I will never, ever get tired of reviewing this show with Margaux. Here’s our thoughts on “A Muddy Road.”
Margaux: “Just pretend I’m a 300 pound nine year old that can’t finish a sentence.” I hope that was the character description for Oliver Platt when he auditioned.
Trevor: God that was funny. “A Muddy Road” was definitely the most Lorne-centric episode to date, and I think the tone reflected that. It seemed less…Coenesque, I guess, but I hesitate to use that phrase because Noah Hawley is trying to do more than just ape the Coens.
Margaux: A lot of this episode was bringing Gus Grimly and Molly Solverson together to possibly find Malvo via the most bumbling criminal Lester. And the cutting between Gus pleading his case to his boss, busy taking a dump, and Lester reliving the events of episode one in this crime scene house make them seem like men in similar positions in life. Guys that get zero respect.
Trevor: We totally called Gus and Molly teaming up, back in our review of “The Crocodile’s Dilemma.” (Not that anyone could have missed that, but still, go us.) I like that Gus and Molly are both in positions where they have to prove themselves. Gus to his lieutenant, Molly to Captain Saul Goodman.
One thing I love about Fargo is how hilariously inept the criminals are, especially in comparison to operators like Thornton or Adam Goldberg. Case in point: Glenn Howerton, who “just wanted something for Don.” Love that he refers to himself in the third person. Being a trainer in Bemidji, MN probably gives you the kind of status that allows you to get away with that.
Margaux: See, I misinterpreted that line when Howerton said he wanted something from “Don” because when Lester goes to the Hess house to finish up insurance papers, the For Sale sign says “Dawn-Ann Coulson”. I thought that was his wife, I assumed the real estate market in Bemidji wasn’t going so hot. Ya know, cause it’s freezing there…
Trevor: Maybe, I know Howerton’s character is named Don. I really liked how Lorne just flipped the script on the blackmailing. If we thought he didn’t give a shit in “The Crocodile’s Dilemma” or “The Rooster Prince,” we know he doesn’t give a shit now. He’s doing the exact opposite of what he was hired to do. Just…cause? I love that almost motive-less malevolence that he represents, like in the beginning, when he drags a man by his tie from his cubicle all the way to the parking garage, and the man’s coworkers are powerless to do anything except watch.
Margaux: Regardless, I saw some bigger “Don” and “Dawn” connections at play – for whatever little that’sworth. He kills the man’s dog, ironically named “King” which, between Hannibal last week and last night’s Fargo, I’m about done with assholes hurting dogs. I digress, the pigs blood shower scene was a middle finger of the most fucked up calibur. I’m having the best time fucking with you. It took Platt that extra beat to realize that it wasn’t water too, which made it feel like the more dream-like – err, nightmare.
Trevor: And the fact that he’s sleeping at the King’s house! God, what terrible judgment. It’s like the way Molly changed her friend’s anecdote about the spider eggs: you sleep, and while you do, a million little spiders crawl into your bed, spiders like Lorne Malvo.
Margaux: “I’m not sure I want to live in a world like that.” Poor Solverson, she’s already in Malvo’s world, whether she likes it or not. I did enjoy that adorable dinner meet-cute with Molly, Gus and his daughter. I want a bourbon milkshake!
Trevor: I liked that too. “He’s kidding – oh wait, nope, I’m the winner.” Molly and Gus have good chemistry together. Colin Hanks does sad-sack well, but he’s not inept. I think like Molly, he doesn’t want to live in a world like that; or, to paraphrase the warning he received from Malvo, he doesn’t want to go down that road.
Margaux: It looks like Lester has gotten himself down a road that he doesn’t be down either. The consequences of what he thought was a fleeting encounter with Lorne now spans to involve Adam Goldberg and his silent sidekick. “I have a cousin who’s deaf”. No amount of “oh geez, I’m so sorry” will get Lester out of this one. Watching him shoot guns with his dickish brother was also hilarious, he’s closing his eyes so tight and shooting off this massive weapon. He’s no killer but he’s no saint neither.
Trevor: I love the logic, or lack thereof, behind that deaf cousin comment. “Oh yeah, this will get them to like me.” I did like the ending, with him asking “Which one makes the biggest hole?” He knows he’s screwed; if Molly doesn’t get him, Mr. Wrench and Mr. Numbers will.
Margaux: Or Sam Hess’s sons will catch him banging their Mom and shoot him with arrows or bludgeon him to death with hockey sticks.
Trevor: Sam Hess’s awful, awful sons. I like that even their mom can’t stand them. “I’ve taken shits I’d rather live with.” Kate Walsh was much better tonight than she was in the pilot, I think. Sexy, funny, vulnerable, and (in her mind) manipulative in a Jessica Rabbit way.
Margaux: She’s also drinking wine out of a Nalgene bottle with a straw, which tells you everything you ever need to know about her. The way she reacts to the arrow sight gag with her sons, while she’s trying to seduce Lester into giving her the insurance check early, was perfect. “Again?” What a horrible little family.
Trevor: The Hess sons are always good for a sight gag, I’ll give them that. So what do you think in terms of stars? I’m leaning towards four, maybe four and half. Fargo doesn’t make bad episodes, period, but this felt like more of a place-setting episode, and tonally different to a degree. Thoughts?
Margaux: They don’t have the time to make bad episodes, they just keep raising the stakes, and I say – hell yeah pimp, do yo thang. Four stars for sure. I take the half off because I was upset over the dog thing. Like a woman.
Trevor: Well, go cry into your Tampax and Redbook. Four stars it is.
Margaux: Excuse me, it’s Ladies Home Journal – asshole.
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