BWW Recap: Blood is Shed on This Week's FARGO

Tonight's FARGO, "The Gift of the Magi," brought a lot of bloodshed and caused a lot of trouble for everyone.

Hanzeee returns to the Gerhardt's with Rye's belt buckle, and the news of how he died. He explains to them that "the butcher" in Luverne was the one who killed him. However, the Gerhardt's think that "the butcher" is associated with Kansas City. Distraught and angry, Floyd demands that the butcher be killed. Charlie, who has been wanting to prove himself, begs Dodd to let him go with the man they were sending to do the job, and after some convincing he agrees.

Charlie, however, doesn't have the same instinct as his uncle, Dodd, and initially chickens out. After calling his dad and leaving him a message that he wants to start school again, the man Dodd sent tells him it's time to get the job done. Charlie fails a second time after missing a shot and not reloading quick enough. Instead his bullet hits the the oven, starting a fire. The other hit man comes in and tries to kill Ed, but misses, and his bullet richoshes and hits Charlie. After a struggle, Ed is about to be strangled, but he is able to reach for a meat pounder to knock his assailatn off. Ed then grabs a butcher's knife and finishes the job. Ed and the shop girl, Noreen escape, dragging Charlie out with them.

As the shop burns down, Ed runs home to check on Peggy. Earlier in the day, Peggy, frustrated with Ed's stubbornness with not wanting to leave to California, was planning on running away on her own. After a change of heart, she sells her car to get the money to buy the shop. This episode, however, is the turning point for the Blumquists. Up until this moment they felt like they'd done enough to clear themselves of what they've done, but watching the shop burn down is the moment Ed realizes that he will never have is simple life. Ed tells Peggy what happens, and as they hug, he glances back to that same painting on their wall. That painting used to represent something he was working towards, but know is a reminder of what he will never have. Unfortunately, before they can run, they are greeted by the sounds of police sirens in their driveway.

Meanwhile, Joe Bulo and some of his men are on a hunt when they are ambushed by Hanzee and Gerhardt men, who are seeking retribution for Rye. After a bloody shoot out that results in the death of one of THE KITCHEN Brothers and many other men, Hanzee and Joe end up face-to-face.

Simone goes to meet with Mike Milligan and finds out about the bloodshed. Mike then shows her a box, with Joe's head in it. She pleads with him that she didn't know about their plans this time, and Mike makes it clear that from now on he needs to know everything the Gerhardt's have planned before it happens.

Admist all of this turmoil and chaos, Lou is stuck on bus patrol for Reagan's trip through the state. This is an interesting juxtaposition, since Lou has been in the middle of the conflict the entire time, but now he's sidelined. It's even more fitting that he's following Reagan, a man who is making speeches to people that promise a "rendezvous with destiny," but when he's asked how he's going to fix things, he has no answers. The scene between Lou and Reagan in the bathroom was my favorite scene of the episode, because the two men could not be more different. Lou, an army vet who's seen horrible things and wants real change to be enacted has to endure Reagan compare his experiences with that of one of his World War Two movies. When Lou asks Reagan how they'll get out of the mess their in, he can only spew meaningless words, but when he's prompted for a real answer, he has nothing.

After four episodes of tension building, everything blows up in "Gift of the Magi." With Joe Bulo dead, Mike is sure to become the head of the operation for Kansas City, and that's bad news for the Gerhardts. Mike is the most dangerous character in the show, and with Simone on his side, he has all he needs to take them down. However, I think he'll need to tread lightly with Simone, because she has the power to ruin things for him.

Ed and Peggy have the most to fear, with not only the police on their tails, but the Gerhardts. They have officially lost everything, and now have to do their best to stay above water. It's fitting that the title of the episode is "The Gift of the Magi" because Peggy wanted to run and Ed wanted to stay, and then Peggy decides to stay when Ed informs her they have to run. Unfortunately this realization came too late, and they may not have chance to get away.

The Gerhardts are showing their weaknesses, now. Dodd continues to go against Floyd, and with Simone playing for the other side, it doesn't help that now Bear is beginnig to take a stand against Dodd. He tells him, "there's gonna be a recokening one day, brother," and this is a clear sign that these two will butt heads very soon--probably as soon as Bear finds out Dodd let Charlie go on that job. Bulo was right, family does make you weak.

Finally, I have to mention young Molly's drawing. Instead of a sun, Molly drew a UFO, which confused Betsy as much as it confused me. Unless this alien theme is a vague look at how there are things beyond your control, I'm not sure I have any idea where they're going with this.

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Let me know your thoughts on this episode of FARGO in the comments below, or tweet me at @kaitmilligan! Make sure to come back next Monday as I recap another epsiode!

Photos Courtesy of the Fargo FX Twitter

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