There’s this thing the people behind Fargo do. They did it last season, and they’re doing it again this season, and they — and I suppose I’m talking about showrunner-writer Noah Hawley, mostly — do it better than just about anyone else in television right now. What I’m talking about here is the business of dread.
There’s an art to it, really. Look at two scenes from this week’s episode, “Before the Law.” First, the one where Sheriff Hank stops Mike Milligan and the Kitchen brothers as they drive away from the Waffle Hut. The remarkable thing about that scene is that, I think, if you just read the words on the page, it would actually be pretty unremarkable, as far as traffic stops go. But in bringing it to the screen, and giving it this quiet and still sense of pending menace, it becomes something else entirely. A big part of that comes from Bokeem Woodbine’s performance as Mike Milligan, and the way he manages to wring bad intentions out of an otherwise polite interaction. But it’s the whole thing — the dialogue, the performance, the lonely snow-covered road — that drives it home and makes it terrifying.
See also, the second example: Poor Ed Blomquist sweating bullets as he tries to have a semi-normal conversation with Lou Solverson after Lou interrupts him literally turning Rye Gerhardt into sausage. (I choose to believe this was a perverse, low-tech homage to the wood-chipper scene in the original movie. Just a different method of body grinding.) You could probably see most of the scene play out in your head as soon as Lou pulled up. But even having a decent idea about what was going to happen, it remained as suspenseful as all hell, especially once one of Rye’s fingers went scooting away. It’s a weird thing, the possession of human fingers. Ten of them all attached to your own hand? Fine, no questions asked. But one loose one — just one — on the floor of your butcher shop and suddenly it’s a whole thing.
The thing that makes Fargo so great, however, isn’t so much the tension the show builds in these individual scenes. (Although it’s also that.) It’s the way they play with it, teasing it out to its limits before releasing it, like a kid stretching out a rubber band. Look at those scenes again. For all the potential doom laid over them, they both end with basically no payoff. Sheriff Hank sends Mike and the Kitchen brothers on their way, and Lou leaves the butcher shop with only breakfast meat instead of a suspected murderer in custody. But by making you sit there and question if they really are gonna put Ted Danson in the middle of a roadside shootout in episode two — which, I mean, this is Fargo, so we can’t really rule that out — only to let everyone walk away, the show is just laying the foundation for a scene down the road when that rubber band finally snaps. And make no mistake, it will snap. If last season was any indication, we probably don’t want to get too close to any of these characters, except Lou, who we can be pretty sure survives because we heard him tell this story in the future. Unless… Alien Impostor Lou? Something to keep an eye on. We did see that UFO, after all.
Elsewhere, as far as the rest of the plot goes, well, baby steps. Most everyone is trying to figure out where Rye is, even if some of them only know him as “unidentified waffle restaurant gunman.” The notable exception here are the Blomquists, who know where he is, but would prefer not to discuss it for obvious reasons. Speaking of the Blomquists, we did learn a little more about them this week. Specifically, we learned that Peggy is a diabolical toilet-paper thief — TP HEIST — and that she has a boss who either has feelings for her sexually or may want to go on a cross-country rabble-rousing excursion with her, a la Thelma & Louise, even though that film will not be released for another 12 years. Another thing to keep an eye on, I suppose.
And up in North Dakota, there appears to be some sticky family politics developing in the Gerhardt family, with everyone backing Floyd as the new leader while eldest son Dodd flails about ranting about how girls can’t be boss. I’m sure he’ll pour his heart out about all of this to the poor earless dead man in the shed who he was giving a lecture to about war earlier in the episode. Seemed liked a good listener.
Odds and ends
– This is almost definitely a result of me watching too much TV, but did you notice all the overhead shots of cars driving along roads, and the thing where Peggy replied to her boss’s question about who gets locked up in castles with “Dragons?” I’m sure it’s nothing, I’m sure of it, but a tiny part of me hopes Noah Hawley is out here making sly references to his Peak TV counterparts, True Detective and Game of Thrones. If Dodd gives someone a Chicago Sunroof this season, we’ll know for sure.
– Hey! Look at little Molly Solverson out there finding evidence! Kind of! I mean, she just picked up a balloon, really, but still! There was a gun under the balloon! A detective is born!
– Note to self: Do not sell a substandard home appliance to Mike Milligan.
– I mentioned this last week, but how great is the music in this season? From the opening little check-in montage to the pounding suspense womps (music term) as Ed inspected the car, to the floaty little angelic ditty that played while Mrs. Solverson got her cancer treatment. The dialogue and directing are the main course here, but this, the accompaniment, is a nice serving of garlic mashed on the plate. Makes the meal.
– Speaking of food: Big fan of the butcher saying, “Never trust anything that comes from the sea.” That’s just good marketing on his part. I hope that’s actually his business’s slogan, and he delivers it in zany low-budget local commercials that star a dishonest man in a homemade lobster costume.
All in all, another great episode. Your thoughts below. But first, everyone throw your underpants into the fire. Just to be safe.
