[For Fargo “Palindrome” or any other recaps on Fetchland, assume the presence of possible spoilers.]

FX Summary:
PalindromePeggy and Ed make a run for it.

The finale of Fargo, entitled “Palindrome,” refers to a word or phrase that reads the same way backward as forward, suggesting perhaps that the season could be viewed as such. We open on the still living Betsy, home in her own bed now as Noreen, the girl from the the butcher shop who reads Camus, watches over her. Noreen tells Betsy how Camus says knowing we’re going to die makes life absurd. But Betsy quickly dismisses this whole notion of life’s absurdity. She says that each of us are in this life with a job to do and life is simply about doing that job within the time frame we’re given. There’s a parallel here to the first episode because Betsy also notes that Camus likely didn’t have a six year old to consider. Whereas when we’re introduced to her character she dismisses that same responsibility saying her six year old “isn’t Pol Pot” when Lou asks if she’ll be OK putting Molly to bed by herself. Of course, both things are true. A child is the ultimate responsibility and, at the same time, when we take childcare one event at a time (putting Molly to bed) it is rather simple in itself. This is truly the lesson we’re granted through Betsy’s character. A mother on her deathbed learns to treasure each moment with her child as it could be the last one they share.

Then we see Peggy and Ed as they flee the Motor Motel while Hanzee shoots at them and Lou follows right behind all three. Hanzee shoots Ed. An event directly parallel to when Rye attacks Ed in Fargo: Episode One. Just like when Rye lunges at him and he’s forced to kill a Gerhardt to protect himself, this attack changes everything for Ed. His whole life turns on it. Because Ed was shot, he’s hobbled and leans on Peggy as they flee. So, when they soon find a gas station grocer, they lock themselves inside its meat locker to rest a bit, not realizing they can’t get out. Once inside and sitting down Ed tells Peggy he doesn’t think they would’ve lasted as a couple even if they escaped this mess. All he ever wanted was get back to their simple life with the butcher shop and make a family but Peggy always wanted another life. He tells her this and then dies before they’re rescued. This parallels the beginning of the season when Ed and Peggy face off over the money he wants to invest in the butcher shop while she wants to “actualize” herself and expand her horizons. They begin and end with the same opposite goals. Not exactly a match made in heaven, though it does seem that Ed is headed there now. While Peggy’s on her way to prison, certainly an adequate Fargo placeholder for hell.

Next Lou saves Peggy from the meat locker and puts her in the back of his squad car headed back to Minnesota. As he’s leaving the lame Fargo detective confesses to him that he doesn’t even know how to write this thing up for his police report and Lou tells him to just, “Start at the start and work your way to the end,” solid storytelling advice from a solid man of the law. This parallels Lou’s encounter in the first episode with the trucker who discovered the Waffle Hut crime scene. That guy didn’t know what to do either. But in the end it didn’t really matter because Lou’s on the case.

Next Mike and his Kitchen Brother bro drive up to the Gerhardt estate where they find it unlocked, empty, and feeling like home. They encounter the Gerhardt housekeeper, Wilma, preparing dinner in the kitchen, unaware, it seems, that all the Gerhardts are dead. Mike tells her no more schnitzel or strudel. It’s all American food on the menu now. Then the Gerhardts out-of-town friend drives up and starts helping himself to their good silver, muttering, “Everyone’s dead,” until Mike enters. He tells the thief about sovereignty and declares himself king, as of today. Mike says a new sovereign performs one act of kindness and one cruelty. Unfortunately for him, Mike already gave Wilma a new car and a pile of money. Thus, all he has left for today is cruelty. This reference to royalty parallels the first scene of Fargo: Episode One when Dodd talks to Rye about the Gerhardts as the royal family and how he needs to do his duty to the family. But Rye considers this an insult. Why can’t he be more that the role his Gerhardt family has given him? Meanwhile in this scene Hanzee looks on, a much more dutiful and capable family minion – but treated with disdain simply because he’s not family. Hanzee ends up feeling the same way about the Gerhardt family in the end as Rye did in the first episode. Even a life of crime can illustrate the circle of life.

Mike then goes to the home center to meet with head boss of the Kansas City organization, Saul. This is a perfect parallel to the beginning of the season when he gets the position as enforcer for the Gerhardt project. It was Saul who handed that job to him then. Turns out Mike’s moving into an office job now, though. “Buy a nice suit,” Saul tells him. Cut your hair and let the 70s go. Your work’s no longer about busting heads, it’s all about the mighty dollar now, Mike. You’re a bean counter accountant, Milligan – tiny office, blue typewriter, and all. This same blue typewriter appears in the first episode as well, when Rye gets the job of “talking to the judge” he stands right over it. If we draw direct conclusions from these parallels it appears that Mike may not long for this world, seeing as how Rye ended up dead soon after his blue typewriter encounter and given what we know about Hanzee’s vengeance capabilities.

Speaking of Hanzee, the next time we see him he’s on the road to a new identity – the proud owner of a freshly printed social security card. Thanks to his new name Hanzee’s now Lebanese and about to get plastic surgery for a new face as well. Hanzee says he’ll get revenge on Kansas City and kill them all “head-in-a-bag” dead. One thing’s for certain, he got away with all of his Hanzee crimes unscathed by law enforcement. Mike Milligan may not be prepared for what’s coming next down his bean-counter-office-job pipeline.

Lastly we see Lou and Hank home safe at last with Betsy looking lots better beside Lou on the couch. Hank asks if Lou’s going to put the UFO in his police report and they agree it’s probably best to leave it out. The UFO made parallel appearances at the beginning and end of Fargo: Season Two, the first time its mesmerizing light helped take out Rye Gerhardt and the second time that same light aided in the death of Bear Gerhardt. So, one could conclude that perhaps aliens aren’t big Gerhardt fans. Speaking of aliens, Betsy tells Hank how she saw his office (filled with alien-seeming symbols) when she fed his cats. Hank explains. He tells her how his war and work experiences with senseless violence taught him that conflict is really about miscommunication. What we need to fix all this horrible fighting among people is a common language, Hank says. So, all those etchings were his attempt to create a universal language of simple symbols – like we can all agree that a heart means love, for example. This brings to mind our introduction to Hank in Fargo: Episode One when he knows the intimate details of all the Waffle Hut local victims. This is a man who cares about people.

Then Betsy and Lou go to bed and wish each other good night, their love for each other illuminated by the moon shining through their bedroom window. This scene is perfectly parallel to their last scene in the first episode. Lou adds at the end of their good night tidings, “and all the ships at sea,” because the other characters on the show seem afloat on the wild waters of the unknown while Lou and Betsy are tucked in safe at port – home sweet home. But Lou wishes those others well in their sea adventures. He certainly fights to try and get them justice in every move he makes.

Thus we conclude the finale of season two with the same feeling we had at the end of the first season, longing. So, we must forge ahead and keep trucking along with our lives until graced with Fargo: Season Three. Greenlit last month, it’s certain to grip us wholly for yet another glorious trek into the extraordinary world of Fargo thanks to the vision and mastery of its creator Noah Hawley. Thank you for an exciting ride this season, Mr. Hawley and for the tidbit of info you dropped in a recent interview saying that season three will take place in the present day or more specifically, “It’s more contemporary … set a couple years after Season 1.” We’ll take any information we can get and chew on it until there’s nothing left, especially now that we all know Jon Snow’s alive. What else is there to think about?

–Katherine Recap

[For Fargo “The Castle” or any other recaps on Fetchland, assume the presence of possible spoilers.]

FX Summary:
The Castle Peggy and Ed agree to follow through with their plan at the Motor Motel.

Fargo’s episode nine title “The Castle” likely refers to the Kafka novel of the same name. Not only is the novel a story about frustrations with bureaucracy but also futile efforts to reach an impossible goal. Both of these themes resonate in “The Castle” episode and who better to symbolize the dark surreal storytelling in Fargo than Franz Kafka? The writers show us that this episode refers to a novel by telling the story of the episode with a literal book, pages turning and all.

Episode nine opens on a bookcase. Our narrator selects and reads to us from the book

The History of True Crime in the Midwest

. The story begins as Hanzee shoots the gas station clerk who ratted him out before he dresses his wound in the gas station bathroom then takes the cashier’s car in pursuit of Peggy and Ed. Next we see a cadre of cops standing over the tied-to-chairs Blumquists in the cabin. Hank takes note that Peggy did a pretty great job compared to law enforcement thus far dealing with the Gerhardts. Then Ed tells them about his meeting with Mike Milligan at the Motor Motel set for the next morning at eight. The cops pow wow outside on the porch and the South Dakota troopers don’t want to get involved because they’re terrified of the Gerhardts and admit there’s bureaucratic corruption at hand as well. They don’t want to piss off their big house bosses. Why not let the Blumquists do their dirty work? Lou says this is BS and they call him “Gary Cooper,” an apt description for his particular brand of hot hero action. They tell Lou to vamoose and on his way out he advises Peggy and Ed not to take the deal and when they ignore him, leaves in a huff. He’ll see if his boss can handle it “on a bureaucratic level,” Lou says then drives off, leaving Hank to represent the sane side of law enforcement.

Meanwhile back inside the cabin the troopers tell Peggy and Ed if they wear a wire and get Milligan to admit culpability they’ll get a deal with the DA. Then, at the mention of his name, we see Mike talk to his boss on and share a plan to pick up Dodd Gerhardt the next morning in Sioux Falls at the Motor Motel. He pretends the killers his boss sent after his ass never came and offers to bring him Dodd in a sly counter move that’s bold but typical Milligan.

We revisit

The History of True Crime in the Midwest

before the next scene and then see Betsy fall to her kitchen linoleum just as Lou enters the gas station phone booth to call her. But the Solverson family phone echoes through an empty house because she’s on her way to the hospital now thanks to Molly’s babysitter. Lou then enters the gas station store to find the dead cashier and Hanzee’s wound care supplies in the bathroom. Lou calls the state troopers but the one who comes isn’t there to help. Instead he escorts Lou out of South Dakota where he won’t be able to meddle anymore with his damn doing-the-right-thing nonsense. Lou can’t catch a break among his own because he’s actually a thinking person and they’re cogs in a corrupt bureaucratic machine – the system of law enforcement. His desire for justice conflicts directly with their desire to go with the bureaucratic flow.

Freshly escorted out of South Dakota, Lou calls Hank with Hanzee’s status and current car (the cashier’s) only to once again be ignored by the troopers. They appreciate Lou’s giddyup and all on this thing but they know what they’re doing. Thank you very much. Then the troopers chide Hank for Lou’s talking out of turn in the Motor Motel parking lot while Hanzee watches from a nearby rooftop, shotgun ready. As usual, he’s way ahead of them.

Hanzee calls Floyd to lie and say Dodd’s still alive. He tells her Milligan has Dodd at the Motor Motel in Sioux Falls and that she should send twelve men to get Dodd out safely. Floyd says she’s done sending men on their own just to witness their failure at the job she needs done. This one Floyd’s going to handle as well. “Yes, ma’am,” says Hanzee. Meanwhile the troopers set the stage at the Motor Motel to prep for Mike Milligan’s arrival. Benjamin, the pathetic Fargo detective, stays in Peggy and Ed’s room while the rest of the cops drink and play cards in two nearby motel rooms. Hank, who has his own room, knocks on the Blumquist’s door a bit later and the Fargo detective keeps him out. The troopers, meanwhile, drink Miller Lite and play poker in their undercover outfits of wranglers and white tees. They turn off the police radio because the chief declares that, “from this point on we’re radio silent,” not the wisest move when awaiting a mafia and Gerhardt ambush. But common practice for these officers.

Just escorted out of South Dakota, Lou parks by the border as he gets a police radio call about Constance Heck, Peggy’s boss. They just found her strangled body in a Sioux Falls motel room. This gives Lou a wild hair that sends him right back into South Dakota. He drives much faster on his way back into the land where he’s most unwelcome. He goes to Constance’s motel room and imagines what might have transpired, all detective-like. Then back outside, Lou sees Lloyd and her caravan drive toward the Motor Motel and once again calls the South Dakota troopers’ radio to warn them… the very same radio they’ve just silenced.

Bear tells Floyd to stay in the car at the motel so she’ll be safe during the battle. When they arrive Hanzee gives the Gerhardt clan a strategic status update then stays behind with Floyd, who’s never looked better in a white turtleneck and bright red jacket against the night sky. The gun at her waist gives Floyd a physical stance of authority that’s only come through up to this point in the tenor of her voice. She’s a beautiful and powerful leader; yet poised for death.

The Gerhardt clan blasts through the Motor Motel and takes out the troopers with ease in a matter of minutes. But Peggy and Hank are prepared simply by virtue of their respective neuroses keeping them on guard. After the forewarned Fargo detective shoots the oncoming Gerhardts Peggy takes him down with a Gerhardt shotgun smacked upside his dumb head. Meanwhile out in the parking lot, Hanzee stabs the unsuspecting Floyd in the gut as Lou joins the fray and entangles with Bear one-on-one. Just as Lou’s about to lose to Bear’s stranglefest, a UFO floats down to the parking lot where they’re tangled on the cement. The bright alien light distracts Bear long enough for Lou to shoot and kill him. It renders the same trance effect on Hanzee who was just about to nail Peggy and Ed, thus freeing them for escape. Having provided this service to Peggy and Lou, the UFO lifts off and leaves.

Then the final Motor Motel showdown it’s just Hanzee and Lou left shooting each other when Lou hears Hank cry out, “Officer down!” and leaves the standoff to help him. Just then Mike drives up to the Motor Motel with the remaining Kitchen Brother and they see the bloodbath battle remains – Floyd flat out and bleeding on the parking lot pavement, etc. Mike says, “OK then,” and they drive away. Through his pained expression, the wounded Hank asks Lou about Peggy and Ed. He answers that they’re on the run now with Hanzee in hot pursuit. At this news Hank says Lou should go after them and that he’ll be OK. So, Lou leaves to join the hunt – once again on his own and fighting the uphill battle for justice.

Another theme throughout Kafka’s,

The Castle

is the notion of standing at the law’s door unable to enter – a perfect description of Lou’s position in this episode and really the whole of Fargo’s season two. He’s doing everything right as a police officer but it doesn’t matter. The law won’t let Lou inside. One of the controversies in translating

The Castle

is that the German title works as a homonym meaning both “castle” and “lock.” So, Kafka likely meant both words when he wrote the story. Certainly, Lou needs a key to free him from this fortress of ineptitude and ignorance in South Dakota. The UFO helped him at the critical moment when Lou faced death in the throttling hands of Bear Gerhardt. But what key will come along to finally unlock the justice system and let Lou actually do his job? Hopefully we find out in the upcoming finale. Our one consolation in the meantime – at least we know Lou Solverson survives the Milligan-Blumquist-Hanzee brand tempest that lies ahead. So stay tuned, it’s finally time for the final Solverson showdown.

–Katherine Recap