Fargo: Season 1 Episode 8 "The Heap" Review

"How can you lose a kid from Africa in freakin' Minnesota!?"
-Bill Oswalt



"The Heap" picks up with Lester Nygaard (Martin Frreman) who has successfully framed his brother for murder and moves on with his life with newfound confidence.

Meanwhile, Lorne Malvo (Billy Bob Thornton) returns to Duluth, where he murders a police officer to gain access to Mr. Wrench (Russell Harvard).  Malvo taunts him about the death of his partner and the rest of the Fargo mob, before giving him some respect for how close he got to killing him.  He gives Wrench the key to his handcuffs and tells him if he ever wants to finish this, to come find him.

FBI Agents Budge (Keegan-Michael Key) and Pepper (Jordan Peele) are both demoted to the file room after the massacre of the Fargo mob happened right under their noses.

Finally, Deputy Molly Solverson (Allison Tolman) and Officer Gus Grimly (Colin Hanks) decide to go on a date to the Bemidji Lumberjack Festival.

The episode jumps ahead to one year later.  Molly and Gus are now married and Molly is very pregnant.  Gus and Greta (Joey King) have moved in with Molly in Bemidji and Gus is now a mailman.  Molly is still a deputy and hasn't given up on catching Malvo and Lester.

Agents Budge and Pepper are still in the file room, but become re-inspired to resume their hunt for Malvo.

Lester has married his coworker, Linda Park (Susan Park), and wins an award for best insurance salesman at a convention is Las Vegas.  He decides to go to a the hotel bar to celebrate as Linda goes to bed, but Lester notices a man sitting at a nearby table who looks exactly like Lorne Malvo, but with dyed hair.


What Works:

This episode blew my mind when it jumped to one year later.  I did not see that coming at all, and it was really exciting.  The first half of this episode is mostly just wrapping things up and winding down the story.  Nothing too exciting happens except for Lorne's murder of a police officer.  But the second half really pumps up the energy and sets up a lot of exciting stories to come.  This episode is the beginning of the end of season 1, and it starts things off excellently.


What Sucks:

Again, the first half of this episode is mostly just wrapping things up.  It's not super exciting, but it's still good.  I gotta say, I am getting pretty tired of Chief Bill Oswalt (Bob Odenkirk) by this point.  Worst.  Cop.  Ever.  It makes you feels for Molly, but we've seen how incompetent this Chief is before. This doesn't really add anything new.


Verdict:

"The Heap" is a solid episode of Fargo, but the second half if superior to the first.  It's a really exciting set-up episode that jump-starts us into the the climatic final two episodes.  And it does a good job at it.

 9/10: Great 

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