“Only a fool thinks he can solve the world’s problems”
“But you gotta try, don’t you?”
Turning out its best episode yet Fargo steps it up a notch and begins moving at a faster speed. It’s a testament of just how talented and eclectic this cast is that even when big players take a back seat for an episode it’s still riveting television. At the start of the episode we see the moment when Lester bought the gun that would end up condemning him. We see as his wife disapproves and as he places it high and out of reach. And then, on the fateful night we see as Lorne fires the gun and one of the shells lands itself in Lester’s hand. Time passes and the wound festers, becomes infected and suddenly we’re back in the holding cell where Mr. Numbers and Mr. Wrench are threatening him. They want to know who is the one who killed Hes and Lester-who is faring pretty poorly due to the infection in his hand-and due to pain inflicted upon him he gives up Lorne.
It’s hard to tell if Numbers and Wrench recognize the name or not but they’re soon asked to leave.
Molly meanwhile has convinced her boss that Lester should be reasonably investigated. As she gives him evidence piece by piece you can see his mind playing catch up, finally putting it together-good work by Bob Odenkirk here who shows a man who’s forced into a position he never wanted to be in. The two of them head to the holding to ask Lester some questions only to find him in critical condition. In the ambulance on the way to the hospital Molly questions a delirious Lester who gives up that he never paid Lorne-but it’s enough to confirm that they have interacted. Molly is certain that Lester hired Lorne to kill Hes after Hes hit him but something with the payment went astray and the plan got messy-resulting in the death of his wife and subsequently her partner.
She’s close-scary close with a threat like Lorne looming.
As we watch Lorne casually intimidate those around him while turning Stavros’s life to shambles it’s hard not to worry about Molly’s well-being. She is played as an inherently good person so to see her stepping her toe of the line of the law makes for great tension. She shouldn’t be interrogating Lester when he isn’t clear headed, she shouldn’t be sneaking into his house to look for evidence without a warrant or clear go ahead from her boss-but she does and while we hope for her to succeed it’s interesting to see someone who just wants to do good stoop a little to get good things done.
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Molly even stops by to see her partner’s wife, Ida, who’s just had her baby. She offers to stay and it’s just fantastic to see such a well-rounded female character such as this. She isn’t a genius, she isn’t particularly strong but she does what she believes she should. She should solve the case and bring justice to a man she considered her mentor and she should look over his wife to make sure she’s okay despite her own exhaustion. Allison Tolman is doing tremendous work by bringing warmth as well as growing edge to the character.
On the flipside there’s Gus who knows wrong from right but doesn’t know what he should do to help and if it’s worth jeopardizing his or his daughters safety. He speaks to his neighbor under the guise of hypotheticals and his neighbor tells him that giving all of yourself to a cause-to a foolhardy cause-doesn’t promise great results. Despite this ominous warning Gus can’t help himself and he and Molly make plans to meet up and look for answers. Again this only puts Gus in a precarious position as we learn that Lorne is aware of his curiosity.
Lorne is proving to have the upper hand on just about everyone who he comes into contact with and despite how much fun Billy Bob Thorton is in the role I can’t help but want the good guys to win.
Another great episode-this show is one of the hidden gems of the Spring season.
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9/10
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