The episode opens with narration over a visual of a book: The History of Crime in the Mid-West. The narrator returns several times during the episode to point certain things out. I didn't recognize the voice. It sounded familiar but I couldn't pinpoint who it was until a good half-hour after I finished watching the episode. The primary job of the narrator seems to have been to try and explain things about Hanzee. This is supposed to be a true story. Not much is known about Hanzee or his motivations. He served the Gerhardts faithfully for a couple decades but then, starting last episode, he starts to turn on them.
Hanzee is still on the loose. He leaves his vehicle behind. He cuts through the woods and makes it back to the convenience store. The owner spots him and picks up the phone and starts dialing. Hanzee shoots him through the window from a distance with his M-16. The owner is struck in the head and killed. Hanzee picks up some supplies and heads into the bathroom. One of the things he picked up was hydrogen peroxide. For a moment I thought he was going to use it to dye his hair. He started to take his jacket off and then I realized that he was wounded. Peggy got him with the scissors in the upper back. After cleaning himself up a bit he grabs the owner's keys and takes off in his car.
Lou gets into an argument with the South Dakota police. Ed tells them about the meeting he arranged with Mike Milligan. They want him to wear a wire and meet with Mike. Lou is against it. He's convinced they are just going to get Ed killed that way. One of the South Dakota cops warns them that there are lots of South Dakota cops on the Kansas City mob's payroll. The closest station won't be a safe place to put Ed and Peggy. Lou tries arguing against using Ed as bait but the senior South Dakota officer pulls rank and takes control. Lou takes off. Hank stays behind.
It was pretty clear at this point that it wasn't going to turn out well. Going against Lou's advice was not a good idea. I just wasn't sure exactly how it was going to play out.
Lou stops at the convenience store. He tries calling home from the phone booth. No one picks up. Betsy collapsed earlier. There is no one home by the time he calls. Lou heads into the convenience store after spotting the bullet hole in the window. He finds the clerk's body and the supplies Hanzee used to clean himself up. He calls in the body. The state trooper that shows up has orders to escort him out of the state. Lou tries to explain but the trooper isn't interested in listening so Lou gets in his car and heads for Minnesota.
Mike Milligan and the surviving Kitchen brother are headed to Sioux Falls. Mike stops at a phone booth on the Minnesota/South Dakota border and calls his boss. He claims that the enforcer that was sent never showed up.
Hanzee contacts the Gerhardts and tells them that Dodd is still alive. He tells Floyd where to find her son. He arranges to meet with the Gerhardts in Sioux Falls, where he claims they will find Dodd being held by the Kansas City mob at the Motor Hotel. Bear, Ricky G, and about 10 of their men head to Sioux Falls. Bear wants his mother to stay put but she insists on coming along.
The South Dakota police set up in the Motor Hotel. They put Ed and Peggy in a room with Ben Schmidt. Hank is also there but in a different room. At one point he tries talking to Ed and Peggy but Ben won't let him.
Lou gets to the border. It is the same spot from which Mike Milligan called the home office earlier in the episode. Lou's escort turns around and leaves. He gets a call on the car radio from the Minnesota police. Constance Heck, Peggy's friend, was found strangled in her Sioux Falls hotel room. He thinks about it for a minute and then turns around and heads for Sioux Falls. He goes to the hotel and looks around.
The South Dakota Police Chief has his people change into civilian attire. When the Gerhardts show up in the middle of the night most of them are sleeping. Lou is already in town and spots the Gerhardt convoy. The Gerhardts surprise the police. Most of them are killed. Hank gets shot in the gut but he's still alive at the end of the episode. Ben Schmidt shoots two of the Gerhardts men but then gets knocked out by Peggy who slams him in the forehead with a shotgun. Finally, Bear and the Gerhardts men realize that they've been had. They are in a gun fight with the police, not the Kansas City mob.
Hanzee who was ordered to stay back with Floyd, guts her. He then goes into the Motor Hotel. He shoots police officers and Gerhardt men. He goes after Ed and Peggy. Lou shows up and shoots Bear but only wings him. Bear grabs Lou, throws him to the ground, and starts to strangle him. Out of nowhere what looks like a UFO shows up, shining light down on the Motor hotel. It startles everyone, except Peggy. She throws hot water at Hanzee and then her and Ed make a run for it. Bear is distracted by the lights and loosens his grip. Lou uses that moment to grab his gun and kill Bear.
The UFO doesn't stick around for more than a minute or two. Lou gets up and exchanges a few rounds with Hanzee. He is ready to pursue Hanzee and the Blumquists when he hears Hank calling for help. He runs up and does what he can to help him. Hank encourages him to take off after Hanzee and the Blumquists and he does just that. Mike Milligan and the Kitchen brother pull up right near the end of the gun battle. They see Floyd's body. They hear sirens. They turn around and leave.
I noticed in the credits that Martin Freeman was in this episode. I racked my brain trying to figure when he showed up or who he played. Was Lester Nygaard in this episode? He certainly would have been alive back then but how old would he have been? Did Martin Freeman play one of the Gerhardt mob? It wasn't until after I had written a few paragraphs of this summary that I put two and two together and realized that he was the narrator. I double checked IMDB to confirm this fact.
I wasn't sure what to make of the UFO. There was a UFO in the first episode of the season but it wasn't as big or get as close to the action as this one did. It seems very out of place here but there have been little hints all along of the UFO mania that was alive at this time in the United States.
Another stellar episode. The pacing and plotting was excellent. I'm curious to see what happens to Mike and the surviving Kitchen brother. Are they just going to head back to Kansas City to report on what happened? The Gerhardts are all dead, except Charlie, who is in prison. The Sioux Falls Massacre has happened. There's just one episode left in this story. I'm eager to watch it but I'm willing to wait a week before doing so.
No comments:
Post a Comment