fargo season 2 episode 7

Speaking of more, the duo's follow-up scene was almost the exact opposite of their aforementioned meeting. Touching, heartfelt and utterly devastating, Betsey's instructions to Karl on how to take care of her family when she passes defined both characters so well. It established a friendly connection between the pair, too, but the biggest takeaway was how much everyone loved each other in that room, in that house and in that town.

The good people look out for each other, even if Karl didn't want to discuss as much considering how defeatist it seemed. Now, how she deals with the discovery of her dad's bizarre signs translating alien symbols — that I don't know. Nor do I know how it could connect to the larger UFO theme of the season. It's tense, as Bear talks in a low, grumbling voice and appearing cold to his niece.

She is rightfully nervous, having just before walked out of the hotel where Milligan was staying. Then Bear pulls over out in the woods, asking Simone to come – "You're scaring me," she tells him. Slowly he walks his niece out further into the trees, accusing her of "sleeping with the enemy" and talks about how women had their heads shaved for "bedding Germans". The cinematography here is equally as eerie, it unsettled me to watch overhead as Bear basically – I assume – takes Simone on a death march. Plus, a few creepy handheld-like shots quivering together in a big, beautiful edited jumble.

I really loved this whole bit, no matter how brutal it was beneath it all. Just an incredibly great sequence from visuals to performances. An entirely unexpected 5 minutes, which work so perfectly.

Another example of the quality work being put into this series, from the camerawork to the writing to all the choice music being used for such memorable scenes. From here, there can be no going back because too many people have been killed and that body count will continue to grow. It's as inevitable as Mike telling Lou that the northern expansion is inevitable because it's the future. Several times this season, characters have reflected on simpler times where people lived as good neighbors and could leave their doors unlocked.

Now we live in a world plagued by war, cancer, violence, and the Mickey Mouse Club. It's enough for the local law enforcement to bring Floyd in for a chat, to try and calm the situation down. This turns out to work to Floyd's advantage; after making a fuss over turning rat, Floyd feeds Hank and the police chief info about Kansas City's operations, hitting them where they live and giving her own side an advantage.

It's something Lou picks up on late in the game, as the cops, in their efforts to figure things out, have inadvertently picked sides in a war with no heroes in it. Getting to see Floyd in action is a good turn, especially when that action reinforces what a mess this whole situation is. Right now, it's hard to see how this is going to end.

Because, as Mike himself tells Lou later on, Kansas City is the "future." A local crime family just isn't going to have the resources to keep this up long term, not even if they do bring in guys from Buffalo. She's a dying woman in a world where there's no discernable response to stemming the violence. Despite having the sugar pills, despite her husband risking his life, despite knowing that she may not live long enough to see her daughter grow up, she's taking advantage of the time she has left.

The scene between Betsy and Karl was a very warm moment made better by the way Milioti and Nick Offerman played off of each other. As an anthology, each season of Fargo is engineered to have a self-contained narrative, following a disparate set of characters in various settings. Noah Hawley and his team of writers used the second season to expand the scope of the show's storytelling—from its narrative to its characters. They increased the show's cast of core characters to five, each with interconnecting arcs and different viewpoints of the central story. Hawley wanted viewers to sympathize with characters they might not feel empathy for in real life.

The producers at one point discussed revisiting a modern period for their story. According to Hawley, the change in the time period helped to develop a sense of turbulence and violence in a world that "could not be more fractured and complicated and desperate". I think we all suspected that Bear — the strong, quiet type from the get-go — would be forced to confront some sides of himself he wasn't comfortable assessing before. He either killed or exiled his niece, all while her dad was held captive by two people his son was in charge of killing; though his son was only put in that position because of his uncle's decision. That's some messed up family drama right there — that only viewers will be able to keep straight — and it's bound to make everyone else's Thanksgiving get together's look downright serene. Mike Milligan's newfound meaning could also mean ruin for the Gerhardts, who are more lost and fractured than ever.

He recounts a story of a boy who killed his parents one day without warning. "Our stories used to be simpler, that's for sure," Floyd says. That aesthetic can make for some odd situations, though. After he finds her coming out of Mike Milligan's hotel, Bear drags Simone into the wilderness to pay for her betrayal. Obviously sensing further calamities to follow, especially after his confrontation with Deafy earlier, Odis packs up his apartment, ready to get out of town. But Opal picks him up before he can leave and takes him to Loy's gym, where Swanee and Zelmare deliberately antagonize him until they're given instructions to leave by Loy, under threats against Dibrell.

"Lay Away" has another actorly showcase for Chris Rock here, as Loy outlines the Faddas' strategy of trying to turn him into an animal, like them. Opal thinks the situation isn't complex, just kill or be killed, win or lose, but Loy is head of the family precisely because he doesn't think that way. Snap from the hotel to Betsy Solverson who arrives home to suspicious boots in her porch. Immediately, and very smart, she goes for a shotgun in the closet and goes up to the kitchen. There stand Karl Weathers and Sonny Greer cooking breakfast. Apparently her "lesser half" asked them to make sure she was doing all right and to look after her and Molly.

Awesome little scene I thought fit in well among everything else happening during this episode. I think I may have enjoyed this episode a bit more than others because it gave attention to characters that we've seen, but not focused on for much time. A prequel to the events in its first season, season two of Fargo takes place in the Upper Midwest in March 1979. It follows the lives of a young couple—Peggy and Ed Blumquist —as they attempt to cover up the hit and run and homicide of Rye Gerhardt , the son of Floyd Gerhardt , matriarch of the Gerhardt crime family. During this time, Minnesota state trooper Lou Solverson , and Rock County sheriff Hank Larsson , investigate three homicides linked to Rye. Back at the Solverson house, Karl keeps a watchful eye on Betsy who claims she feels fine.

She tells the story of how her older sister was supposed to marry Lou but he went off to serve in Vietnam and she couldn't wait. Karl's happy it's Betsy and Lou, telling her he'd take the two of them over Lou and her sister any day. Betsy is touched and asks Karl if he'll look after her family when she's gone. She knows she got the sugar pills and isn't getting better.

She says to pass on to Lou that it's okay to get married again when she's gone. She tells him to stop drinking, he says okay, and then they hug. " plows through a lot of narrative business, but it coheres around the theme of family values, with Simone's demise at the heart of it. For much of the season, the soft-spoken Bear has seemed like the one redeemable figure in the Gerhardt family, quietly steering his son away from violence while submitting to his mother's plan to compromise with Kansas City. But this episode reveals him as someone who's more interested in closing ranks and protecting the Gerhardt family than questioning its mission or its values.

The turf war continues as Bear and Ricky G posing as window washers gun down a KC mafia associate and his clients in a high rise office building. Elsewhere, Gale Kitchen fatally strangulates a Gerhardt clan member. Meanwhile, Floyd and her family bury her husband Otto who was shot to death during the raid on their compound led by Mike and his KC gunmen. Next to Otto's grave is Rye's and Simone throws his belt buckle down into it.

Ben and Lou show up and arrest Floyd in connection to the shootout in the woods that killed Joe Bulo and Wayne Kitchen among others. FX already released the official promo of the next episode of the series, which is set to release very soon. The teaser features some really exciting moments, which is enough to increase the hype for the upcoming episode.

It teases a potential that will be made between two main characters of the series. The show is finally increasing its pace and growing more exciting day by day. Lou and Hank investigate in Fargo; the king of breakfast visits Betsy and Molly; Floyd is summoned away; and Bear questions a family member's loyalty. Because the Italians are counting on him to do their own dirty work. The two remaining unresolved mysteries from last week's episode don't get resolved until the end of this episode. In the big reveal, we see Jesse calling Mike Milligan's hotel suite (how did he get the number?) to let him know that he has Dodd in the trunk of his car.

He's also been the one calling the Gerhardt's in an attempt to tell them the same thing; Bear had stiff-armed his attempts, but now that Floyd knows, he can do so no longer. As the episode fades on a shot of Ed getting into what appears to be Dodd's car, we finally get the MacGuffin that leads everyone to Sioux Falls. As Simone pleads for her life, saying that they're family, Bear tells her that none of them are family anymore.

Simone begs to be banished and run out of town instead, but Bear says that it's already done. When this call ends, a pissed Simone enters to chew Mike out for killing Otto instead of Dodd. In response, Mike quotes rattles off a series of quotes. If the goal is to kill your oppressors, what does it matter who goes first? This talk is interrupted when Lou and Ben storm in the room, with Lou ordering Ben to take Simone out with him.

Charlie is in jail, Dodd missing, husband missing. It's a question of how many ghosts you can live with for the rest of your life, but Floyd isn't concerned. Hank shot a man through the teeth in Vichy, France and he can still see his face. Floyd maintains that the butcher from Luverne killed Rye, but Hank maintains that he's known Ed all his life and knows that he doesn't work for the mob. If he's working for Kansas City, Hank will cut off his own toe. The entire sequence of Simone's death, from the incredibly tense small-talk in the car to the downright beautiful "Danny Boy" montage of the Gerhardt family, was exquisite.

A principal cast of five actors received star billing in the show's second season. Hawley did not tailor his characters with any specific actors in mind, though Nick Offerman, Brad Garrett, Patrick Wilson and Kirsten Dunst were among the few he considered for starring roles in the season's early stages. The search for talent was sometimes an exhaustive process that required advertising via custom built websites and social media. Once actors were hired, their agents were made aware of the frigid shooting conditions and any issues with the location and potential scheduling conflicts during production were discussed.

Hawley discussed the script with actors who had little experience in the television industry. "They're used to reading the whole story but you've given them one or two hours of it," he remarked. Once hired, the actors trained with a dialect coach to master a Minnesota accent. List of episodesThe second season of Fargo, an American anthology black comedy–crime drama television series created by Noah Hawley, premiered on October 12, 2015, on the basic cable network FX. Its principal cast is Kirsten Dunst, Patrick Wilson, Jesse Plemons, Jean Smart, and Ted Danson. The ten-episode season's finale aired on December 14, 2015.

As an anthology, each Fargo season possesses its own self-contained narrative, following a disparate set of characters in various settings. At the hotel, Mike stares in the mirror until he's interrupted by a knock. He's accompanied by two men and upon entering the room Mike and the Kitchen brother take all three out quickly, before they can reach for their guns.

Mike tells the Kitchen brother to drop them in the woods and tell the boss the Gerhardts got them. The phone rings and it's Ed who says he has Dodd Gerhardt in his car and wants to know if Mike wants him. Mike wants to know if he has to go home but Lou says no, "Just don't be here." Mike asks if he knows about Manifest Destiny, and Lou says he owns two pairs of shoes because you don't need to own more than you need. They discuss capitalism, greed, and making this war an all or nothing proposition.

Mike tells a story of a guy who steals wheelbarrows and says sometimes the answer is too obvious. "See, we can't leave because we're the future and they're the past. Past can no more become the future than the future can become the past." Lou and Ben prepare to leave, telling him they've said their peace. Lou warns him that maybe next time he'll shoot first. Mike's on the phone with his boss who's back in KC at the shot-up office building, and he's not happy with Mike's work.

Mike tells him he can still break this family and his boss gives him two days and then he'll send in the Undertaker. Simone runs in and yells at him for shooting up her house. Mike tosses some quotes at her which she's never heard before, angering Simone even more. Just then there's a knock and Lou and Ben barge in, taking down the Kitchen brother who was about to attack Simone.

Ben escorts her out while Lou holds the Kitchen brother and Mike at gunpoint. Chief Gibson says he's sorry Otto passed and Floyd's angry the KC mafia shot him in his own home with kids sleeping right upstairs. Hank wants to know how far this war will go, with her family paying a stiff price. Floyd says her back's to the wall, claiming the Butcher of Luverne killed her boy and he's working for KC. Hank's known Ed since he was a kid and says there's no way that's what happened.

Floyd calls Ed a sleeper agent and insists Hank doesn't really know him. Chief Gibson wants the war to be over, but Floyd says her boys won't stop; they're too proud. Hank suggests she point the police in the right direction to take down the KC mafia, but she thinks that would be snitching. In today's day-and-age, unless we see a bullet fly through the head of its victim, that person could still be alive. The dramatic overhead shot followed by a distanced angle and the sound of a gunshot certainly implied Simone got got, but we can't officially put her in the ground just yet. Bear's motivations, though, were clear if not entirely pure.

She was caught red-handed giving the go ahead to Kansas City, meaning she needed to be punished, but Bear is also still fuming over his own son's fate, very much brought about by Dodd ordering him to kill "The Butcher" . Bear doesn't seem like the type to be killing kids, kin or both, but he may have been pushed past his limit by his brother. The episode contrasts the implosion of the Gerhardt family with an affirmation of the Solversons, whose essential decency will ensure its long-term survival, despite the cruel vicissitudes of fate. Betsy Solverson is not going to survive cancer like John McCain survived the thumbscrews of the Hanoi Hilton, but she's in the process of making peace with that reality. She tells Karl Weathers, a.k.a. "the King of Breakfast," to look after Lou and Molly when she's gone and gives consent for her husband to remarry. The Solversons aspire to live in peace, and keep the front door unlocked.