Fargo: Season 2 Episode 3: "The Myth of Sisyphus" Review

"Yeah, I'm inclined to agree with Peggy.  It's not like you're gonna just drive home with a Gerhardt in your windshield and, y'know, start supper.

-Sheriff Hank Larsson

Things are heating up in Fargo as Sheriff Hank Larson (Ted Danson) and Officer Lou Solverson (Patrick Wilson) learn that the gun used in the Waffle Hut shooting had Rye Gerhardt's (Kieran Culkin) fingerprints on it.  Lou travels up to Fargo to get a lay of the land.  He is partnered with Fargo Detective Ben Schmidt (Keir O'Donnell) who is pretty worthless.  They witness Skip Sprang (Mike Bradecich) acting suspiciously outside the office of the deceased judge.  They question him, but Ben decides to let him go.

While the Gerhardt's continue to decide whether or not to go to war or to sell to Kansas City, Lou and Ben arrive at their compound.  Ben is terrified and is useless in getting information, but Lou informs them that Rye is wanted for murder and in completely unfazed at the Gerhardt's attempts to intimidate him.

Lou decides he want to talk to Skip again, but Ben has no interest so they part ways.  Lou enters Skip's store but only finds Mike Milligan (Bokeem Woodbine) and the Kitchen Brothers (Todd and Brad Mann).  After a tense standoff, neither party gives up any information on Skip's whereabouts and they part ways.

Unfortunately for Skip, the Gerhardt's found him first, and when he is unable to give them any information of Rye's location, Dodd Gerhardt (Jeffery Donovan) and Hanzee Dent (Zahn McClarnon) bury him alive.

Back in Luverne, Minnesota, Peggy Blumquist (Kirsten Dunst) hears Sheriff Larsson and his daughter, Betsy Solverson (Cristin Militia) talking about Betsy's theory that Rye was hit by a car and that person drove off.  Scared, Peggy pulls Ed (Jesse Plemons) out of work and they fake a car crash to explain why their windshield is destroyed.  Through the first time Ed hits some black ice and damages the rear end of the car.  He gets it right the second try.

What Works:

This is another great episode that keeps everything moving forward and we get a bit from everybody. But the best part of the episode if Patrick Wilson.  The episode mostly focuses on Lou and his adventures in Fargo and he runs into a lot of trouble.  The way hen handles the Gerhardt's, showing no fear, is simply awesome, especially when compared to Ben Schmidt, who may be the most useless cop ever.  But even when Lou is outnumbered and outgunned by Kansas City, he still doesn't back down.  Lou is a great character and an awesome protagonist.

The criminals in this show are a fascinating bunch, but tonight Dodd was the standout.  He's a terrifying guy.  The way he treats his own daughter is brutal, and the way he scares Ben tells us a lot about his character.  Plus he buries Skip alive!  This is not a guy you want to mess with.

We didn't get a ton of Peggy and Ed, but watching Ed screw up on his car crash was pretty funny.  

What Sucks:

I got nothing for you.

Verdict:

Another solid episode of Fargo.  This one solidifies how awesome out protagonist is, plus it develops a number of other really interesting and colorful characters.  We're definitely just building tension at this point, but it's still a lot of fun.

 9/10: Great