‘Fargo’ Season Two, Episode Four: Fear And Trembling

There is a rain of terror about to come down on the world of “Fargo,” and thus far, nobody looks safe from it. And, in fact, a lot of the issues leading to this inevitable horror show that will likely be the war between Kansas City Mafia and the Gerhardt Crime Family — which will likely hit Fargo, Luverne and Sioux Falls and everyone involved — is stemming from hubris and lack of communication. Everybody is talking, and no one is really listening to one another. And this disconnect from each other will have dire consequences.

Take Dodd (I know, I’ve been harsh on him a lot in these reviews). This week we finally got to see some different sides to him. For instance, he killed a mafia boss in 1951 at his father’s (Otto) command. This sort of explains how screwed up this guy has been his whole life (Otto tells his victim he has to teach the boy about how men do things). Dodd takes his nephew Charlie along on a trip to a doughnut shop, where they assault members from the Kansas City Mafia. Like his father, he is showing his nephew how the Gerhardts do things. This is how they do business. Which, ultimately, disrupts any real talks with the deal his family is trying to make with KC.

He hasn’t listened to his mother, and in his hubris, he has set forth a war because of it. Granted, Kansas City might have gone to war with the Gerhardts no matter what, but Dodd’s actions certainly didn’t help.

We also see the lack of communication causing havoc with the Blumquists. Peggy is dead set on her Life Spring course, so much that she takes her and Ed’s money for it. Ed wants the money for a down payment on the butcher shop. There is a scene when they are talking in the bathroom about this, and Ed wants his way and Peggy wants hers. But Ed wrongly assumes his word is final, as Peggy (it is also her money too, after all) uses their funds for this course in Sioux Falls. This shows just how little these two are actually listening to one another. They want different things — Ed wants a family and life in Luverne, Peggy wants to move on to bigger things — and they are not even bothering to realize this.

They are in two different worlds, and it is causing problems.

And one of those problems is that Ohanzee (Dodd’s henchman) matched the headlight glass with Ed and Peggy’s car that took out poor Rye. He is looming in Luverne, watching and waiting for his moment. At this point, I’m pretty sure he has surmised that Rye was killed by the Blumquists, but probably baffled as to why.

Perhaps the strongest scenes were with Lou and Betsey. Lou is still dealing with the the war he fought in Vietnam, and Betsey is fighting and dealing the war going on in her body with her cancer. Both are not keen to discuss either, and it is hurting the both of them. Lou even asks his wife if he should treat her differently — showing that he too is scared and feeling helpless with her health. She just wants him to treat her like normal. Betsey is undergoing a new mystery drug, Xanadu. But she doesn’t know if she has got the placebo or the drug for the experiment they signed up for. The scene when he says he thinks she got the drug, Betsey says to the effect he probably just wants to think that, shows where these two are at the moment.

Then we have the showdown with the Gerhardts and representatives from Kansas City. Floyd doesn’t want to sell everything to KC, she is willing to give them parts of their Minnesota operation and allow her family to control North Dakota with KC. This is a family empire, and Floyd is not giving up on her family’s living.

Unfortunately, partially due to Dodd’s actions, KC isn’t very trusting of the Gerhardts. Joe Bulo asks Floyd directly how can KC and her family work together when her son cannot follow her word. Two of his men were attacked by Dodd, during peacetime. That is a serious offense. “If one of my men talks out of turn, I take his tongue,” Bulo says, meaning because of her blood connection to her “employees,” her judgement is clouded. KC has no room for this. And unsurprisingly, KC refused her counter-offer. They cut $2 million from the original offer, and give her 24-hours to decide. During this meeting, Mike Milligan attacked Otto’s henchmen at the hospital. Their message is clear: Your family is not safe, not even the man who had controlled it for so long.

And Bulo tells her that if they go to war, KC will eradicate every Gerhardt from the face of the earth. This isn’t the first time he’s mentioned that. And Floyd calls her family together and tells them they are going to war. And war is never a pretty sight.

The final disconnect is between Lou, Ed and Peggy. After Lou finds blood on the Blumquists car (with the Rye-sized hole in the windshield) he pieces it all together. He comes to their house (Ohanzee was their as Lou pulled up) and confronts them. Lou lays it down, comparing their situation to a person who lost his legs to a mine in the war. The man is still in shock, and doesn’t realize his legs are gone. “You are still living in Tuesday, you have no idea what’s coming” Lou says, referring to the fact they are not realizing the actual situation they are in. He gives them an offer to lay it all out, and prevent the horror that will be coming (much like Molly does for Lester in the first season). They do not take it. They do not even want to think about what is lying in wait for them.

Observations:

• There was a lot of trees when Ohanzee was driving to Luverne.
• Dodd crying on his mother’s shoulder was a nice touch. It gave us more insight into his character, and he truly is childish.
• Lou is taking Molly ice fishing, a nice callback from season one.
• “Any other Einstein insights you can share with me?” Karl Weathers asks the guy at the car shop after he scared away Ohanzee. Also, great to see Karl again!
• Mike apparently was not a big fan of where Simone stuck her finger. “It was my thumb,” she tells him.
• Nice use of Devo’s “Too Much Paranoias.”
• Bear’s son Charlie can load a gun with one arm.
• The song at the end “Down in the Willow Garden” was used in the Coen Brothers’ “Rasing Arizona.”