# Fargo S1E10--Final Episode \[Open spoilers\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 18, 2014, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fargo-s1e10-final-episode-open-spoilers/691038 "2014-06-18T04:47:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2014, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fargo-s1e10-final-episode-open-spoilers/691038/141 "2014-06-22T03:55:27Z")
A pretty good finale, I’d say. Loved Lester’s use of the beartrap. I also liked that he was last seen trying to escape, just as Jerry Lundegaard was in the movie (although _he_ was in a motel under a false name). I’m disappointed, though, that we never saw that scene from the previews with Adam Goldberg’s hitman offering somebody Funyuns. And I still don’t buy that Lester was able to both placate (the justifiably pissed-off) Mrs. Hess and still win a Salesman of the Year award. > [@voltaire](#): > > …This was a one shot deal for a single season of ten episodes. There are no other episodes/seasons planned or likely. Just think of it as a ~10 hour movie… Never say never: [‘Fargo’ Season 2 Scoop: Writer Noah Hawley On Why The Story Of Molly And Gus Is Over | IBTimes](http://www.ibtimes.com/fargo-season-2-scoop-writer-noah-hawley-why-story-molly-gus-over-1604628). The next season, if there is one, could easily use one of Malvo’s audiotapes as its jumping-off point, assuming they don’t go with the buried ransom money again. > [@randwill](#): > > Since both cars are gone from Lester’s driveway after Malvo leaves, it appears as if Malvo let the used car salesman go. Which was nice of him… Malvo isn’t a nice guy. He wouldn’t want to leave a witness to his murder of two FBI agents. I suspect he climbed in the car with the guy, had him drive it somewhere nearby out of sight, shot him, then walked back to Lester’s house. Remember that the used car salesman and his wife didn’t buy life insurance largely because Lester was such a poor salesman. > [@Charlie\_Wayne](#): > > …In some states, the legislatures don’t like to release anyone from jail once they are convicted because it is akin to admitting they were wrong and opens the door to a huge financial lawsuit for false imprisonment… Minnesota currently doesn’t have a law to compensate those who’ve been wrongly convicted and imprisoned: [http://ipmn.org/compensating-the-wrongfully-convicted/](http://ipmn.org/compensating-the-wrongfully-convicted/) > [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](#): > > Why Gus goes after Malvo alone: another factor. Gus has had prior experience with trying to get backup or help from Bill. Dismal failure. (Hitchcock often has scenes where the protagonists try to get help from the police, and they’re disbelieving and ineffectual. “Yep, that’s a bird alright,” says the sheriff in THE BIRDS… Hitchcock also liked to say, “My characters do not call the police because that would be no fun.” At the time I was practically screaming at Gus to call in his sighting of Malvo’s car - what if, while he waited for Malvo to return, Malvo killed Molly or his daughter? Gus would never forgive himself. But the BPD was such a poor excuse for a cop shop that I can understand acting as he did. > [@CarnalK](#): > > Just to nitpick, remember this is set in Jan 2006… Well, it started in 2006. Remember there was that one-year flash-forward, but the opening title cards still said it was taking place in 2006! Anyone else notice that the title “Fargo” appeared in black in the last episode? It was red in all the earlier ones. > [@Shoeless](#): > > …I agree with the others who said Malvo coming back to life after he’d been shot was scary as hell. I was yelling “Go for the head!” Me, too. Remember _Zombieland_ Rule 2: Double tap. > [@Sherrerd](#): > > …I noticed [the girl pointing her BB gun at her grandfather], too, and wondered if a point were being made (versus it being an accident of filming). I think it was just a continuity error. I looked closely at that sequence and the gun shifted in her lap from one shot (ahem) to the next, from pointing at him to not pointing at him, without us actually seeing her move it. > [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > …Notice how the deer in the first episode sent Malvo to the hospital. Notice how the wolf pointed Gus to the right house and how the wolf looked in on Malvo prior to Malvo trying to set the leg. Nature itself was trying to kill Malvo. Hmmm. Interesting theory. > [@MaxTheVool](#): > > I think people are assuming he was intending to flee into Canada, which makes sense. Yes. The snowmobile dudes chasing Lester had U.S. Border Patrol shoulder patches. > [@crucible](#): > > …I wonder if the FBI even has an office of any significance in Fargo… There is indeed an FBI office in Fargo, although it’s not in the modern, concrete “Federal Building” shown in the TV show. Couldn’t find out how many special agents are assigned to it. [http://www.fbi.gov/minneapolis/contact-us/territory-jurisdiction/#northdakota](http://www.fbi.gov/minneapolis/contact-us/territory-jurisdiction/#northdakota) [![](https://www.cardcow.com/images/set274/card00023_fr.jpg) ](https://www.cardcow.com/images/set274/card00023_fr.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Octarine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/22d042/32.png) [@Octarine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octarine)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2014, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fargo-s1e10-final-episode-open-spoilers/691038/142 "2014-06-22T20:26:10Z")
It’s weird, but the most surprising and horrifying thing in the series, for me, was the murder of the two FBI agents. They were characterized for so long as kind of comedic guys who, while not being the greatest at their job, were funny, nice, etc, etc - their characters didn’t scream “I’m going to be a victim!” I expected them to be in the epilogue, wrap things up, make a few jokes about how weird the case turned out to be, and so on. And then BAM, dead. The green vision “riddle” also struck a chord with me. I don’t think it was there just to characterize Malvo as a predator - _humans_ are hunters. Malvo, Molly, Gus, Lester, Molly’s dad - everyone. All that changes is who and why we’re hunting. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Lowry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Sam\_Lowry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Lowry)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2014, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fargo-s1e10-final-episode-open-spoilers/691038/143 "2014-06-23T14:25:05Z")
I just caught up on the show. I thought that was an excellent end to the season. I wanna watch the whole thing again from the start. > [@Joey\_P](#): > > I’m not sure what she was telling him, but I’ve heard the story before, usually about someone riding a boxcar and losing a shoe (then tossing the other). The only thing I could come up with is that the next sentence she wanted to say was something like ‘you wouldn’t do that would you…toss your other glove’. > > Maybe she was drawing a parallel about how he tossed his other wife to the killer? > > I wonder how important it is that Malvo switched cars and Lester bought his same (_red_) jacket. > > Also, Malvo not being quite dead yet was about the scariest thing I’ve seen on my TV screen in a long time. I think you’re right, her story was to say that Lester wouldn’t toss his other glove, it wouldn’t even occur to him to do that. Molly would toss her other glove, Gus would toss his after thinking for a second about how this stinks that he lost his glove. Malvo would toss his glove, but only after putting some razors or used syringes in it. I also agree with you (and everyone else) that Malvo not quite being dead was terrifying. > [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](#): > > There may not have been surprises, but there was certainly tension/suspense. Weren’t you worried when Gus seemed to be taking on Malvo alone, sneaking around the house? The earlier surprises set us up for such scenes, because we thought there was a real possibility that Malvo would kill Gus. > > I think the resolution for the main characters (Molly, Bill, Gus, Malvo, Lester) was very satisfactory.Yes, there were lots of them – including we never learned what happened to Chaz (assume he got out of jail, but what about his wife learning the accusations were are a frame-up?), the strange African kid story, etc. I think it’s brilliant that there are so many loose ends. Most shows have everything neatly wound up, so it’s sort of a riff on standard TV/movies to throw in all sorts of stuff that never gets resolved. I was terrified for Gus. There were a few scenes between when Gus went into the cabin and when Malvo got back. I read an interview with Noah Hawley who said that by then he was hoping you would have forgotten about Gus being in there and it would be surprising when he comes out. But I hadn’t forgotten, and I was still worried about Gus, even with Malvo having his terrible looking injuries. In the same interview he said something about how while the show isn’t actually based on a true story, they kept the “true story” disclaimer in mind for structuring some things. The more expected thing would be for Molly and Malvo to have a showdown in the last episode, everything was leading to that. But instead Molly never even saw Malvo in the flesh (other than maybe a brief glimpse in the blizzard) and someone else took down Malvo, since that’s more true to life. Also in real life there are a lot of loose ends. I liked how not everything was neatly wrapped up in a bow. > [@PastTense](#): > > Do we know Gus quit as a cop–as opposed to being fired for shooting Molly? I don’t think it was stated, other than he had a hearing coming up. Gus wasn’t highly respected, but he was still a cop, I wouldn’t be surprised if his boss or another superior advised him that it might be best for everyone if he resigned, instead of forcing them to go through disciplinary stuff and firing him. > [@Sherrerd](#): > > Bill’s speech was so perfect for the finale–just a brilliant addition, in my view. He had spent his life in the delusion that people in his town were basically good and kind and friendly and helpful, and he couldn’t face dealing with a world in which that wasn’t true. (Bill would never have been able to find the kind of balance that Molly has. She is able to accept that cruelty and selfishness exist without becoming cynical about that fact.) I agree that Bill’s speech was perfect. The character has been great and Bob Odenkirk has been great as Bill. There have been shows and movies before where the cop’s superior is incompetent or stupid, or doesn’t trust the cop protagonist because he doesn’t like him or trust him for a stupid reason. I really liked how Bill was written, that he didn’t disbelieve Molly because of stupidity or arrogance or sexism, but because he couldn’t fathom the amount of evilness in this case. Also, I really liked the end with Molly, Gus, and Greta on the couch. Molly will be able to handle things without becoming cynical or haunted. Also this is likely the worst case she’ll ever see. > [@Joey\_P](#): > > When he saw Malvo drive past him while he was on his mail route why didn’t he call Molly to say that he was back in town. Gus didn’t get a real good look at Malvo when he drove past. With all the trouble that Malvo has caused, and the initial fear and anger Malvo caused for Gus, I wouldn’t be surprised if Gus has thought he’s seen Malvo several times in the past year. It’s only after he hears that Malvo is back in town (and maybe he hears about the red BMW? I don’t remember) that he knows for sure that it must have actually been Malvo that he saw drove by. > [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > I don’t get why the car salesman didn’t bolt the second Malvo was out of the car. That kinda broke credibility, I thought. Taped hands or not, the salesman appears able to operate the vehicle; why not take off? We’ve seen Malvo threaten Gus’s family; I’m guessing he threatened the salesman’s family. Malvo could take the guy’s driver’s license and say “drive up to that house, and I’ll let you and your family live. Drive away, and I’ll go kill your family, then I will find you and kill you.” > [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](#): > > But it was pretty clear that there WAS no evidence, just Molly’s suspicion. And it was also clear that the incompetent police force wasn’t able to deal with evidence anyhow.This was consistent with Lester’s behavior all the way along. He thought he could run/hide/deny/avoid being questioned and that it would all just go away. He was always skating on thin ice, I think this was a great symbolic representation of his life since Malvo. > I thought it was pretty clear that Malvo thought Lester was going to join him, be a henchman, learn the trade. When Lester fled rather than help with the clean-up, Malvo knew he had to kill the eyewitness. > I don’t know how much “interest” there could be, the choices are few. I thought it was telling that the chief didn’t admit to his own incompetence, but to an inability for his world-view to encompass such evil. And we had seen that earlier, he was able to handle snow-emergencies well, he just had no clue what to do with murder cases. While that might not be exciting on its own, I think they did a great job of building up suspense leading to that confrontation. I thought it was well-done, and I can’t think of another ending that would be as satisfying. On the contrary, I think it was well-planned. I _love_ the bit that **Dewey Finn** discovered, that the car salesman was in the office in episode #1 declining life insurance. I think that the resolution was absolutely consistent with the characters and build-up all along. I think Lester’s end was perfect. Also funny since that’s also what those two henchmen had tried to do before he got away. I don’t think Malvo had any intention of Lester being a henchman. I think Lester just amused him. Malvo tries to stir up trouble and corrupt people, and it worked better than he could have ever managed with Lester. Also, Lester and Malvo are both dead because they tried to prove to themselves and others about who they really are. Lester thinks he’s a real man now, wants others to know and acknowledge it, and wants Malvo to know and acknowledge it and acknowledge him. He pushed it, and it led to the chain of events that caused his death. The funny thing is, Malvo also needed to prove himself to Lester. Needed to prove that Lester can’t just hit Malvo on the head and run away, he needs to pay for that. I think if Lester had just helped clean up the bodies, Malvo would have let him live, because it’s funny to Malvo to see how much he’s corrupted Lester. Malvo did not need to come back to Bemidji and kill Lester. Malvo has been seen by other eyewitnesses, and cameras, and has gone in and out of police custody before. Three little murders in Las Vegas isn’t any big deal to him, he doesn’t need to tie up the loose ends and kill Lester. Malvo could have gone on to his next job in Florida or Indiana or anywhere else, and lived to cause more havoc. But since he wanted to show that you can’t hit him on the head and get away with it, he ended up dead. > [@Lightnin](#): > > I don’t think Malvo intended to take on Lester as a protege- I think he was just going to have Lester help dispose of the bodies and then kill Lester to tie up all the loose ends. He’d already done almost exactly that before, with the personal trainer and the car salesman. Malvo obviously doesn’t mind some loose ends. He’s let Lester and Gus live, he lets the deaf henchman live and escape, knowing that the he could come for Malvo at some point. He dragged out that office guy in front of many other office workers, not caring how many eyewitnesses and cameras there were. ---
**Author:** ![Raza](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/raza/32/213_2.png) [@Raza](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raza)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2014, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fargo-s1e10-final-episode-open-spoilers/691038/144 "2014-06-23T14:52:26Z")
[QUOTE=Octarine] The green vision “riddle” also struck a chord with me. I don’t think it was there just to characterize Malvo as a predator - humans are hunters. [/quote] I don’t know what the writers intended, but here is what both the riddle and Malvo’s end meant to me: Malvo is an animal; a wild animal. He is telling Gus that with the riddle. In the end, while we all want to apply “golly, is that legal?” logic, Gus is realizing, finally, that Malvo IS a wild animal, and dispatches him the exact same way you would a wolf or bear that had been caught in a leg trap. No long discussion, no questions - just do what has to be done. Gus’ only statement was essentially “I figured out you were trying to tell me you’re an animal, so here we go”. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2014, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fargo-s1e10-final-episode-open-spoilers/691038/145 "2014-06-23T15:05:25Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Malvo isn’t a nice guy. He wouldn’t want to leave a witness to his murder of two FBI agents. I suspect he climbed in the car with the guy, had him drive it somewhere nearby out of sight, shot him, then walked back to Lester’s house. Malvo would have have expected that Lester could have heard the shots and/or seen the agents being killed (and it turned out he did). So if Malvo had done that it would have taken time and Lester could well have escaped out the back door. Because of this time delay I think Malvo would either have shot the witness immediately leaving the car there or let him go. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Wayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4bbf92/32.png) [@Charlie\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Wayne)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2014, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fargo-s1e10-final-episode-open-spoilers/691038/146 "2014-06-23T17:14:30Z")
> [@Sam\_Lowry](#): > > I just caught up on the show. I thought that was an excellent end to the season. I wanna watch the whole thing again from the start. > \ I just did that and it was well worth it. I discovered many things that I never discovered before. I loved this show the first time around and I loved it even more the second time around. I suggest to everyone and anyone that spending the ten hours or so will be a very enjoyable use of their time. It was extremely high quality TV. Some of the best I have ever seen. Maybe only 2 or 3 shows as good or better than Fargo. The Americans, The Sopranos and Games of Thrones come to mind. There may well be others. But those 3 are the only ones I can think of now. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2014, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fargo-s1e10-final-episode-open-spoilers/691038/147 "2014-06-23T19:40:47Z")
> [@Charlie\_Wayne](#): > > I just did that and it was well worth it. I discovered many things that I never discovered before… Do tell! ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Wayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4bbf92/32.png) [@Charlie\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Wayne)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2014, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fargo-s1e10-final-episode-open-spoilers/691038/148 "2014-06-23T20:10:36Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Do tell! Well, for one thing, I found that in most shots of those FBI agents, they always seemed to show their socks. That was just kind of strange. I don’t know the significance of that (yet). IBM salesman and FBI agents have a bizarre reputation for having to wear white socks or really strange looking socks. Some scenes you would see a couple of men wearing some very strange looking socks before you saw who they were and you just knew that it was them because of that. It’s hardly earth-shattering information. Just one of a several details that wasn’t apparent to me the first time I watched the show. Also, in my previous post, I explained about the connection to Molly’s parable and the police/receptionist lady. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2014, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fargo-s1e10-final-episode-open-spoilers/691038/149 "2014-06-23T23:24:26Z")
I’ve been kicking a name around in my head for the last few weeks, trying to remember where I’d heard it before. The dime finally dropped for me earlier today. About 2 episodes back, someone made a reference to Knuteson’s (or maybe Knudson’s). And it drove me friggin crazy. Bunny Lebowski’s real last name was Knuteson. When The Dude is being talked to by the other PI (the bald one with the blue VW), he reveals that her name was Fawn Knuteson, and he was hired by her parents to try to get her to go back to them family farm in Minnesota. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2014, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fargo-s1e10-final-episode-open-spoilers/691038/150 "2014-06-24T14:44:06Z")
Cool connection! ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2014, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fargo-s1e10-final-episode-open-spoilers/691038/151 "2014-06-25T00:27:49Z")
I interpreted the glove parable a little differently than what I see in the thread. I thought Molly was trying to say, in her roundabout way, that Lester wasn’t originally a bad guy, but by accident got mixed up with Malvo. This was losing the first glove. But then Lester embraced the evil, becoming evil himself. This was Lester tossing the second glove out the window. For both the gloves and Lester, an unwanted situation started accidentally and unintentionally, but was eventually embraced, and finished consciously and on purpose. ---
**Author:** ![nevadaexile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb8c5e/32.png) [@nevadaexile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nevadaexile)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2014, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fargo-s1e10-final-episode-open-spoilers/691038/152 "2014-06-25T01:16:39Z")
> [@MaxTheVool](#): > > I think people are assuming he was intending to flee into Canada, which makes sense. Lester could have been in Canada in a little over an hour from Bemidji.And the roads along the MN/Canadian border are so remote that you could rent a 4x4 and drive into Canada without being seen by anyone for hours. Hell, you could walk across one of the lakes into Canada in the winter. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2014, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fargo-s1e10-final-episode-open-spoilers/691038/153 "2014-06-25T01:32:03Z")
> [@nevadaexile](#): > > Lester could have been in Canada in a little over an hour from Bemidji.And the roads along the MN/Canadian border are so remote that you could rent a 4x4 and drive into Canada without being seen by anyone for hours. > > Hell, you could walk across one of the lakes into Canada in the winter. I assumed that’s what he was trying to do. Drive the snow-mobile across a trail into Canada. and then to get there on foot across the water. Not that I see much good in getting to Canada, they do extradite, don’t they? Or maybe not for death penalty cases? ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2014, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fargo-s1e10-final-episode-open-spoilers/691038/154 "2014-06-25T01:42:15Z")
Yes, Canada will extradite to the U.S., and as noted earlier, Minnesota doesn’t have the death penalty. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fargo-s1e10-final-episode-open-spoilers/691038.md?page=7)