Fargo: Season 3 Episode 4 "The Narrow Escape Problem"

"Remember...richest guy in the room is always the boss."

-Nikki Swango

The 4th episode of Fargo's 3rd season follows Gloria Burgle (Carrie Coon) as she heads up to St. Cloud to do some investigation.  She meets a police officer, Winnie Lopez (Oliva Sandoval), who is investigating the hit-and-run that Sy Feltz (Michael Stuhlbarg) committed against Ray Stussy (Ewan McGregor).  Gloria meets with Ray, who he gives her no useful information, but she learns he has the same last name as her step-father.

Ray, meanwhile, pretends to be Emmit (Ewan McGregor) and manages to get $10,000 out of his account, as well as access to the safety deposit box, which does not have the stamp in it.  His bosses find out that he is dating Nikki Swango (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), one of his parolees, and he is fired, which causes him to miss his meeting with a potential bridge sponsor.

When Sy discovers Ray's theft, he retaliates by putting parking boots on Ray's car and providing his superiors with proof about his relationship with Nikki.  Sy is approached by Winnie about the hit-and-run, but she doesn't know it was him, only that it was someone with the company.  He stalls by telling her that he will send information about the driver of the vehicle the next day.

V.M. Varga (David Thewlis) visits Emmit at his home and manipulates him into making Varga a partner in the company.  Varga promises to make Emmit a billionaire.

Finally, Winnie drops by Gloria's house and together they start putting the pieces together; Ennis Stussy, who lived in Eden Valley, was murdered by a parolee of Ray Stussy, who was involved in a hit-and-run with someone from his brother, Emmit Stussy's, company.  And Emmit lives in Eden Prairie.  

What Works:

My favorite part about this episode is the introduction of Winnie Lopez.  She is an excellent character with a lot of fun dialogue and interactions with Gloria.  She's a really open and honest character, who talks too much about her sex life, and I love it.  The final scene of the episode where she and Gloria start putting the pieces together is my favorite scene from the first four episodes of the season and it pumped me up for what's to come.

V.M. Varga continues to be a great presence on the show.  Watching him reel in Emmit to make him a partner was fabulous.  Really, it was a manipulative work of art with some fantastic dialogue.  We also learn that he is balimic, which is an unusual and interesting trait for a character like him.

Watching Sy try to be a badass is always entertaining and his rivalry with Ray is one of my favorite components of the season.  Their stare-down outside the parole office is hilarious.  Even better is the next time we see Sy, he's whimpering like a baby, barely holding it together when confronted by Winnie.

Ray was gold in this episode.  Finding the confidence to get to his brother's safety deposit box was fantastic, his scene with Gloria was great, and the scene where he gets fired is really sweet.  Ray's a great character and far more interesting than his brother.

Finally, it was gnice to have Billy Bob Thornton back on the show, even if he was just the narrator.

What Sucks:

For someone who is in the main cast, we sure don't see much of Yuri (Goran Bogdan).  He and Meemo (Andy Yu) don't get much to do in this episode and have yet to earn their place as the heavies of this season.  They are no Lorne Malvo or Hanzee Dent, that's for sure.

Verdict:

After some wheel spinning in the previous episode, "The Narrow Escape Problem" puts us right back in the thick of things with some great performances and storytelling all around.  Through we have a few underused characters, most of the cast is great, entertaining, and funny, whether they mean to be or not.  Plus the final scene gets me really excited for what is to come and is the best scene of the season thus far.

 9/10: Great