Fargo recap: season one, episode five – The Six Ungraspables
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Version 0 of 1. This blog is for Fargo viewers watching the Sunday night UK transmission on Channel 4 – if you've seen ahead, please refrain from posting advance spoilers. Catch up with Richard's episode four recap "What if you're right and they're wrong?" Molly has taken the motto on the now blood-spattered fish poster in Lester's basement to heart. Chief Bill is busy sourcing snowplows, but Molly finally gets his attention. Stormwatch can wait (although what are the bets that the storm is going to provide the backdrop to the final episode?). Once he actually listens to the case she's built, drawing the connections between Lester, the hospital, Malvo, the motel and the triple homicide, it's too persuasive to ignore. We know she's off the mark with the "gun for hire" part of her theory – although to be fair, "freelance hitman with time to kill" isn't likely to be anyone's first guess – but the rest is solid police work. Now that we're at the halfway mark, it's worth noting how Fargo has chosen to show us Molly working the case, finding evidence of the crimes we've seen. The opening flashback showing how Lester acquired the shotgun, and the CSI-style forensic slo-mo shot following the path of the shrapnel into his hand, both served to underline the horror of the crimes Molly is investigating. Molly's visit to see Ida and her newborn son was another reminder that this case is personal. It's not just pride, but loyalty that is driving Molly to find her mentor's killer. It's a good scene – Molly ushering the boisterous crowd of cops away from the hall right outside Ida's hospital room where they're doing the back-slapping and congratulating in honour of their fallen comrade; Ida and Molly acknowledging the ties they share to the murdered Chief Thurman; Molly's matter-of-fact response to Bernadette's new baby smell; Ida happy and sad all at the same time. These quieter moments in Fargo are a welcome breather. "Lorne, like the fellow from Bonanza" A delirious Lester pukes and collapses, due to the pain from the shotgun pellet wound turning septic in his hand, the threat of Mr Wrench's smelly sock and, perhaps, the guilt. By the time Molly finds him, all she can get out of him is "I didn't pay him," which scuppers her theory. And also piques her interest. It's his second confession of the night – it doesn't take much for him to give up Malvo's name to Mr Numbers and Mr Wrench when they press home the urgency of their inquiries. Fear overcomes loyalty in the shifting top trumps of Fargo's underworld. Will they find Malvo in time to sabotage his blackmail plot? "There are no saints in the animal kingdom – only breakfast and dinner" In the history of the world according to Lorne Malvo, Romans were raised by wolves and that's what made their empire so great. He's got no time for the softer, anthropomorphic natural order of the Jungle Book, where animals are friends: being a predator is where it's at. A wolf in a minister's clothing, Malvo's soft-spoken threats, cajoling and pot-stirring are another one of the show's highlights. Take the scene in Chumpf's kitchen: as soon as Malvo asks the personal trainer for a drill and some screws, you know it can't end well – but it's still a joy to watch the scene play out. His unsuspecting accomplice is so dazzled by the prospect of spending a million in the morning that he doesn't notice Malvo is trapping him in his own closet until it's too late ("poop"). There are far worse things that Malvo could have done with the drill: is he trapping Chumpf so he's got a readymade patsy to pin the blackmail plot on? Will that be how Malvo gets back in with Stavros? Watching him be fired by Stavros – not getting his own way for once – was one of the most surprising moments of this episode. Notes, quotes and the like • This week's intro music is Wildwood Flower by the Carter Family – was that a muzak version playing in the shop as Lester negotiated his "irregular" socks and shotgun deal? • After consulting the great monk Wiki, it looks as though "The Six Ungraspables" might be a reference to the fable about a group of blind men all touching different parts of an elephant and coming up with different theories about the creature standing in front of them. It's a good metaphor for the way the murder case has been investigated so far – and also for the way that some of Fargo's other citizens are more trees-than-wood in their outlook. • Stavros's son has been doing a little detective work of his own. Turns out those crickets aren't from around here, and what do you know, they are the same type that pet shops sell to feed pet lizards – and Stavros is far too busy worrying about fending off his own personal biblical plague to pay any attention to what his first-born son has to say. Come to think of it, will "first-born son" be next on Malvo's list? • "If anyone could shoot themselves in the face with an unloaded shotgun it's you." A reminder that Pearl Nygaard wasn't the most supportive spouse in Bemidji. • I wonder if Jack Bauer has ever heard of Mr Wrench's dirty sock-enhanced interrogation technique? • "Only a fool thinks he can solve the world's problems." Time for Gus to get philosophical with his Mitzvah tank-driving, Neighbourhood Watch-watching neighbour as the show takes a moment for another digression. • "Do I look like I want a pink police scanner?" Black market vanman needs to do a bit of work on his consumer research, although the videos of wolves playing on the TV screens inside his van did seem apt. Presumably Malvo just needs the one walkie-talkie because he's planning to eavesdrop on Greta and Gus? • Ida gives birth to Bernadette, named after Chief Thurman's mother. "I wanted Ally," sighs Ida, "and now he's dead – that man always knew how to win an argument." • "This is a severe woman with hard hair." Another detail for anyone researching that dissertation on "The art of hair in the world of the Coen Brothers". |