BWW Recap: The Gerhardt's Mobilize and Kansas City Takes a Stand on FARGO

In tonight's episode of FARGO, "Rhinoceros," there was a lot less talking and a lot more action. The events from the previous episode have led to the Gerhardt's escalation.

With Ed and Charlie in jail in Luverne, Bear finds out his son has been arrested, and immediately blames Dodd for what happened. Instead of fighting, Floyd commands them to go get Charlie. Simone witnesses what happens, and calls Mike to inform her that her dad and uncle are going to Luverne to get Charlie. She asks him to kill her father for her, but Mike had other plans in mind.

In my favorite scene of the episode, Floyd talks to Simone about become a leader and staying with the family, and as she speaks to her, she notices something outside. What she notices is Mike Milligan and his men walking up to their house, guns in hand. Before she can digest this, they begin shooting up the entire house.

This scene was incredible, not only was it not expected, but it was so well executed. Assuming Mike is going to kill Dodd in Luverne, the scenes in the Gerhardt house felt no cause for alarm, but when Floyd looked out the window, you immediately knew something awful was going to happen. FARGO does a fantastic job of misleading the audience and creating more excitement and tension than already expected.

Dodd goes to the Blumquist house to find "The Butcher" but instead he finds Hank, who he knocks out, and then goes into the house to find Ed or Peggy. Underestimating Peggy, Dodd ends up in her magazine filled basement, where she knocks him down, takes his taser, and tases him until he passes out. Peggy's character took a more sympathetic turn in this episode, explaining to Hank how she's living in a museum of the past, in Ed's parents house, and that she wants to see the world outside of Minnesota. She tells him that things don't happen in a vacuum, and what happened with Rye wasn't as simple as A or B. Though it was odd for Peggy to not call for help when she hit Rye, it does make sense, because to her that seemed like an adventure and a chance at an escape. I look forward to seeing what she does with Dodd next week.

Perhaps the strangest part of this episode was Hank waking up from the Blumquist porch after being knocked out by Dodd, and instead of going in and checking on Peggy, he goes to his car and radios the precinct. I was confused as to why he wouldn't have gone in to check on Peggy, who he had been protecting before. Maybe leaving this scene out was intentional, but it was definitely a noticeable omission.

Karl Weathers, the town lawyer, has been a comedic relief up to this point in the show, but when Lou calls him to be Ed's lawyer, his importance becomes evident. Drunk and ranting, Karl shows up to the precinct to talk with his client, but what he didn't expect was to be in the middle of a stand-off between Bear Gerhardt and Lou. When Lou tells Karl he's the one who needs to broker the peace, as Charlie's newly appointed lawyer, he takes the task and delivers. Karl is able to reason with Bear, who loves his son more than anything, and tells him not to ruin the boy's life by making him a fugitive. Karl's speech works, and the Gerhardt men leave, for now. This episode showed Nick Offerman's incredible talent and his ability to walk the line of humor and drama really well. I look forward to his increasing role in the rest of the season.

Lou helps Ed escape the precinct, in his custody, so that he doesn't get killed, but when they reach Hank on the street, Ed escapes to run home. Lou and Hank follow in the cruiser, but with Hanzee close behind, things may not end well.

This episode left a lot of things in the air: Dodd's fate, who is alive at the Gerhardt house, where Peggy is, if Hanzee gets Ed. There was a lot of action in tonight's episode, so consequences will be the main focus of next week's episode. I loved the use of the split screen in this episode, because it created a big air of mystery for what the characters were doing. Also, though not important to the plot, Mike Milligan reciting the Jabberwocky was a captivating scene. Next week will definitely bring more bloodshed and the Gerhardts and Kansas City will have to face each other.

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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 week as I recap another epsiode!

Photos Courtesy of the Fargo FX Twitter

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