Director: Matt Shakman
Writer: Noah Hawley
Cast: Martin Freeman, Billy Bob Thornton, Allison Tolman, Colin Hanks, Bob Odenkirk, Keith Carradine, Keegan-Michael Key, Jordan Peele
Synopsis: Everything comes to a head as Lorne Malvo hunts down Lester Nygaard.
Wow, what a fantastic series this has been! Each episode has been entertaining and with great writing and an even more impressive cast. FARGO has been a series that has been a pure pleasure to watch and I have loved talking about it.
This episode directly followed on from the last, with Lorne Malvo killing Lester Nygaard’s new wife, thinking it is Nygaard. Nygaard being the new dark evil genius decides to head to the diner and pretend that he is waiting for his wife. Of course he acts like the worried husband when the police arrive and he finds his new wife murdered.
Deputy Molly Solverson is on the case immediately and they take Nygaard in for questioning. When shown pics and asked about Malvo and his plane tickets to Mexico, Nygaard gets very defensive and even Chief Bill Oswalt can’t help him. Nygaard falls silent and refuses to answer anything else without a lawyer.
Solverson decides the best thing to do would be to send Nygaard home so they can wait for Malvo to come to him. The FBI guys Pepper and Budge escort him home and wait a while outside.
Meanwhile new mailman Gus Grimly is worried about heavily pregnant Solverson and doesn’t want her to go out searching for Malvo. Luckily for him he spots Malvo leaving a little log cabin, so he goes inside and waits for him.
Malvo decides to trade his red sports car for something a little more dull and something undercover agents would use. He takes it on a little test drive to Nygaard’s house and quickly finishes off the FBI guys. Upon entering Nygaard’s house he finds him cowering in the bathroom, as he makes his way to him he steps on a bear trap cleverly concealed by clothes. It really is amazing how far Nygaard has come in this series, has he always been this brilliant? Of course Malvo does his disappearing act and Nygaard is pretty impressed with himself.
Back at the cabin Malvo does a little self surgery on his crushed leg, unaware that Grimly is waiting for him. The make-up effects in this scene are fantastic, really wince inducing. Suddenly Grimly presents himself to Malvo and tells him that he now knows the answer to the riddle he gave him. Before we know it, Grimly shoots him several times, unleashing all that fear and torment Malvo put on him.
Sometime later we see the cabin surrounded by police and Solverson finally comes face to face with a very dead Malvo. Grimly shows her a selection of tapes with names, one featuring Nygaard’s. Recorded is his panicked phone call to Malvo the night he killed his wife. This is what Solverson has been waiting for, now they just have to find Nygaard.
We cut to a couple of weeks later in Montana, we see a rather pleased Nygaard in a new orange coat enjoying himself on a snowmobile. He comes to a clearing and spots a row of police waiting for him, this makes way for a James Bondesque snowmobile chase through the park. Nygaard gets a little too cocksure as he skates over an iced lake. Holding back, the police warn him of the danger but he carries on as the ice cracks around him. Suddenly stopping he has time to breath before he disappears under the ice leaving nothing but his hat. A horrible fate, ironic as Wrench and Numbers almost did the same to him earlier.
The episode ends at Grimly and Solverson’s house as she takes a call to say that the divers are looking for Nygaard’s body. The warm cozy atmosphere is resumed as Solverson joins Grimly and Greta on the sofa to watch TV. Grimly mentions he is getting an award for bravery but feel’s Solverson deserves it more. She only smiles and tells him that she is proud and is Chief, what she always wanted.
Such a wonderful end, it didn’t end how I expected at all and I think it was perfect. Billy Bob Thornton and Martin Freeman were stunning in their roles and I sense great things for Allison Tolman and Colin Hanks. Bob Odenkirk provided just as much humor here as he did in BREAKING BAD and is always such a joy to watch. I can’t wait to find out what the next series will be like. Sundays are going to be very dull from now.
[usr=5] Revisit our full series blog here .
