The series is developing really well, and for me this episode was directed and scripted especially well. Very cinematic and taught.
Really just wanted to kick off the discussion for now, let there be OPEN SPOILERS beyond…
Martin Freeman did a really good job acting sick. I almost felt ill by proxy just watching him.
Interesting they sort of addressed Malvo’s alibi as well by having Gus do an internet search and a (I’m guessing fake) top web page hit had a photo of Malvo “in character” or at least photoshopped and set up by whomever his fake ID guys are.
Loved the flashback open with the irregular socks and the shotgun backstory. Even though I saw it coming (or perhaps because of), whatshisname getting screwed into the closet was hilarious too. Gus’s Jewish neighbor was great too, probably my favorite bits in this ep.
The neighbor sees shades of green very damn well. This was the best episode so far.
Agreed. Episode 4 is a close second, but this one proved the series has some real legs to me.
Even working in parables and allegories is very Coen Bros. But from their other films like Oh Brother, Big Lebowski, Raising Arizona, A Serious Man and Barton Fink.
I also thought sneaking Adderall into Stavros’s Vicodin was a nice touch on the writers part, it makes him falling for the acts of god stuff more believable as ODing on that shit will certainly induce irrational thoughts, obsession and paranoia.
That said, what’s the deal with this series? Do they intend on doing another 10 episode season or does it just end with this one? Anyone got the skinny? It’s not Breaking Bad, but it’s doing the job of filling in that hole.
The Wiki page says it’s only a 10 ep. limited run, so most likey a one season only affair.
I agree that this was the best episode so far.
I agree about Freeman. I winced when the guy was pushing on his hand injury.
I also loved the opening, with the weird shopkeeper who kept staring instead of bargaining, and then threw in the shotgun. I wasn’t sure what to expect with the trainer, I was expecting for Malvo to maybe put one of the screws in his head.
I think I’ve heard that it’s an anthology series, like True Detective or American Horror Story. So if there is another season, it would be all new characters, with maybe a through line of being around Fargo (and maybe also the bag of money connecting it, if something happens at the ransom handoff and the money gets lost).
Also, the preview for things from the last half of the season looked nuts! Things have been building, and shit’s about to get real. I can’t wait.
I’m having a problem with the hand wound.
Assuming that the doctors checked him out they should have sutured or cleaned the wound in his hand when he was taken unconscious from his home. And they should have given him antibiotics for it. That they did not would mean that they really didn’t do much of an exam of Lester when they brought him into the hospital.
Also, they can’t really detain Lester, given the relative paucity of evidence that they have so far. The guard outside his room is really kind of silly as unless they detain him (which is only good for 72 hours in the US) or arrest him (in which case , he’s entitled to talk with an attorney). Lester should be free to walk out of the hospital as soon as his he chooses to.
Molly’s hunches are fine, but they aren’t evidence.Without evidence, no DA is going to charge Lester and no judge will allow hime to be held.
I agree with you about his hand. It should have been a wound that they noticed and treated. He was unconscious and wouldn’t have been able to hide it or keep them from treating it.
As for detaining him, I don’t know how realistic or not that is. It was his wife who was murdered, it would make sense for him to still be a suspect. The nurse might have misunderstood things or misstated things. It’s possible that if Lester told the guard that he wants to leave immediately and that they can’t detain him, then they’d let him walk by although they’d be more suspicious of him.
I was worried that Molly would screw something up with her investigation. I don’t know if she had a warrant to be searching Lester’s place, and I don’t think she had gloves on. But she is relatively young and overeager, so that’s not a problem with the show.
I also liked how the chief was somewhat convinced by Molly’s evidence. He had been reluctant to listen before, since he knows Lester and doesn’t see him as a killer, but he’s not blind or stupid, the circumstantial evidence is definitely piling up against Lester. He’s not going to arrest Lester immediately, but he’s not going to stand in front of Molly’s way, and I liked that.
Yeh, the hand wound slipping by the docs the first time around requires some suspension of disbelief, but that’s easy enough as doctors miss shit all the time, so I’m willing to go with he just got lucky.
Were the cops outside his room there to detain him, or guard him (since he’s simultaneously a suspect and a victim in the eyes of the law at the moment)?
As for Molly inspecting his place, would she still need a warrant since it’s a crime scene with the crime still under investigation?
That would be kickass if the show goes in an anthology direction, and that million dollar ransom becomes the link/mcguffin between all the seasons as everyone ultimately dies or gets killed as they make a grab for it, ending with it abandoned in the snow on the side of a road…
the hospital did put a small bandaid on the hand wound when he was taken in the first time. it appeared that they treated it as a simple puncture and did not dig around. lester looked a bit unsettled at it in the hospital, like he couldn’t figure if they knew or not about the shot.
lester’s complete lack of wound care is baffling and suited to a carl hiaasen novel.
Most puncture wounds will get you a tetanus booster, if not sutures. That they didn’t give him anything topical to care for it borders on the extremely unlikely. And since it is being used as a major plot point in the narrative, it really makes you wonder why the writers decided that it would be something that they would wish to call attention to.
Next to the fact that law enforcement agencies are usually prohibited from investigating the deaths of their own officers (for a host of reasons) and Malvo’s constantly be willing to show his face to people unnecessarily, this another thing that interferes with my enjoying the otherwise well-written story.
I’m beginning to see Malvo as a “devil incarnate” character; almost superhuman not unlike some villains in a Stephen King novel (thinking Randall Flagg types).