Except, she didn’t want to leave Ed, she wanted to leave the life of being the butcher’s wife and running the shop and raising kids in a sleepy Minnesota town. She is just fine now that that option is dust and she is getting the adventure she craved. This is what she wanted for her and Ed - with maybe more murder and mayhem.
Your mouth to God’s ear! 
So, anyone posted this brief article on the apparent genesis of the UFO subplot?
Personally while realizing it almost certainly is a polarizing moment for show fans, I loved it. Adored it. I’ve got no problem with supernatural mysteries plugged into seemingly normal shows and it’s the most absurdly literal deus ex machina ever. Show creator Noah Hawley was obviously having a ball with tropes - including the equally absurdly over-the-top moron cops having an almost literal “pissing contest” while waiting for their doom.
And Kirsten Dunst continues to bring it. Hope she walks off with that emmy. re: the relationship with Ed, the big moment for me ( even more than her “Gift of the Magi” moment ) or her sharp defense of his intelligence in this episode ( and the line “we’re realized”, not just that she is ), was in the previous episode. After Ed but the cover over Dodd’s head to keep him from staring at them in bed, she snuggled up to Ed with a perfectly contented smile.
Lou and Hank are shown to be above average cops with good lives, but I’m pretty sure that some of the other Minnesota cops we’ve seen have been overwhelmed by circumstances. If Lou hadn’t been there when Bear wanted the stand-off to get Charlie back, I’m pretty sure things would have gone much differently with just the other cops there. We’ve just seen more of the South Dakota cops with Lou traveling all over the place.
I like the flying saucer stuff. Normally I think that would drive me crazy, but I think it just fits with what they’ve done this season. Especially if you look at the whole story as a somewhat true folk story that’s passed down in a book like Murders in the Midwest.
Except that what Ed wants is a quiet life in a sleepy town. Peggy has been exhilarated by everything that has been happening, Ed not so much, although he was proud of how he did set up a deal with Mike Milligan. Peggy is fine for the moment, and she might be happy living on the run for the rest of their lives. But if Peggy and Ed survive, and don’t get any charges against them, and there aren’t any criminals coming after them, they could easily settle back into old patterns, and Ed’s happy with the quiet life and glad to have all that bother behind them, and Peggy will want to leave him again.
Jamin?
A great point and a great post too. I really liked what you had to say abut the Troopers. I had a great big laugh from that.
Why haven’t you been posting more? Please come back and give us your thoughts on the finale?
Well to be fair, we’re only seeing this particular SDAK group of troopers who admitted that their offices are full of corruption.
I’m sorry. Don’t understand. 
Heh Heh.
Remember the scene with Peggy and the “shit cop” in the motel room?
Peggy asks if his name is “Ben”.
He replies, “Jamin”
“It’s Ben jamin”!
Ah, yes! I had forgotten that one. Thanks.
I just think his character is fun to watch as he keeps “changing his skin” like a chameleon. The actor has done a good job making an unlikeable character fun. He’s not alone in that, for sure. In fact, are there many likeable characters in the show?
Pretty good episode, although not as good as the week before. Nice to have Martin Freeman back on Fargo, even if was only as the British historian V.O.
Anybody get a clear screenshot of the pages of the Midwest Crime book? Looked pretty detailed.
Those were both great Peggy moments.
I actually thought that, if Bear found Dodd, he just might shoot him, and tell Ma that the other guys/cops had done it.
Implausible, though, that Ed couldn’t stop a charging Bear with his MSP sidearm.
I suspect the gutshot Sheriff Danson is a goner.
Agreed on both counts. Didja notice the UFO sticker in the Rushmore convenience store? Still, the UFO subplot is subpar and out of place IMHO.
Well, OK, I feel a little better about it all now. Didn’t know UFOs were such a big thing in Minn. back then.
I’m interested in how the final episode plays out. I think Hanzee is a pretty nuanced “villian”.
What’s his final endgame? He’s a cold blooded killer–probably augmented due to his Vietnam duties. But what’s his motivation for bringing down the Gerhardts? I think the narration addressed this somewhat, but not definitely.
I think he’s got some layers. Maybe being a disrespected Indian and wanting to escape that life for something better. Seeing the “hanged Sioux” placard and having the bartender spit in his drink probably influenced a decision.
But what does he think will happen and how his actions will play out?
Even though I knew he was a walking target, I did gasp and get upset when Ted Danson got shot and I hope he survives… if not for his sake, for his granddaughter’s. Losing your mother and grandfather (assuming they’re both at death’s door) so close together at a young age is awful. Yeah, she grew up just fine, but it still would be hard to see.
No, it was a fake. There was about half a page of text that more or less followed the story, then it was cut and pasted all over dozens of pages to fill them up, sometimes in order, sometimes not.
Remember that the book was supposed to be a history, not a novel, so the narrator could only make whatever sense of whatever facts he could find; he’s not omniscient or infallible. Some of what he said might be sheer speculation, no more valid than any other opinion in this thread.
Hanzee is very hard to figure. He warned Floyd not to come to the motel, then he killed her there. So did he really want her to stay away, so he wouldn’t have to kill her (since she would (as she did) realize that he had set up Bear and the others), or was he using reverse psychology by telling her not to come, and making her resent being told what to do, to ensure she would be there so he could kill everybody at once?
And my obligatory nitpick about an otherwise great show – I hate it when the “good guys” have the bad guy at their mercy, and they know if they don’t kill him he’s going to keep trying to kill them, but they just bash him on the head and run off anyway.
I pretty much took Hanzee at his word to Floyd - he couldn’t garuntee her safety - as the narrator said, there is much debate about when/how he came to the decision he did.
I think he was going to let it play out, then kill off everyone that was left standing - had Floyd not come, she would have ‘survived’.
Bear was definitely intent on killing Dod if he had found him.
Still taking in the rest of it - the UFO ‘out of nowhere’ was hilarious. The narration made the season make sense - its someone ‘recounting’ the ‘legend’ - there’s lots of gaps.
I’m guessing much of it written by Molly - “and then the UFO showed up and saved daddy and took mommy to heaven” - ok - maybe not - but there are elements that almost make it seem that way - maybe peggy’s realized child of the future?
MSP?
Minnesota State Police?
What happened in the last minute or so? My DirectTV recording cut off when Ed left Lou and was running across the parking lot in search of Hanzee. Lots of cruisers just arriving in the background. Please tell me I didn’t miss much!
Just have to love the line, “It’s just a flying saucer”. That’s a definite prize winner.
You missed: nothing
A roll-eyes for me as well. I hate that kind of lack of attention to detail.
I also don’t like the UFO aspect of this series. This episode’s in-your-face flying saucer was a jarring note in an otherwise great scene.