Starting this thread in anticipation of tonight’s episode.
Someone here at work just walked by and asked me just where Billy Bob Thornton went when he appeared to go down into the basement last week, and I had to answer that I really didn’t know. I wonder if they’ll clear that up this week.
Last week, Vern said Molly was next in line for his job, and this week, it went to Dumbass. Did I miss how that happened? Was Vern lying to her, or did the mayor or whomever ignore his recommendation?
He didn’t live to tell anyone else that she was a good replacement. She is young and a woman and they have an older guy (Saul Goodman) who the old guys like better.
There’s something about this series that’s making me unhappy, and I finally put my finger on it. I hate watching Lester squirm under questioning. It’s not logical, but I feel empathy for him.
I have the same problem when I watch the show The First 48. They include footage of real-life questioning of suspects and witnesses, and I hate watching them squirm under the pressure. Even the (eventually fingered) guilty suspects.
We feel empathy for Lester because he is a good man who didn’t understand the nature of the ER waiting room conversation he was having and we forgive him for that, and then we forgive him for hammering his wife in the head because she was goading him again after doing so countless times.
I’d be kinda of interested in seeing if the two new assassins (the American Sign Language speakers) are affiliated with the same organization as Billy Bob.
I don’t recall much ASL, but when he translated what Gold said about the reason they didn’t have a library, he said ‘Doesn’t know’, so at least some of it may be accurate.
The package addressed to ‘Duluth’ was at a small post office substation, so much more easily obtained than at a large facility.
But how was the package addressed? Was it sent to Mr. Duluth at the Duluth, MN post office? Why wasn’t it just sent to whatever name Billy Bob was using at the hotel he was staying at. I found it confusing, but I’m probably thinking about it too much.
Did he say that she was next in line or just that she’ll make a great chief someday. I got that he implied she’d be chief, I just don’t recall if he said she’d be his successor. Of course, he was probably planning to be chief for more then a few more hours and she really isn’t ready, just because she made a few good guesses on a current case.
I can understand not wanting to watch him squirm, because it makes you uncomfortable, but why isn’t it logical. He thinks he called in a hit on Hess, then he killed his wife, then he had the Sheriff killed and Solverson is all over him. He should be squirming.
I don’t know what it is about Platt, but in every TV show and movie I see him in, I hate him for a little while and then love him. It’s like it just takes him a little bit of time or a few episodes to settle into his character. I’d probably put him in my to 40 favorite actors.
A few things now that I’m done responding. First, I didn’t notice Keith Carradine last week. Second, I don’t think it was mentioned in the first thread, but since I’m quite sure it’s either going to be ‘important’ or HUGE, it needs to be mentioned. When Lester called Malvo, the first thing he did was told the receptionist what happened. When the cops catch up to Malvo at some point that phone call is going to come into play and it’s going to tie it all back to Lester…Mark My Words.
I’m no expert, but it didn’t look like ASL to me. It might be some private code they have between them.
The now-dead chief said that the female cop was smart enough to be chief someday. He didn’t say she was next in line.
The Jewish lady next door to Colin Hanks, flashing him, was just weird. No one thought to have curtains for two apartments so close to each other?
Was the sign for the old rabbi next to the entryway to Hanks’s apartment a shoutout to A Serious Man? I thought it might even be the same old rabbi from the end of that movie.
I liked Oliver Platt’s character (didja notice the crown behind him as he sat at his desk?), and Malvo’s deadpan contempt for his mook. Malvo driving off with the geezer’s car at the supermarket was also a nice touch.
Why was Malvo listening to the tape of Lester’s call?
It was a pretty good episode.
I had several issues with it though:
[ol]
[li]The sheriff’s death would be investigated by an outside agency - The presumption would be that the officers in his department would be too close to investigate it properly.[/li][li]Malvo threatening a postal employee isn’t tough;it’s stupid - Punking down a local cop is possible. Threatening a federal employee is a crime. ALso,drawing unnecessary attention to yourself if you are a murderer seems to be rather unwise.[/li][li]Lester told the deputy that he didn’t want to talk with her - After that, unless she has a warrant or decided to arrest him, the conversation is over. Continuing on would simply make the case against Lester even harder.[/li][li]Even if Bob was stupid, not linking two prominent murders occurring in close proximity would be seen as being shoddy police work by most people - There don’t seem to be too many murders around there and then there are three in less than two days. Hmm….[/li][li]**The security guard isn’t an assassin **- Threatening Malvo seems to be a rather stupid things as even a complete idiot would know that he was a killer and wouldn’t be easily intimidated.[/li][/ol]
The series seems to have some good ideas and I hope that the writing stays at the same level or gets better. It would be a shame if the show went downhill because of the need to “wrap up” the loose plot points.
Well, it looks good – obv. visual style is part of the Fargo package, and we got one more way to kill people (the ice hole). Shapes and structure are starting to emerge (town/city (cops and robbers), who represents good/evil (the local policewoman and Hanks Junior on one side), a blackmail triangle thing, single dad police/single woman police/pregnant widow).
The deaf arm waving thing is going to get tired soon, as will eccentricity without ideas to graft onto. Plus, the policewoman really does need to ask Lester how he got the pellet in his hand when, according to him, he was knocked out in the basement at the time.
I’m not sure why they’re slapping us around the face with some things – like the fake tan on the blackmail letter and the moral-single-dad-takeaway-dinner shtick (nice underwear on the neighbour), but maybe it’s part of the offbeat style.
I also don’t understand why Lester didn’t tell a story that explained the pellet - cop shot upstairs, bad guy took Lester and wife into basement, Lester did the hero thing and got knocked out…).
I didn’t mind any of these things. [ol]
[li]This is true, but I can go with it, since if there was an outside investigation it would bring in even more characters to an already sprawling show. [/li][li]Malvo obviously doesn’t mind bringing attention to himself, he seems to enjoy it. There was no reason for Malvo to meet Hess in person last episode and make such a strong impression, but he enjoys stirring things up.[/li] Also, I’m guessing if it was some teenage punk threatening the postal employee, the employee would have told him off. But Malvo is so weird and so different than what the employee is used to seeing, I could see the employee being too confused/scared to do anything at the time.
[li]Molly is a good cop, but still fairly young, and is investigating the death of someone close to her. I can easily understand her accidentally pushing too hard. She probably knows it’s dangerous to push too hard, but is desperate for answers, and is worried justice will never happen since the new chief is somewhat stupid and pursuing the wrong leads.[/li][li]I’m not sure what the new chief’s issue is. He is obviously somewhat stupid. Or it could be that he’s blinding himself. Someone in a small town could delude himself thinking that whatever terrible thing that happened was because of an outside force, because nothing really bad happens in the town. And people can delude themselves about what other people are capable of. [/li] The chief is basically right, Lester wasn’t capable of it. I’m guessing he never would have killed his wife, he would have just kept putting up with all the insults from her and the rest of the world, if he hadn’t run into Malvo that day.
[li]People can act stupid, and underestimate other people. Like **planetcory **says, he underestimated Malvo. And this isn’t a Coen movie, but it is based on a Coen movie, and it is somewhat common in Coen stories for people to overestimate their own intelligence and underestimate others. [/li][/ol]
If Lester told a story that had him trying to be the hero and being knocked out, I could see that making everyone suspicious, even his old friend the new chief. If there was a real home invasion, Lester isn’t the type to run to danger to help his wife, he’s the kind to hid somewhere and try to call 911 very quietly.
The pellet in his hand is the main thing that’s bugging me. The hospital should have noticed that and Lester should be questioned about it. But I’m guessing it’ll be a plot point now, since he didn’t get his unguent and maybe it’ll get infected and it’ll be harder to hide and he’ll be questioned about it.