Recap: Fargo Season 2, Episode 7 – Poking the Bear

At the end of last week’s episode of Fargo, we were left with so many outstanding questions. Was Dodd (Jeffrey Donovan) dead? Was Floyd (Jean Smart) dead? Someone must have been dead! If you think a lot went down in that episode, sit down and get ready for an action-packed follow-up.

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

The writers managed to redeem last week’s low body count in the first few minutes of “Did you do this? No, you did it!” It actually reminded me of that awesome scene in Goodfellas where bodies start popping up one by one. Of course, here we get to see more of how those murders go down and who exactly is doing them. Also, instead of Derek and the Dominos’ “Layla,” we get “Locomotive Breath” by Jethro Tull, which packs just as much of a punch, you betcha!

After a quick glimpse of a shovel going into the ground, the action quickly moves to an office. A guy is talking. I’m not even sure what he was talking about and who he was talking to, but two window washers pull up and kill all three. It makes sense, since one of those window washers was Bear (Angus Sampson). The other fella was Ricky (Ryan O’Nan), who was sporting some equally nice facial hair. Did anyone notice how happy Ricky seemed right before the shots were fired? Oh yah.

Seconds later, Gale Kitchen (Brad Mann) strangles Joey Seymour (James Downing). Then, Roost Bolton (Jake T. Roberts) is drowned in a toilet. And finally, I’m pretty sure that was Mickey Grout (Rob deLeeuw) getting shot in the head. You may remember these guys from the Gerhardt family pow-wow in episode 3.

Those guys didn’t make it, but Simone (Rachel Keller) and Floyd managed to survive last week’s hail of mafia gunfire. Otto (Michael Hogan) wasn’t so lucky, though. We see him being buried with Floyd’s wedding dress next to an empty grave with Rye’s headstone and belt buckle.

As the service is wrapping up, Bear and his bearded friend come out of the Gerhardt house. It turns out Ricky is from Buffalo and he’s there to help the family with their little mafia problem. Bear wants to talk to Floyd about the state of things, so she tells Simone to go tend to lunch. Simone insists on being part of the conversation, whining about how she’s grown. Um, she’s also grown into a snitch.

Bear proceeds to tell Floyd that they got five of the mafia guys, but there’s also been some retaliation (see above). Of course, others are unaccounted for, including Hanzee (Zahn McClarnon) and Dodd. “My lion didn’t raise that boy to be killed by small town muscle,” Floyd says. Bear counters by saying he always thought the same about Rye. Simone interjects, claiming that they’re all just men and how Dodd isn’t exactly the shark from Jaws — or something. She’s not the brightest bulb, but she’s full of pop culture references, that one. Floyd slaps Simone and starts going off about how she’s no different than her father. “This family deserves the ground,” Simone says, as she storms off.

While normally I would think Simone leaving the scene would be a bad idea (and you know where she’s going!), but just as she pulls away, the cops pull in. Remember last week, Ben Schmidt (Keir O’Donnell) and Lou (Patrick Wilson) were planning to stop by the Gerhardt home. Ben wants to bring Floyd in, but Lou starts asking about Dodd. Bear tells him he found Jesus and is currently at the monastery.

As they leave, Ricky comes out to say there’s a phone call for Bear. Bear says to take a message, but whoever is on the other line claims to know where Dodd is. Bear still want him to take a message. That Bear is pretty funny this week, but also incredibly frightening.

At the station, Floyd sits in the interrogation room, while the cops contemplate the whereabouts of Ed and Peggy. Hank (Ted Danson) mentions how he should have checked on Peggy after he came to. I was asking the same question last week!

Hank and Chief Gibson (Terry Kinney) go into the interrogation room to talk to Floyd. They basically ask how much she can take, but they don’t know what a tough old bird she is. She basically tells them her boys won’t stop because they’ve lost too much at this point. She brings up Ed, but Hank tries to convince her that he has nothing to do with the mafia. She feels that Ed is a “sleeper agent.” She won’t stop either, but will she snitch?

Simone goes to see Mike Milligan (Bokeem Woodbine), while White Denim’s “Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)” plays in a nod to The Big Lebowski. Of course, Mike isn’t too happy to see her. It’s sort of hard for him to get happy about anything while he’s being bitched at by mob boss Hamish Broker (Adam Arkin). Mike asks for two more weeks to deal with the Gerhardts, but Hamish gives him two days and then he will send in “The Undertaker.”

Mike starts firing off a variety of quotes when Simone says, “Are we going to talk or are you just going to quote the thesaurus at me?” Actually, it looks like he’s planning to kill her, but Ben and Lou bust in, with guns drawn. Ben walks Simone into the elevator. He asks if Floyd knows where she is. Simone starts to seduce Ben, but the romance is cut short when she kicks him in the balls. Ouch! She basically says she’s done lying down for men. Something tells me she’s not — just not in a “free-spirit” sort of way.

Just as Simone goes to leave, Bear and Ricky drive up. Bear doesn’t look happy. He never does. He tells Ricky to take Simone’s car, so she can jump in with her uncle.

Inside the hotel, Lou is telling Mike Milligan that he doesn’t have to go home, “just maybe don’t be here.” Of course, mafia guys don’t scare easily. Mike has yet another tale to tell and has his own bit of rambling about how he’s the future and they are the past. So Lou ends the conversation by telling him not to be offended next time when he doesn’t say hello before he shoots.

Betsy (Cristin Milioti) arrives home to find extra pairs of shoes by the door. She gets out a shotgun, but really, what criminals worry about messing up the carpet? Instead, she finds Karl (Nick Offerman) and Sonny (Dan Beirne) making a meal. Apparently, Lou asked them to look out for his family. She doesn’t seem to receptive, but who among us would be able to resist the King of Breakfast?

Back inside Bear’s truck, Simone is rambling. She’s trying to convince Bear that she was at the hotel trying to score weed. He’s completely silent, which is always frightening. Then he mumbles out a question, wondering why Simone never asks about Charlie (Allan Dobrescu). He stops the truck and forces Simone out of the car and into the snowy woods. He’s still mad about Dodd taking Charlie to kill Ed, but would he take it out on his own niece?

It’s certainly looking that way. As they walk, Bear tries to put all of the deaths on Simone, including Rye’s. As Simone begs and tries to tell Bear how it was all Dodd’s fault, he tells her to kneel down. She continues to cry and say he can let her go and she’d never return. The whole scene is like something out of Miller’s Crossing. “Hush now,” he tells her. “It’s already done.” And when it’s done, it’s done to the tune of “Danny Boy,” completely sealing this scene with movie references.

When Bear returns back home, Ricky says the phone guy called again about Dodd’s whereabouts. Bear freaks out and tells him, “There’s no more Dodd.” Ricky says, “Kind of cold, don’t you think?” Bear comes back at him and I think at that point, Ricky would rather have had an actual Bear in his face.

At the station, Hank seems convinced that Floyd will help out. She wants insurance for her family though. Floyd then spills the beans. At least, that’s what the cops think. She talks about the mafia’s businesses and their weapons, but then she gives a teeny-tiny glimpse of a smile.

Meanwhile, Mike gets the call that The Undertaker (Markus Parillo) is coming. Did two days pass? It doesn’t matter. “You’re done,” Hamish says. Well, not quite …

Outside of the police station, Floyd tells Bear to find Hanzee and Dodd. Well, that could be a problem. Hank comes out and says that Hanzee shot two police officers in Sioux Falls, while he was looking for Ed and Peggy.

Once breakfast has been eaten, Betsy tells Karl that Lou was originally supposed to marry her sister. She then asks him to watch over Lou and Molly once she’s gone. She seems pretty convinced that she didn’t get the Xanadu pills, but ended up with the sugar ones. When he gets up from the table, he hugs her.

At Hank’s place, Betsy finds tons of family pictures and all kinds of crazy symbols plastered all over the walls. Are those hieroglyphics? Alien symbols? I must have watched this scene 100 times trying to figure the whole thing out. All I noticed was a copy of Palaces of the Gods on the desk. What the heck is Hank looking for?

When Bear brings Floyd home, she asks for Simone. Um, that’s going to be a problem. Even worse, Ricky shows up to say that Hanzee is on the phone, with news that he found Dodd.

Back at the hotel, Mike is preparing for the arrival of The Undertaker, who walks in to the tune of “O Death” by Shakey Graves. (So we have yet another O Brother, Where Art Thou reference.) The Undertaker and his two men are immediately killed by Mike and Gale Kitchen. The phone rings. Mike lets it go on for a few seconds. Maybe he’s waiting for all of that blood to drip from his hand. He’s probably worried about who is on the other end. It turns out to be Ed (Jesse Plemons) though, offering up Dodd, as a few more bars of White Denim play out the rest of the episode.

This episode played a bit like the Coens’ greatest hits. A lot went down, even though a lot of major characters didn’t appear on-screen. I sort of missed Peggy’s special blend of crazy this week, but Ed obviously got to her and Dodd before Hanzee did — or did he? Also, what is Floyd planning? And did Dodd poke Bear a little too much or just save his brother the trouble of offing Simone himself? Hopefully all will be answered in the next three episodes, because that’s all we’ve got left!

New episodes of Fargo Season 2 premiere Mondays at 10/9CT on FX.