish. He discovers his henchman Wally facedown in the snow and his car overturned. Inside, his son Dmitri is dead. This of course mimics the plague Stavros had likely feared the most: the death of the first-born son. He cries in the snow and looks up at the sky, saying, "I gave it back."

Finally, we see Lester sneak back into the hospital. He sits in his hospital bed as if he had never left and after a long silent moment, he smiles.

Fargo airs on Tuesdays on FX at 10PM.

Fargo S1E5 - "The Six Ungraspables" Recap


The men in the cell with Lester are able to muscle Malvo's name out of him by pressing on his irritated hand wound and stuffing a dirty sock in his mouth. Lester's not one to do well with torture so he gave up the name and shortly after, the men are told they're free to go since their bail has been paid.

Deputy Molly gives Malvo's name to her boss who has been continually pushing her investigative pursuits aside. But he's finally reached a point where Molly has pieced too much together to ignore. She gets permission to question him again but also learns of his recent arrest. When they go to pick him up, they find him delirious and rambling. An ambulance is called to tend to his hand wound. Molly asks him while en route to the hospital if she paid Lorne Malvo to kill his wife. He says repeatedly that he never paid him but she believes that a deal was made. Lester, still delirious, neither confirms nor denies this.

Malvo is still working Stavros from both angles of pretend-protector and blackmailer. Stavros gathers a million dollars from his safe while his son Dmitri tries to tell him he has learned that the crickets were lizard food and that he had called around to various pet stores. Stavros cuts Dmitri off and simply wants him taken somewhere safe.

Molly learns from the doctor at the hospital that Lester's injury is a pellet wound. She then gets the good news that Chief Thurman's wife has given birth to a baby girl named Bernadette. She sneaks a visit to Lester's home, noting the blood stain still on the floor and going down to the basement where she examines the laundry machine.

Malvo picks Stavros up and talks about wolves and their hunting, killing ways. They reach their destination and Malvo open the trunk, preparing to grab the briefcase full of money but Stavros brushes him off, saying that they're done and attempts to give him his pay. He tells Malvo he can stay but he has to leave at dawn.

Molly calls Gus from Lester's basement and makes plans to meet him the following day. Gus is feeling insecure about how to proceed with his investigation of Malvo. Malvo pulls up outside Gus' apartment building and Gus' neighbour, Ziskind, tries to scare him off as a member of the neighbourhood watch. Malvo isn't afraid in the slightest, and offers a not-so-subtle threat to him by noting how people think they're safe on a second story and therefore don't install an alarm system. They might also save money by not hooking the alarm up to the phone line so the noise will go off but no one comes to rescues them. Malvo had been using his new walkie-talkie to listen to Gus' daughter Greta exchanging homework answers with her friend. Malvo then drives off.

Molly visits Ida, the chief's widow, and lets her know that he is working hard to find her husband's killer. She then heads to Lester's room and stares for a moment before heading out, while he pretends to be asleep.

Fargo airs on FX on Tuesdays at 10PM.

Fargo S1E4 - "Eating the Blame" Recap


First, a flashback shows a young Stavros Milos who ends up stranded after running out of gas in the middle of nowhere in Minnesota with his wife and child. They're running away from debt and Stavros ends up face down in the snow where he takes a moment to pray. He then spots something sticking out the snow and goes over where he finds it is a windshield scraper. He uses it to dig at that spot and finds a briefcase full of hundred dollar bills. It is safe to see this as a nod to the "Fargo" film. Stavros gets back into the car and repeatedly tells his wife that God is real.

Present day Stavros learns from a plumber that there is no explanation why he was showered with blood. The plumber asks if he knows the Bible and quotes, "And God sent a plague of blood upon the land," before teasing Stavros and saying he had better get right with the Lord.

Gus spots Malvo standing outside Stavros' home and pulls his car over, holding him at gunpoint and telling him to put his phone down. He tries to arrest him, but doesn't have a proper reason to cuff him and take him in to the station, but does so anyway. Also, he doesn't read him his rights so anything Malvo says wouldn't be inadmissible in court. He later calls Molly to let her know about the arrest he made and she promises to be there as soon as she can. She lets her boss, Chief Oswalt, know and he is annoyed that she was notified instead of the officer in charge. He then heads to Duluth without her.

Lester returns to his home with his brother and note that the blood is still as it was. Lester's hand is still bothering him and his hand is swelling more. When he is alone, he gets a call from one of the Fargo men asking him if killing Sam was worth it since now he had been seen by them cozying up to Sam's widow. They discuss the theory of his being after her insurance money. Mr. Wrench angrily signs at Mr. Numbers in a diner that Lester needs to confess to his crimes. But Mr. Wrench insists that they need solid proof of his being the one to commit the crime.

At Duluth, Chief Oswalt notes that they need solid proof that the man they have in custody is indeed the one who was driving Lester's car. The security footage is too grainy by his standards. When the two police chiefs question Molvo, he claims to be Frank Peterson, a minister with a catarct in one eye and a heart condition. He employs a Minnesota accent and changes his body language to make himself seem non-threatening. He claims to have been playing bingo and had concocted support for his alibi by threatening one of his contacts.

Molly is still pursuing the investigation and is able to track down the owners of the motel where Malvo stayed and finds the name "Lorne Malvo" in their books. She calls Gus to give him the name and Gus then tries to tell Chief Bill, who is already letting Malvo go as his story checked out. As Malvo is walking out, Gus asks him how he can lie like that. Malvo is prepared to walk out again but then Gus calls him by his real name. Malvo simply presents him with a riddle: "Did you know the human eye can see more shades of green than any other colour? Why?" He says once Gus figures out the answer to that, he will have the answer he seeks.

Lester gets a call that his car isn't ready yet since a forensic team is looking at it. Right as he finishes the call, the men from Fargo blindsight him and throw him into the trunk of their car. He calls his brother while trapped but when his brother offers to call the cops, Lester tells him not to and plays it off like it's not a big deal. Lester does have a taser he had stolen from Chaz and keeps it in hiding while the Fargo brothers drag him out onto a frozen lake. While one drills a hole, the other is trying to make him admit his guilt. Lester manages to tase him and runs away into the woods. He comes across a police officer and tries to ask for a ride, which the officer initially refuses. But then Lester lightly punches him in the nose, he is arrested, and then gets that ride he wanted while the brothers watch from afar.

Stavros is losing patience fast and snaps at his son. Stavros spots a cockraoch on his desk and then smashes it with his memoir. He then begins to hear more, spotting some around them and then hears scream from his store where he finds that a countless amount are loose while his customers are running out. He then receives a voice-modulated call demanding a million dollars and warning him that God is watching. Stavros repeats the sentiment, "God is real," while Malvo stands on the roof of the store watching the chaos below.

Mr. Numbers and Mr. Wrench deliberately get into a fight at a bar in order to get arrested and end up in the same jail cell as Lester.

Gus meets Molly at a diner and tells her that she was right about Malvo's name and mentions the riddle. She has the answer: Predators. When people used to be monkeys in the wood, they needed to be able to discern many colours so they could detect enemies and prevent themselves from becoming prey. Gus asks where they will go next and she replies, "Lester."

Fargo airs on Tuesdays on FX at 10PM.

Fargo S1E3 - "A Muddy Road" Recap


Deputy Molly Solverson is on the case of the frozen dead man and tracks him back to his office where she watches grainy surveillance footage of Malvo dragging him out of the building by his tie. The man's name is Phil McCormick and we see that he had plead to Malvo about paying some money back but ended up in the boot of Malvo's car. Meanwhile, Malvo is shown to be hijacking the blackmail scheme against Stavros, forcibly recruiting the trainer Don Chumph to work for him.

Gus Grimly runs the plates he had jotted down when pulling Malvo over and finds that the car belonged to Lester Nygaard, which proves suspicious given his recent wife's murder. Lester is show to still be struggling with the guilt of his actions and the fact that they resulted in the murder of the police chief. He later has to visit Hess' widow to deal with the life insurance claim and then she begins serving his whiskey and climbing on top of him. Her sons are shown to be rough housing outside and the men from Fargo are also spying on him, causing Lester to sink down and hide.

Malvo kills King, Stavros' dog and when Stavros finds his bloody body in the snow, there is a new blackmail note near it. Malvo had also snuck in to put some Adderall in his prescription.

Lester's hand wound isn't doing so well. He is visited at work by the Fargo men who enquire about his visit to Sam Hess' widow. They're quite certain that he's not as innocent as he claims to be but their questioning is interrupted by Molly who comes in claiming to want information about buying insurance. She clumsily drops some of her files and Lester spots a photograph of the footage showing Malvo's face.

Stavros tells Malvo about the new ransom demand and his dead dog, demanding that Malvo find the culprit. Malvo uses this opportunity to ask to move in until he can find them. Malvo also asks him if he is Greek orthodox because of some stain-glass windows in his office and Stavros is cryptic in answering the question.

Molly tries to show her new evidence to Chief Bill Oswalt but he still won't listen to her. She is visited by Gus Grimly who tells her about his letting a driver go in Lester's car and recognises Malvo's face from her surveillance photo. He tells her how Malvo had threatened him (somewhat). She is thrilled to learn that Lester's car is in the shop, thinking that it will help his investigation.

Lester asks his brother which of his guns makes the biggest hole, no doubt looking to defend himself against another visit from the Fargo men. He and Lester head outside with a large machine gun and have a bit of fun shooting it into the night. Malvo's voice is heard telling the story of Moses while Stavros steps into the shower and beings screaming when the water turns to blood.

Fargo airs on Tuesdays on FX at 10PM.

Fargo S1E2 - "The Rooster Prince" Recap


Strangers arrive at Hess & Sons to meet with Max Gold, the man who is overseeing the shady business following Hess' death. The men want to determine whether or not Hess' death was connected to "the business" and are pointed in the direction of a man with a cut on his head who wanted to take a look at Sam. The men make it clear that they intend to kill the man who killed Sam once they determine who it is.

Lester is at the wake for his wife and still worrying about his hand injury from the shot that killed Chief Thurman. Lester is approached by his brother Chaz who enquires as to whether he will be selling his home and offers that he stay with him and his wife instead. Lester returns to his home, which is still in a state of disarray and flashes back to the crime.

Deputy officer Molly Solverson visits Chief Thurman's grave, and appears intent on finding his killer. She tells the new chief, Bill, that they should talk to Lester about Thurman's death. Bill went to high school with Lester and recounts tales of his propensity for fainting and doesn't believe he is capable of murdering anyone. His theory is that it was a home invasion, possibly drug-related.

Lester becomes emotional when going through his wife's clothes. The doorbell rings and it's Bill and Molly who have come to question him. Bill greets him with friendliness and asks after him while Molly grows increasingly persistent in getting Lester's statement and pointing out that Thurman had come to visit him to enquire after Sam Hess. She also points out his meeting a man in the hospital emergency room. Molly becomes even more suspicious when Bill talks about the fact that Hess loved to bully Lester in high school. Bill shares his drifter theory and Lester tells them that he has a concussion and things are still rather fuzzy.

Malvo intimidates a mailroom clerk to get a package without showing ID. He has received a new identity from whomever it is that he has been working for. He will now be known as Frank Peterson, a minister, and his new client is Stavros Milos, the so-called Supermarket King of Minnestota. Malvo visits Milos, who shows him a blackmail letter that reads, "I know about the money pay me 43,613 or I tell the world." He tells Malvo that he believes his soon to be ex-wife, who is suing him, is the one who is blackmailing him. Malvo heads out and steals the car of some random person who left it running.

Gus Grimly, the police officer who pulled over Malvo and let him go, learns at work about the murders in Bemidji (Grimly works in Duluth). Grimly looks over the ticket that he never finished filling out, but does have the license plate number from the car. He returns home and has dinner with his daughter, who speaks to him about bullies. They have a discussion where he says that his job as her father comes before his job as a police officer.

The mystery men from the episode's beginning take a man named Lenny captive after he insults them at the strip club at which Hess was killed. They toss him in the boot of their car and bring him to Gold, who says he is not the man who had visited Hess. Meanwhile, Malvo is visiting Milos' ex and her trainer Don. Malvo pretends to be a colleague of her lawyer and learns that Milos is worth more money than he had admitted to.

Malvo is back in his motel room and listens to an interview recording of a man admitting he threatened a woman. He then notes that the blackmail letter has the same bronzer that Milos' ex's trainer had on his hand. A man comes to visit Malvo and attempt to intimidate him but Malvo responds by dropping his trousers, sitting on the toilet, and taking a sh*t with the door wide open for the man to see.

Lester is shown to have stashed the murder weapon behind a back panel behind the washing machine before moving in with his brother and sister-in-law. He tells them he intends to sell his home and get a fresh start. His sister-in-law bumps his hand so he heads to the pharmacy in search of something to prevent infection. Unfortunately for him, he runs into Molly who wants to continue her questioning. He finally tells her he is feeling harassed and leaves the pharmacy without taking the ointment he had requested. Molly tells him in the parking lot that he might not be getting in the right car but he says it is his wife's car as his is in the shop. She continues to say she doesn't believe this is all a coincidence but Lester tells her to talk to Bill, her boss, and stop harassing him.

Molly tells her father at his restaurant about the case, as he used to be a cop. He expresses concern for her, talking about the evils cops see, saying that what she's currently dealing with is especially bad. Bill comes in and reprimands Molly after receiving a call from Lester to report her harassment. She disobeyed his orders and he is the new chief, so as punishment, she gets pulled off the case. As a consolation, she is put in charge of the investigation of the dead naked man instead.

Fargon's goons pull Lenny out of their trunk while out on the middle of a frozen lake. While one drags Lenny, the other drills a hole in the ice. Lenny's hands are bound and he is dropped into the hole in the ice.

Fargo airs on Tuesdays on FX at 10PM.

Fargo S1E1 - "The Crocodile's Dilemma" Recap


In the opening of FX's new series, Fargo, we see Lorne Malvo (Billy Bob Thronton) crash his car to try to avoid hitting a deer. It's then that a nearly-nude man escapes from the trunk of his car. We then see Lester Nygaard (Martin Freeman) having breakfast with his wife Pearl (Kelly Holden Bashar). She is nagging him about how his career is not progressing as nicely as his brother. She tells him he should try more, smile, and wear a nicer tie, even though she bought him that tie.

Later, Lester is bullied on the street by a local jerk and bully from their school days named Sam Ness, who is grooming his sons to be as much of a goon as him. After insulting him and his wife, and threatening him, he frightens Lester into walking into a window. Lester breaks his nose and ends up in the hospital lobby, sitting near Lorne.

Lorne is curious about Lester and asks him how he broke his nose. As the conversation continues, Lorne is able to coax more and more details out of Lester. Lorne tells him that if he had been in that position, he would have killed that man. Lester seems taken aback by Lorne's deadpan delivery. Lester offhandedly jokes that Lorne should kill him but Lorne questions whether he is serious. The conversation is punctuated with background strings screeching, which may be likened to that heard in the climactic scene of Psycho.

Lorne asks him to just give him a "yes" or "no" answer and Lester is too shocked to answer before heading off to get his nose tended to. Some local officers find Lorne's car off the road, with blood on the steering wheel. They find a dead deer in the trunk and blood footprints leading away from the vehicle. They follow the footprints and find the dead man frozen in the woods that had previously escaped from Lorne's trunk.

Later, Lorne visits Sam's sons and finds them rough housing. He tells them they're doing it wrong and instructs them on how to fight before they ask what he wants. He smirks when they begin bickering like children. Sam comes down with some associates and Lorne makes a snide remark about Sam's younger son. His sons tell their dad to hit him but he says he will restrain himself since he has a head injury. Lorne says he just wanted to get a look at him, scopes him out, and walks out. It's a continuation of Lorne's eerie mannerisms that leave viewers wandering what is brewing beneath the surface.

Lester and Pearl head to his brother's place for a family dinner and it's little more than another tedious suburban occasion. That is until Lester's brother shows him his collection of illegal weapons. His brother is angry when Lester drops a weapon and they argue about his life of being a screw-up. He says that Pearl has grown fed-up with him and that sometimes he tells his co-workers he has dead because it's less embarrassing that way. Lester ends up hitting his brother when he makes one too many insults to him. I have to wonder if that collection of weapons will make another appearance down the line.

Lorne has a phone call with a man for whom he had apparently committed the murder. He then pays a visit to the local strip club where Sam is having sex with a stripper, that she's pretending to enjoy, and stabs him in the head. The same officers from before are called to the scene and they discuss rumours of Sam being involved with organised crime and gun trafficking. The female officer who poses the theory, Molly Thorne, almost seems intrigued at the possibility of having such a serious crime take place in their small town.

Lorne is shown to be an agent of chaos that gets off on manipulating the people around him. He gets the woman who runs the motel at which he is staying to attack a boy she had been mistreating after first getting the boy to urinate in her gasoline tank. Then he calls Sam Hess' elder son posing as the one in charge of his father's estate to tell him that all of his assets have been left to Sam's younger son, prompting the boy to call his brother outside and beat him with a shovel, before Molly, who is at the house runs out and tackles him to stop the violence.

Lester is shocked to learn of Sam's death and asks upon finding Lorne, asks if he killed him. Lorne tells him that he never said no and begins monologuing yet again. No doubt he is planting more seeds in Lester's mind that will cause him to act out just as he has done to these other people in the town.

Following this encounter, Lester attempts to fix the washing machine at home and when he fails to do so, his wife goes off on a tangent about how he's not a man and how she doesn't know why she married him. She calls him a loser and he demands that she take that back. He threatens her with a hammer and she laughs at him, prompting him to beat her to death with it.

After putting his clothes into a bag, he calls Lorne to tell him what has happened and implores him to come over and help. While waiting for Lorne to arrive, officer Vern Thurman arrives to ask him about his meeting Lorne at the hospital, which Molly had made the connection of. He spots the trail of blood and orders Lester to get on the ground before looking down into the basement and seeing Pearl's bloody body. Right as Vern is calling in for backup, Lorne sneaks up from behind and blows him away with a shotgun Lester had pulled out.

As Lorne goes to look at the scene in the basement, Lester spots the squad car pulling up. He goes down to the basement and finds that Lorne has disappeared. Molly radios in for backup upon seeing Vern's dead body and Lester resorts to running into the wall to knock himself out, echoing the way he had broken his nose at the episode's beginning. This is of course an attempt to deflect (rightful) blame that would have otherwise been placed on him. Following this horrific discovery, Molly is left to inform Vern's pregnant wife with news of his death.

Deputy Gus Grimly pulls Lorne over, due to some questionable driving manoeuvres. But when he tries to get Lorne out of the car, he's simply able to calmly, but frighteningly talk him into letting him go. It's a fitting end to this introduction episode, as Lorne's ability to use rhetoric to manipulate people into acting according to his wishes will no doubt be one of the central parts of Fargo. Lester wakes in the hospital, stressed about the manner in which his life has turned, and because he has an injury on his hand from the shotgun. Could it be what leads to his capture? Stay tuned to find out.

Fargo airs on Tuesdays on FX at 10PM.
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