Recap: Fargo Season 2, Episode 9 – Motel Hell

FARGO -- “The Castle” -- Episode 209 (Airs Monday, December 7, 10:00 pm e/p) Pictured: Patrick Wilson as Lou Solverson. CR: Chris Large/FX

Last week on Fargo, we had one of the best installments of the whole darn season. So many characters were missing, but the entire episode was just awesome. The more I think about all of those exchanges between Peggy (Kirsten Dunst) and Dodd (Jeffrey Donovan), the more I realize last week had some of my favorite moments of this season — and the entire series in general.

FARGO Season 2 recaps: Episode 1 | Epsiode 2 | Episode 3 | Episode 4 | Episode 5 | Episode 6 | Episode 7 | Episode 8

This one was certainly a doozy as well. Instead of taking place in a cabin, most of “The Castle” revolves around the Motor Motel. Even more importantly, we finally get that massacre we’ve been promised since episode nine in Season 1.

The episode opens up on a book called The History of True Crime in the Mid West. Along with our usual bit about names being changed, we see that “The events in this book took place in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Nebraska and North and South Dakota from 1825 to the present.” The book then flips to Chapter 14, which focuses on “perhaps the bloodiest chapter in the long and violent history of the Midwest region.” This is the moment we’ve been waiting for, people. Let’s get to it then!

The episode features a narrator (is that you, Martin Freeman?), who tells us that most of the murders in this chapter take place in North and South Dakota (Sioux Falls!), even though he considers it to be a Minnesota crime. Maybe that’s because it revolves around natives Ed (Jesse Plemons) and Peggy, who he says were just 29 on the night their lives changed forever.

The action flips back to the convenience store where Ed was seen making calls last week. Shop owner Maynard Oltorf (Bob Bainborough) sees Hanzee (Zahn McClarnon) approaching with a gun in his hand. He goes to call the police and gets shot in the head before he can even finish dialing the number. Hanzee then enters the store, grabs some hydrogen peroxide and super glue, and heads into the bathroom to tend to the shoulder wound Peggy gave him pre-haircut.

The narrator goes on to say that not much is known about Hanzee. Well, we know that he stole the keys to Maynard’s Cadillac Eldorado. We also get a glimpse at the first of this week’s alien references: A bumper sticker on the wall, with a spaceship and the statement “We are not alone.”

Back at the cabin, Ed and Peggy are being questioned by the police — a lot of them. Hank (Ted Danson) is filling them in on the situation, when SD Captain Jeb Cheney (Wayne Duvall, who played Homer Stokes in O Brother Where Art Thou?) says that “they don’t look like much.” Peggy fires back with a cool, kind of psychotic look and the comment, “We’re realized.”

FARGO -- “The Castle” -- Episode 209 (Airs Monday, December 7, 10:00 pm e/p) Pictured: (l-r) Keir O'Donnell as Ben Schmidt, Ted Danson as Hank Larsson, Patrick Wilson as Lou Solverson, Terry Kinney as Chief Gibson, Elizabeth Bowen as Trooper Sue Lutz, Wayne Duvall as Captain Jeb Cheney. CR: Chris Large/FX
FARGO — “The Castle” — Pictured: (l-r) Keir O’Donnell as Ben Schmidt, Ted Danson as Hank Larsson, Patrick Wilson as Lou Solverson, Terry Kinney as Chief Gibson, Elizabeth Bowen as Trooper Sue Lutz, Wayne Duvall as Captain Jeb Cheney. CR: Chris Large/FX

Ed tells them that Peggy knocked Dodd out back at the house. The two were hoping to trade him for freedom, when Hanzee killed the deal — and Dodd. Peggy then interrupts, saying that she stabbed Hanzee. Hank has to laugh. (Maybe he saw last week’s episode too.)

Ed then says that the Gerhardts didn’t seem interested in Dodd, so he put the offer out to the Kansas City mafia. Lou (Patrick Wilson) wants Ed and Peggy taken into protective custody, but apparently, there is no such thing in this particular part of South Dakota. The precinct could be filled with cops looking to take the two out — allegedly. Instead, Cheney wants Ed to wear a wire. So it looks like Ed and Peggy may be part of the massacre. Lou, however, is not. He’s asked to leave. Hank stays, though. And that worries me.

Cheney says he wants Ed to meet with Mike Milligan (Bokeem Woodbine), but he needs to wear a wire. Ed says he wants all of the details in writing.

Meanwhile, Mike Milligan is making phone calls. I am going to assume he was talking to Hamish (Adam Arkin, who also directed this episode). He claims that The Undertaker never showed up (lies!), but he’s on track to get Dodd (also lies, but he doesn’t really know that yet).

Back at the Solverson house, we get the moment many of us were dreading. It’s a moment that I actually wasn’t expecting to see this season. Betsy (Cristin Milioti) collapses and little Molly (Raven Stewart) finds her. Thank goodness Noreen (Emily Haine) was there, but that doesn’t make it any less upsetting.

As this is happening, we see Lou pull up to the convenience store to call home. Of course, no one is there to answer, but as the phone rings, he notices the bullet hole in window. He goes in to find Maynard dead. We also get another shot of that bumper sticker.

A cruiser pulls up, looking to escort Lou to the state line. Lou tries to tell him about the missing keys and Hanzee, but he doesn’t seem very interested. Is this fella part of the precinct’s problem?

FARGO -- “The Castle” -- Episode 209 (Airs Monday, December 7, 10:00 pm e/p) Pictured: Ted Danson as Hank Larsson. CR: Chris Large/FX
FARGO — “The Castle”  Pictured: Ted Danson as Hank Larsson. CR: Chris Large/FX

Lou radios the car that’s carrying Hank, Ben (Keir O’Donnell) and Chief Gibson (Terry Kinney). He tells the three that Hanzee is in a red Eldorado, but Hank says they’re going to the Motor Motel and he should sit this one out. Lou says he’s got a bad feeling. I do too.

When the group gets to the motel, we see someone is watching them. It’s Hanzee. This guy certainly gets around!

At the Gerhardt house, we get a bit of a flashback to the moment when Ricky (Ryan O’Nan) tells Floyd and Bear (Angus Sampson) that Hanzee is on the phone saying that he found Dodd. Of course, he doesn’t bother to tell them that he shot Dodd through the head, but hey. Minor detail.

The narrator reappears to say that it’s unclear when exactly Hanzee decided to betray the Gerhardts. We do get two other tidbits, though. First, we find out that Hanzee wasn’t just Dodd’s right-hand man; he’s actually been with the family since he was just 8 years old. Also, when Floyd asks who has Dodd, Hanzee says that Mike Milligan ambushed “the butcher,” who then grabbed Dodd and fled the state to the motel.

Floyd says she’ll be the Motor Motel in three hours. Hanzee tells her to stay put and to send Bear along with a dozen men, but she’s not having any of it. She’s ready to take care of business all by herself … or at least be part of the carnage.

In one of the hotel rooms, Ed asks Ben if they’re doing the right thing with the sting. Peggy comes out of the washroom to interrupt the conversation and offer them tea. Peggy’s big plan is to sneak out while Ben is sleeping. Is she not aware of the other rooms filled with cops? Maybe she can talk her way out of it though. After all, she seemed a little flirty with Ben there.

FARGO -- “The Castle” -- Episode 209 (Airs Monday, December 7, 10:00 pm e/p) Pictured: Patrick Wilson as Lou Solverson. CR: Chris Large/FX
FARGO — “The Castle” Pictured: Patrick Wilson as Lou Solverson. CR: Chris Large/FX

Once Lou makes it to the state line, he gets a call on the radio. It turns out that Hanzee did kill Constance (Elizabeth Marvel), since the call says she was found strangled in the hotel room. The news sparks a fire in Lou and he heads back into South Dakota.

That night, Lou sees the Gerhardt caravan heading out and knows exactly where they’re going. He tries to radio ahead to the Motor Motel, but they’ve gone silent. The radio is turned off, but a few cops are still up playing cards, while Hank lies awake and Peggy watches the same movie she was watching back at the cabin.

Bear tells Floyd that once they reach the motel, he wants her to stay in the car with Hanzee. They drive up to the back of the hotel in complete darkness. Hanzee tells the group that they have two rooms upstairs and three on the bottom.

The group stabs an undercover cop that’s half sleeping during his outside watch. After having his conscious eat away at him, Hank wakes up, says “screw this” and gets ready to leave. However, the gang is slowly moving around to each door. On Bear’s signal, they kick in doors and just start killing people. Hank doesn’t go down without a fight, though. Ben either. Well, Ben kills two of the Gerhardts’ men and then gets knocked out by Peggy.

When someone yells out that they’re cops, Floyd turns around to look at Hanzee. He looks like he’s going to comfort her, but stabs her instead. Bear sees what’s going on and runs to his mother, but Lou shoots him in the neck. Bear, being, well… basically as strong as a bear, heads towards Lou. Despite being shot repeatedly, Bear actually tackles Lou to the ground.

As those two struggle, Hanzee goes through and picks off anyone and everyone who’s left. However, according to the narrator, Hanzee is actually looking for Ed and Peggy. Maybe he wants revenge or that haircut, but the narrator says it could be because the two were witness to him killing Dodd as well as his moment of weakness.

FARGO -- “The Castle” -- Episode 209 (Airs Monday, December 7, 10:00 pm e/p) Pictured: Jean Smart as Floyd Gerhardt, Angus Sampson as Bear Gerhardt, Zahn McClarnon as Ohanzee Dent. CR: Chris Large/FX
FARGO — Pictured: Jean Smart as Floyd Gerhardt, Angus Sampson as Bear Gerhardt, Zahn McClarnon as Ohanzee Dent. CR: Chris Large/FX

What he doesn’t realize, though, is that Peggy has a gun, which she uses to fire right through the door … and through Hanzee.

Then, just as it looks like a mortally wounded Bear is going to kill Lou with his bare hands, our alien friends show up. Bear is mesmerized, and so is a wounded Hanzee. Rightfully so, but this gives Lou time to grab his gun and blow a hole in the back of Bear’s head. While Hanzee stares, Peggy and Ed run out and throw hot water in his face. Why didn’t they shoot him? Ed stops to stare at the sky as well, when Peggy interrupts to say, “It’s just a flying saucer, Ed. We gotta go.” Is she awesome or what?

Lou stops and looks up. It seems like rain — or something — is falling on him and the others. However, the sound of shots being fired snaps him out of it and into an area where he isn’t such a target. Hanzee and Lou exchange a little gunfire just before Hanzee disappears.

Just when you think it’s all over, Mike Milligan and Gale Kitchen drive up. However, after seeing the aftermath and hearing the sirens, they know that they aren’t really needed there and they take off. Something tells me we’re going to see them next week, though.

Lou hears Hank call out and goes to find him still alive. (Hooray!) Lou says that Ed and Peggy took off, with Hanzee right behind them. Hank promises he’ll live and tells Lou to go after them. The episode ends with “Run Through the Jungle,” in yet another nod to The Big Lebowski.

Oh boy. This was another intense installment. It wasn’t as comical as last week, but I did laugh out loud at Peggy’s remark about the spaceship. She is so awesome. Otherwise, I found myself holding my breath a lot during this episode. I wasn’t sure I loved the narrator. It’s hard to hate having Martin Freeman cameo (even if it’s just his voice), but just found it odd to introduce him so late in the game. I was sad for Betsy and happy for Hank, but who else will make it? Obviously, Ben and Lou, since they were both featured in the first season. Could Hanzee actually make it out alive? I think Peggy is going to be quite the challenge for him. And what’s with the aliens? Will they make one last return or just make any sense at all? It’s been sort of a weird twist on the season, but does it even matter? These episodes have been so good — and there’s only one more of them left!

The Fargo Season 2 finale premieres Monday, Dec. 14 at 10/9CT on FX.

4 Comments

  1. Just wanted to point something out to all for future consideration: the word “penultimate” has the same number of syllables as “second to last”….sooooo

  2. Well, the narrator may not be absolutely certain of the reason for Hanzee’s betrayal, but the accompanying images sure gave credence to my previously expressed theory that it was caused by that plaque outside the bar. Yay for me! 🙂

    Can’t wait to see the denouement of the Ed & Peggy saga. I say they live, prosper and fully actualize.

    JB

    • Ha! I figured it was that and a few other incidents. Like how many things can one guy take?? Good call, though.

      I would love to see Ed and Peggy continue into season 3. I can’t imagine both of them will make it out alive, though. I think Peggy is a sly one, but karma seems to catch up to you in the world of Fargo. 🙂

      • >>> … karma seems to catch up to you in the world of Fargo. <<<

        Then again, the whole "Fargo" universe seems to be about the triumph of the innocents , … with not a few casualties along the way! 🙂

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