Fargo: Season 2 Episode 4 "Fear and Trembling" Review
"You're a good woman. I wish I'd known your husband."
-Joe Bulo
"No. My husband would've killed you where you stood the first time you met. So be glad you're talking to his wife."
-Floyd Gerhardt
"Fear and Trembling" opens with a flashback. Otto Gerhardt (Michael Hogan) takes his 12-year old son, Dodd (Victor Hawryluk) to a movie theater where he is a having a meeting with his rival, Kellerman (Kai Lennox). Otto has Dodd murder Kellerman while he takes out the goons.
In present day, Dodd (Jeffery Donovan) takes his nephew, Charlie (Allan Dobrescu) on a job to beat up some of the Kansas City Mafia crew.
It's revealed that Simone Gerhardt (Rachel Keller) is having sex with Mike Milligan (Bokeem Woodbine), and he manages to get a lot of information from her, including that Otto is being taken to a doctor's appointment later that day. The Gerhardt's have a sit-down with Kansas City, where the Gerhardt's pitch a partnership rather than a buyout, but Kansas City rejects the offer. Mike and his men attack Otto, killing his security team, but leave Otto alive. The two groups are going to war.
Hanzee Dent (Zahn McClarnon) arrives in Luverne, Minnesota. He goes to the Waffle Hut where he is quickly able to deduce what happened. He finds a piece of glass in the snow and drives to a nearby auto shop. He discovers it belongs to a headlight and tricks the mechanic into telling him the car belongs to Ed Blumquist (Jesse Plemons). He tries to threaten the mechanic to get more information out of him, but Karl Weathers (Nick Offerman) arrives, forcing Hanzee to leave. He goes to the Blumquist's house and finds Rye Gerhardt's (Kieran Culkin) belt buckle in the fireplace, where Ed burned the evidence.
Peggy Blumquist (Kirsten Dunst) is revealed to be secretly taking birth control, even though Ed won't stop talking about having kids and buying the butcher's shop. Peggy uses the money to pay for a seminar. When Ed's check bounces, he confronts her about it. Peggy tries to get the money back from her boss, Constance Heck (Elizabeth Marvel), but she convinces Peggy to go to the seminar anyway.
Peggy Blumquist (Kirsten Dunst) is revealed to be secretly taking birth control, even though Ed won't stop talking about having kids and buying the butcher's shop. Peggy uses the money to pay for a seminar. When Ed's check bounces, he confronts her about it. Peggy tries to get the money back from her boss, Constance Heck (Elizabeth Marvel), but she convinces Peggy to go to the seminar anyway.
Lou (Patrick Wilson) and Betsy Solverson (Cristin Milioti) visit a doctor and learn that Betsy's cancer has spread. But she signs up for a clinical trial where she has a 50-50 shot at getting the experimental drug or a placebo. Lou gets called out to the auto shop to investigate Hanzee's threat. He manages to deduce that Peggy and Ed are the ones who hit Rye. He confronts them and tries to get them to fess up, warning them that the Gerhardt's are coming. They deny everything. Lou goes outside to sit in front of his house with a shotgun.
What Works:
I love the opening of this episode. It features a 12-year old boy stabbing a man in the back of the head. Awesome stuff and it really gives you some solid background on why Dodd is the way he is.
The whole Kansas City-Gerhardt's story-line is really exciting. The war has finally started and Mike's attack on Otto's group is really tense and exciting. It's a great way to kick off the violence that's coming down the pike.
Patrick Wilson is, once again, fantastic. His scene reveling he knows exactly what Ed and Peggy did is amazing. I know I would have immediately fessed up after that, and he really is a great protagonist.
Finally, Hanzee Dent is a terrifying force. It's incredible how fast he figures out what happened to Rye, and it's totally believable. Watching him operating is fascinating. He's not someone I would want hunting me.
What Sucks:
My only real complaint is I can't stand Peggy Blumquist. She's in the average-person-who-does-something-bad-and-now-has-to-try-and-get-away-with-it role like Lester in season 1 and Jerry in the movie. But her character doesn't have the odd, quirky likability that the other two had. The problem is, this seminar just seems like an obvious scam, that I can't fall in line with her actions. Jerry and Lester's action's made sense to some extent, and I get Peggy is trying to figure out who she is and what she wants, but come on. A seminar? That's it?
Verdict:
My problems with Peggy aside, I really like this episode. It finally kicks of the crime family war with some excellent violence, and gives us a great villain and adds to an already awesome here.
9/10: Great
What Works:
I love the opening of this episode. It features a 12-year old boy stabbing a man in the back of the head. Awesome stuff and it really gives you some solid background on why Dodd is the way he is.
The whole Kansas City-Gerhardt's story-line is really exciting. The war has finally started and Mike's attack on Otto's group is really tense and exciting. It's a great way to kick off the violence that's coming down the pike.
Patrick Wilson is, once again, fantastic. His scene reveling he knows exactly what Ed and Peggy did is amazing. I know I would have immediately fessed up after that, and he really is a great protagonist.
Finally, Hanzee Dent is a terrifying force. It's incredible how fast he figures out what happened to Rye, and it's totally believable. Watching him operating is fascinating. He's not someone I would want hunting me.
What Sucks:
My only real complaint is I can't stand Peggy Blumquist. She's in the average-person-who-does-something-bad-and-now-has-to-try-and-get-away-with-it role like Lester in season 1 and Jerry in the movie. But her character doesn't have the odd, quirky likability that the other two had. The problem is, this seminar just seems like an obvious scam, that I can't fall in line with her actions. Jerry and Lester's action's made sense to some extent, and I get Peggy is trying to figure out who she is and what she wants, but come on. A seminar? That's it?
Verdict:
My problems with Peggy aside, I really like this episode. It finally kicks of the crime family war with some excellent violence, and gives us a great villain and adds to an already awesome here.
9/10: Great
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