Posted by Katherine Recap | TV

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

HBO Summary:
Waiting For Dutch an unexpected turn of events at a diner disrupts lives of the citizens in a small town.

For those of you who watched Fargo season one, you know the character of Lou Solverson (Patrick Wilson) from when he was played by Keith Carradine as the knowing owner of the local diner and father of Deputy Molly. In this 1979 prequel story he’s a Minnesota State Trooper, Vietnam Vet, and hottie McHotterson. If you aren’t familiar with season one you can still watch season two as it makes sense and stands strong on its own as exceptional television. But get on Netflix and watch season one already. Seriously, what are you waiting for? It’s amazing.

But back to business with season two. It’s 1979 in Minnesota. Jimmy Carter talks thoughtfully on TV and clothes are radder than hell. After a brief stint on the movie set of a Ronald Reagan flick where we find out he’s the “Dutch” in the episode title, we’re introduced to the frustrations of the Gerhardt crime family. Rye (Kieran Kulkin) embodies the lowest tier in the Gerhardts while Dodd (Jeffrey Donovan) holds the position of oldest son but is quite a crank about it, responsibilities and all. Soon we see that Floyd (Jean Smart) runs the family as the all-knowing head bitch from their kitchen. We find the Gerhardt family flummoxed about slim takings. They suspect there’s another outfit affecting their numbers “some pissant crew from south of no place.” Their big daddy, Otto gets so upset at this prospect he has a stroke and dies at the mere mention.

Meanwhile Rye has an opportunity to get in on the wave of the future, by one of the gamblers that owes his family money. All he has to do is get a lady judge to unfreeze some company funds on a legal case so that Rye will be privy to big money. Rye’s on a mission. He tails the lady judge driving a deserted snowy road behind her all the way to a Waffle Hut diner. In the parking lot Rye does some coke in the car for courage before going in to sit at the counter, jumpy as fuck. The music in the diner is the same song that played in his car. Remember when radio reminded us it was a small world? Well, this is the smallest world ever. The waitress literally offers him humbleberry pie. Once the place clears out a bit, Rye slips into the booth with the judge but she’s in no mood for his small time shenanigans and sprays roach killer in his eyes. Then Rye shoots her. The cook comes out of the kitchen brandishing a cast iron frying pan. So, Rye shoots him too. Then the judge, who’s still kicking, knifes him in the back. So, Rye shoots her a few more times – her blood pools and blends with the spilled milk on the table. Rye takes the money out of the register before chasing down the lone waitress to shoot her in the snow outside. Looking off into the distant trees he sees pale blue lights circle and lift into the night sky, a UFO, Rye probably thinks. Mesmerized by his idiotic conclusions, Rye doesn’t see the car coming right at him so it hits him dead on and then drives away with Rye’s body laid flat out on the windshield.

Next we’re in Lou Solverson’s (Patrick Wilson) home where Handsomepants McGee reads a bedtime story to his daughter and gets the phone call about the Waffle Hut killings. His sarcastic wife, Betsy (Cristin Milioti), seems jaded past the purview of a typical Minnesotan though we only encounter her briefly. Later we find out Betsy’s doing chemo and that’s why she’s got the haunted eyes and wry remarks. Once at the Waffle Hut, Lou’s taking notes when Sheriff Hank (Ted Danson) enters and recognizes the cook right down to his high school touchdown record. Hank doesn’t know the judge, though. She’s got North Dakota plates, Lou explains. The Sheriff clearly knows Lou’s wife, whom they both agree is a terrible cook, but it’s not clear until later that Hank is Lou’s father-in-law. Lou takes Hank through his crime scene deductions including a robbery and getaway driver theory. Then he reminds the sheriff to come over for dinner the next night.

In the following scene Ed (Jesse Plemons) leaves his job at the butcher shop after a long day’s work and goes home to his cheerful wife, Peggy (Kirsten Dunst) for Hamburger Helper and tater tots. Turns out it was she who hit Rye outside the Waffle Hut but Peggy makes no mention of it. They’re chatting at the dinner table when a ruckus emanates from their garage. Peggy then admits to Ed that she “hit a deer on the way home.” But we know it wasn’t a deer. It was Rye and the sense of dread that shrouds Fargo like a black cloud starts to form in our collective audience consciousness as Ed enters the garage expecting to see maybe a broken headlight, at worst. Instead he encounters a bloody, desperate, and cornered cokehead. So, wishing to continue his life on Earth, Ed does what he has to and kills Rye with a gardening tool. Peggy explains that she initially thought Rye was dead. Ed’s like, OK but that’s not a fucking deer, dude. Peggy claims she panicked to explain her lie about the deer but the scenes of her during that “allegedly panicked” time show a calm Peggy, eerily ensconced in her dinner prep habits. It’s hard to believe she’d felt much at all beyond numbness and shock. Peggy then convinces her terrified Ed to “clean it up and pretend it didn’t happen.” He nods in a daze and agrees.

In the final scene of this wondrous introduction to season two, we’re listening to a concise business discussion of the Gerhardt crime family as part of an overhead projector slideshow presentation for the Kansas City Northern Expansion Strategy. This is serious business, folks. Joe Bulo (Brad Garrett) explains that “They” need to absorb the Gerhardt family syndicate because the Gerhardt’s control all the trucking business across the midwest. Somehow “They” already know about Otto’s demise, and are unafraid of Floyd “because she’s, ya know, a girl.” This is their opportunity to acquire or absorb the entire Gerhardt operation. Out of the smoky conference room haze a question comes up, “What do we do if they won’t fall in line?” a co-conspirator inquires. “We liquidate,” Joe replies. Approval for the whole operation is then granted.

All the glorious detail and charming absurdity from season one shine through with the beginning of Fargo season two. We’re home again. But even better is how the story sweeps us away with invigorating new trajectories even if it is the same world in many ways. The characters are cooler than ever and somehow setting it in 1979 makes it feel more modern than season one. A refreshing phenomena that could only happen in an incongruous place like Fargo.

–Katherine Recap

  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
Tags:

You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

Leave a Reply