Margaux and I talk about last night’s intense episode of Fargo.
Trevor: Fargo excels at openings, but even for this show, that was a hell of an opening. Hearing Reagan’s speech over footage of the Kansas City boys gearing up for war was just amazing from a visual standpoint, especially when it suddenly erupted into a bloodbath. “The Gift of the Magi” hooks you right away.
Margaux: Bruce Campbell doesn’t look like Reagan in my eyes, but his embodiment in this episode felt really spot on. And of course Karl (Ron Swanson/Nick Offerman) would get teared up over his ra-ra let’s make America great again speech. Every Fargo open makes great use of intercutting what we’re about see for the next hour without hitting you over the head with it, they retain a sense of mystery and intrigue but set you up well for what’s about to happen.
Trevor: I credit a lot of that to director Jeffrey Reiner, who kept things moving at a quick but not hurried pace. Everything moved along so smoothly, but like Fargo at its best, it felt like barely controlled chaos, which of course it became at the end. The episode doesn’t move like it’s on a track, but rather like its brakes have gone out.
Quick note, before I forget: not crazy about the Kitchen brothers. The “mute henchman” think was done far better in Russell Harvard’s Mr. Wrench from season one, and they get lost in the shuffle of far more interesting enforcers like Mike Milligan and Hanzee, the latter of which is becoming one of my favorite characters.
Margaux: I have to agree with you on your note about the Kitchen Brothers, well, Kitchen Brother – singular – now. I mean, they’re totally fine, but it oftentimes feels like the whole point of having the Kitchen Brother(s) not speaking is so Mike Milligan’s lines can pack more a punch, alternately sunny and chilling non sequiturs. The characters don’t have as much of a point of view as the others, but in a show with this many characters, they can’t all be super interesting, and because they never talk(ed), it makes them easier to ignore.
Speaking of Hanzee, I’m not sure what kind of dirt or what sort of favor Dodd ever did for him, but Hanzee clearly feels indebted to him for something. He seemed on the brink of telling Floyd the more honest totality of what happened to Rhye, but then Dodd came in muddied the waters just so he could initiate first contact with the Kansas City mob. And I understand it’s all out war, and they did manage trim a significant amount of fat during that ambush, but in the long game seems really reckless, especially considering that they let one Kitchen Brother live and Mike Milligan wasn’t even there.
Trevor: Dodd has an interesting dynamic with…well, just about everyone. Making him a family man was a wise choice on the show’s part, and his scenes with his daughter Simone tell us a lot about who he is, and moreso about who Otto was as a father. One gets the sense that Dodd would try to emulate his old man.
I agree about the shortsightedness of the plan, though. Casting Ed as “the Butcher of Luverne” was a weak foundation for a lie, and sending Charlie to go kill him was even dumber. Of course, Dodd knew that Ed wasn’t a contract killer, but the only other person who knows that is Hanzee. And then Charlie gets his fool self shot. And Jesus CHRIST how good was that scene in the butcher’s shop? White-knuckle filmmaking that you can’t turn away from. Jesse Plemons is doing such great work as Ed, not just in his delivery but in the sheer physicality of the role. He inhabits that beefy physique so well, and during combat he’s blundering and awkward but still effective. He knows that a cleaver to the head is the quickest way to kill a man with a gun.
Margaux: It’s sort of nuts how Ed’s bumbling butcher can suddenly snap into full-on Liam Neeson mode when the time calls for it. But karma is one hell of a bitch because he might of lived through semi-certain death, but the butcher shop completely burned down, everything he was effectively fighting for and working towards, the only thing keeping him and Peggy in Luverne.
I did find it really hilarious how well Noreen had taken to nihilism right before Charlie walks in for the first time – the time he chickened out and bought what looked like 4 lbs of bacon – suddenly at the sight of him, everything started to matter a little more to Noreen. And on an unrelated note, I loved her sweater.
Trevor: I wondered if her newfound nihilism wasn’t a sly nod to The Big Lebowski’s trio of nihilists (I also wondered if those hanging ducks weren’t a visual reference to True Grit, although I’ll admit that second one is a huge stretch).
Can we agree that Peggy and Ed are absolutely gonna kill Connie, Peggy’s boss? I mean, she saw the car. And we all heard the casual way Ed said “I killed another fella” (one of the episode’s driest, funniest lines).
Margaux: Pretty sure the axe was always going to come down on Connie, sooner or later. Peggy’s just got it in her and apparently, so does Ed. Like like a more clueless and blond Bonnie and Clyde.
And as long as we’re talking movie references, Mike Milligan showing Simone what was in the box (spoiler: Brad Garrett’s head) just smacked of Seven – WHAT’S IN THE BOX? I loved the detail of Mike Milligan touching his hair one last time; “Agree” “Agree to what?” “That’s the name of the shampoo.”
Trevor: Mike and Simone have good chemistry together – but Bokeem Woodbine is so goddamn charming he even had good chemistry with the dearly departed Skip Springs.
I really enjoyed how well “The Gift of the Magi” put Fargo in first gear – shit is about to start happening, and it’s going to be fast, bloody, and relentless. And that’s saying a lot, because it’s not like the first half of the season was a slow burn. It’s just going to get better.
Margaux: Where is the UFO stuff going though? We caught another glimpse of it in Molly’s drawing of herself and her parents, a pretty typical kid drawing, except for the UFO hovering above them. We could chalk it up to it being Molly’s metaphor for her Mother’s cancer, but we’ve seen this sort of hinting from different characters, through various perspectives that may or may not end up having much to do with each other.
Trevor: I agree that it has to go somewhere, but I also have a lot of faith in Noah Hawley. After all, the guy created Fargo.
You want to talk stars, or is there anything you’d like to add?
Margaux: Just that Dodd had a lot of issues with women this episode and just in general on Fargo – he slaps his wife around for not looking happy enough, doesn’t have a problem doing the same to his daughter, and shit talks taking orders from “girls” (aka his mom, Bear being submissive to his late wife, etc). All this is to say, I wonder which “girl” will end Dodd because I feel like that’s coming down the pipeline.
Trevor: Maybe he’ll be Peggy’s final victim. The Blumquists are stumbling into a family feud with the Gerhardts at this point.
Margaux: Stumbling is a very accurate way of putting what the Blumquists are doing, they are simply never on the same page for anything; kids, the shop, where they’re going to live.
Star wise though, “The Gift of the Magi” was another bright spot of an episode on TV, just because they gave you bloodbath upfront, never meant it would slow down and I think it’s safe bet to apply that logic to the rest of this season. 4 stars.
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