I fully expected them to rape her; or maybe they did.
The IRS were not known to be involved at the point where Nikki gets beaten. All she is beaten for is being mouthy. She is not being beaten for her treatment of Emmit or Stussi Inc. Those two thugs know how to kill people. If they wanted to ensure her death they easily would have killed her. Im guessing Nikki has to show her face in public very soon, and that for some storytelling reason her face cannot be disfigured in any way.
Her face wasn’t disfigured. And I would think those goons knew exactly who she was, and what she was up to. They might not have known about the IRS, but they probably knew about the blackmail, and they knew she and the brother had caused other trouble.
Yeah, I was actually upset at Noah Hawley for killing her off, until I realized he didn’t.
Speaking of Hawley, he obviously likes Hamish Linklater, who also played a (very interesting) role in Legion earlier this spring. I first encountered him in the awesome Miranda July film The Future.
Anyone else a World Party fan? I immediately recognized the “Ship of Fools” cover despite this version having a very different tempo.
Remember, Varga planted the seeds to Emmit that Sye was in cahoots with the other brother - and then the thugs follow the brother to the meet with her.
This was a message to Sye as well as to Emmit.
The other brother has yet to meet Varga.
I admit to having a tough time with this season. The first two were alternately charming and brutal, with actors acting their hearts out and plots that were delightfully developed and executed. This season seems somehow forced to me, with an over-the-top emoting villain with his two cartoon henchmen. It has enough to keep me watching, and I hope that it starts pulling together soon, but it’s a bit of a let-down after the first two seasons.
I suppose it’s not for everyone, but I like quirky plots and characters and I’m enjoying it immensely and I look forward to each new episode.
I love the Varga character. He keeps outdoing himself in inappropriate behavior and you just can’t predict what he’ll do or say next.
Emmit’s stunned looks at the things Varga says and does are priceless. You can tell he’s thinking “This can’t be happening. Who the hell is this guy and what’s his damage.” while at the same time being scared to death of Varga and the situation he’s forced on him.
Another powerful, unsettling episode.
The liquid in the mug (ew!) didn’t look like pee, either when Sy drank it or when it spilled.
Will the mild-mannered IRS agent turn out to be the hero? As in The Untouchables, it might be taxes which ultimately bring down the bad guys. I could see him teaming up with the two female cops.
The police chief really is a shithead. Just as in the previous series, a determined female cop has to butt heads with her clueless male boss. Sheesh. Here’s more on the Laura Buxton balloon-release lots-of-coincidences story: Laura Buxton Balloon Coincidence | Snopes.com
Best line: “You’ve made me the happiest woman ever. Now let’s make a sex tape.”
Nitpick: it’s “Sy.” Again, for spellings: Fargo season 3 - Wikipedia
Not enough time for that, I think, but I fully expected her to have been killed when she went silent during the beating. (Sy’s horrified reaction was quite powerful). Still not sure why they beat her up, though - not sure what that gains them.
Agreed on all counts. His personal grossness, utter amorality, glibly offensive pronouncements and antisemitism are all of a piece.
Seriously. I’d love to be a fly on the wall while those writers are working.
How do they come up with lines like “she’s only your wife until I show up in the middle of the night with a plate of cold cuts”?
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Agree completely.
I agree too. It’s just playing the notes again with nothing new to say.
It wasn’t. Varga thoroughly rubbed his dick around inside the cup, then one of the thugs filled it with water afterwards - you can hear it running in the background. So not nearly as bad as pee - a confidant badass would have swilled it down while staring at Varga. But Sy is far from a confidant badass.
I expected her to be dead and like others I was surprised again that they left her face unmarked. One can fanwank it away for any number of reasons, but I think it was a slight stretch either way. Still, no Winstead and my investment in this season drops, so it works from my rooting interest pov. The little glimpses that she actually cares about Ray help elevate her character above your average stock femme fatale.
I agree this is so far a lesser effort than seasons 1 or 2. That said it is still holding my attention. The acting and casting continues to be mostly top-notch and I do want to see who makes it out alive.
My initial thought was their plan wasn’t to kill her but to really injure her, but not that you could see her injuries (so obviously they didn’t touch her face). To send a message to Ray. I think there’s some sort of plans to get the brothers to do each other in, leaving everything to Varga free and clear and since it’s all the brother’s doings, Varga’s hands are clean
I’m not as down on this season as some here, but there were a couple of things that I didn’t like about this episode.
When Sy was watching the beating, I thought it was pretty clear he was actually seeing where they hit her. From his expression, I fully expected them to have a crane shot of her lying on the ground with a big pool of blood around her crushed skull.
Sy was horrified at what they were doing; he hadn’t wanted that to happen. And yet, knowing she was probably alive but severely injured, he just turned around and drove off. He’s had his asshole moments on this show, but you would have to be a real bastard not to take her to the hospital, even if only to dump her at the door and drive off.
If I were Ray, it would make no difference to me whether Sy was complicit in the beating or not. The fact that he didn’t help her afterward would be enough to make me want to kill him.
The other thing was the IRS guy. It’s just ridiculous that they would assign an agent to take several days to go over the books because a multi-millionaire withdrew 10 grand from the bank.
Still, it’s literally the only primetime show I’m watching right now.
Unless they suspect something bigger and that’s their way to get in.
It’s the IRS. They can audit anybody they want. They don’t need a pretext if they suspect something bigger.
ETA: if I remember right, the guy even said he didn’t need a warrant.
Good point.
Ah, thanks. I misinterpreted what Varga had done.
Yes, exactly: or they just “enjoy” when companies fuck up and give them a legal pretext to nose around.
BTW, recall that the bank manager warned him that the $10,000 (plus a roll of quarters) would trigger a notification. But if I understand right, isn’t the same true of taking out $9,999, because it’s so obviously intended to skirt the regulation? Or even if you take out $5,000 one day and another $5K the next, it’s “stucturing” withdrawals to evade the rule.
So that makes me wonder: what pattern of withdrawals (in amounts over a grand, obv.) wouldn’t potentially run afoul of “structuring”? Asking for a friend. 
(In truth, I don’t have ten grand in the bank, or in cash or in fact any other negotiable instrument.)
Don’t feel bad, so did I–and Alan Sepinwall, for that matter.
I once had occasion to take out a little over $12k. In fact, it was right around the time when this season takes place. I’m sure that someone was duly notified but no one came sniffing around. It does seem a little weird that one withdrawal of exactly $10k would cause the IRS to show up.