This episode fills in the holes from the last episode and carries the story a little further down the road. It opens with and for the most part follows Ed and Peggy. Peggy has already tied up Dodd. She has a vision while she is sitting on the steps leading down to the basement. She is looking at Dodd but seeing someone else. She has a conversation with the man she sees and comes to a realization that she needs to stop thinking and start being. Ed gets home. He has just escaped from the police, Lou and Hank. He knows who Dodd is. They load Dodd and and themselves in Dodd's car and take off. Dodd is in the trunk.
Lou and Hank arrive minutes after Ed and Peggy leave. They look around the place. They find two bodies in the house. Both are the henchmen who were killed in 2.06 (Rhinoceros). Hank has to sit down. He isn't feeling so good, probably due to the blow to the forehead that he received from Hanzee. Lou calls an ambulance. Hank is taken away, presumably to a hospital and Lou also leaves the Blumquist home. Hanzee steps out of the shadows behind the house as the sirens fade in the distance.
Peggy and Ed head to his uncle's cabin, near Vermillion, SD. Dodd gets belligerent on more than one occasion. The first time Peggy zaps him with the cattle prod. The second time she stabs him with a knife, in the chest. She doesn't stick it all the way in, just enough to hurt. He's a little more cooperative after that. Ed goes to a convenience store near the cabin to try calling the Gerhardt compound but as was shown in the last episode Bear didn't want to talk to him.
Hanzee digs through the Blumquist house and finds a letter about Peggy's upcoming trip to Sioux Falls for the Life Spring seminar. He takes it with them and heads there. He tries asking for information once he gets there in a bar. The bartender and some of the patrons give him a hard time, because he's an Indian and so he shoots them. The cops pull up and he shoots them too. All this was mentioned in the last episode.
Ed tries calling the Gerhardts one more time before the end of the day, without any luck. This time no one picks up the phone. He returns to the cabin. Before he gets back Peggy calls Constance, her friend from the hair salon. Hanzee has already gotten to her. Constance does her best to get Peggy to reveal where she is. Peggy is reluctant but she drops enough information to give Hanzee a good idea where to look next. It is unclear what happens to Constance after Hanzee is done at the hotel in Sioux Falls.
The next day Ed drives back to the convenience store and tries calling the Gerhardts again. Once again no one will help him. Ed notices a newspaper article about the gang war in and around Fargo. It mentions the name of the hotel where the head of the Kansas City crew, Mike Milligan, is staying. Ed tries calling the hotel and is put through to Mike. Once again, we see the conversation that ended the previous episode. He comes to an agreement with Mike. Ed will hand over Dodd to Mike. He just wants the Gerhardts off his back. They make an arrangement to meet near a hotel in Sioux Falls.
Ed leaves the convenience store and heads out. A few minutes later Hanzee pulls up to the convenience store. He interrogates the owner who isn't very helpful at first. Hanzee's demeanor seems to intimidate the owner and he tells him what he knows about where to find Ed. Once Hanzee leaves the owner sees the front page of the newspaper, recognizes Hanzee, and calls the police.
Peggy watches a move, Operation Eagle's Nest, on the little black and white TV in the cabin, while she waits for Ed to return. She really gets into it. When she looks up Dodd has freed himself from the ropes. Ed comes in and sees the same thing. Before he can do anything Dodd gets a rope around his neck and suspends him from the rafters. Dodd gets a little too confident and Peggy stabs him in the foot with a knife and then whacks him over the head with a fireplace poker. She gets Ed down before he is strangled to death by the rope around his neck.
The Blumquists start to truss up Dodd. Before they get him all tied up Hanzee shows up. Dodd angers Hanzee, calls him a half-breed and a mongrel. Hanzee shoots Dodd in the forehead. He asks Peggy if she can cut his hair. The request seemed a bit weird at first but I guess he knew there was a picture of him out there with long hair and wanted to change his appearance. Ed looks off to the side and notices two people heading toward the cabin. Hanzee follows Ed's gaze and sees Lou and Hank coming through the trees. He fires off four shots with his pistol.
Ed stands up. Hanzee points the gun at Ed and pulls the trigger but he is out of bullets. Peggy stabs at Hanzee with the scissors she was about to use to cut his hair. They bounce off his shoulder and he retreats from the cabin. Lou and Hank enter the cabin from the opposite side that Hanzee left with their guns drawn. The Blumquists put up their hands and the episode ends.
One interesting thing to note is that both this and the previous episode were directed by the same person, Keith Gordon. That isn't too surprising considering how they are are both structured and how they work together to tell the part of the story that unfolds over the course of these two episodes. Usually directors direct back to back episodes of this show but this is the first time I can recall being so aware of how one episode fills in what was only hinted at in the previous one.
This episode has all the tension that was missing from the last episode. There was also some humor, dark humor, mostly surrounding the way the Blumquists were treating Dodd and his behavior towards them. I didn't mind at all that some of the facts were already known. There were plenty of unknowns and plenty of curiosity on my part. It wasn't a done deal. I wanted to see how it would all play out. It wasn't done when the episode ended. I was so into it. I shouted. I was stunned when they cut it off. I wanted to see more but that will have to wait for next week.
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