Recap: Fargo Season 2, Episode 8 – Cabin Fever

FARGO -- “Loplop” -- Episode 208 (Airs Monday, November 30, 10:00 pm e/p) Pictured: (l-r) Kirsten Dunst as Peggy Blumquist, Jesse Plemons as Ed Blumquist. CR: Chris Large/FX

After last week’s killing spree, Fargo is stepping back a bit. Remember all of the unanswered questions from episode 6? This week’s installment tackles some of those — and leaves a few new ones lingering as well.

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

That said, “Loplop” opened exactly where I wanted it to — back in the Blumquists’ basement. I wasn’t looking to see if Peggy (Kirsten Dunst) had stashed the June 1975 issue of Glamour within those monstrous piles, but wanted to know exactly what happened to Dodd (Jeffrey Donovan). Thankfully, we aren’t left hanging. We see that he’s very much alive, tied to a chair, and has Peggy looking on.

We also find out that Ed (Jesse Plemons) managed to make it back to her before Hanzee (Zahn McClarnon). Just as he calls out to Peggy, she sees a vision of a guy named Albert (Mackenzie Gray), who starts asking if she’s “actualized fully.” There’s a whole exchange that has a lot to do with Peggy being the best Peggy she can be. If you ask me though, it has more to do with her being “a bit touched,” as Hank (Ted Danson) says.

Ed finds his wife with Dodd, who tries to proclaim his innocence and Peggy’s insanity. He’s certainly right about one of those things. Ed recognizes Dodd and knocks him out with one punch. Then, Ed loads Dodd into the trunk of his own car. Seconds after they leave, Hank and Lou (Patrick Wilson) arrive to find the two henchmen in the basement.

Thankfully, both of those bad guys are dead, because the knot that Hanzee gave Hank proves to be a bit much and Lou calls an ambulance. As Hank is being loaded in on a stretcher, he asks Lou not to tell Betsy. Oh yah, that’s not happening.

The two vehicles pull away, leaving just enough light to see Hanzee waiting in the wings. He goes into the house to do his own investigating and spots the info about the Lifespring conference on the fridge. Could Peggy still be planning to go to the seminar? Hey, it’s non-refundable!

FARGO -- “Loplop” -- Episode 208 (Airs Monday, November 30, 10:00 pm e/p) Pictured: (l-r) Kirsten Dunst as Peggy Blumquist, Jesse Plemons as Ed Blumquist. CR: Chris Large/FX
FARGO — “Loplop” — Episode 208 Pictured: (l-r) Kirsten Dunst as Peggy Blumquist, Jesse Plemons as Ed Blumquist. CR: Chris Large/FX

While on the road, Peggy seems to be having some sort of revelation. She’s trying to be actualized, but Ed seems more concerned about trading Dodd for freedom. The two head to a cabin that belongs to Ed’s uncle. As soon as Ed opens the trunk, Dodd kicks him, but Peggy has that trusty cattle prod.

Inside the cabin, Ed ties Dodd up. Dodd promises that he’s going to “have fun” taking Peggy apart, but Ed doesn’t seem to agree. Once he’s bound, Ed says he’s going up the road to make the call. Peggy wonders what they will do if the Gerhardts don’t want to do business. “Then, I’ll show them which part’s the flank steak,” he responds. The butcher is becoming quite the bad-ass! He then makes the first call, the one where Bear says to take a message.

Dodd tries to convince Peggy that he’s not such a bad guy, but she didn’t take kindly to him calling her “a whore.” He then promises to show her the back of his hand. She says he needs to be civil, but he responds, well … pretty much how you’d expect Dodd to respond. Peggy then stabs Dodd in the chest with a kitchen knife. It’s not the type of wound that would kill someone like Dodd, but it definitely stings. He proceeds to call her a bitch, so she gives him another poke.

Holy crap, Peggy is scary. She makes some killer beans though, which she then force feeds to Dodd, as she apologizes for hitting Rye and pretty much everything that has followed since.

Then, Ed walks in and sees the stab marks. Dodd seems to be trying to signal to Ed that Peggy is completely insane. When he asks if she stabbed him, Peggy says no, while Dodd whispers, “yes.” Peggy just had to teach him some manners, that’s all.

FARGO -- “Loplop” -- Episode 208 (Airs Monday, November 30, 10:00 pm e/p) Pictured: Jeffrey Donovan as Dodd Gerhardt. CR: Chris Large/FX
FARGO — “Loplop” — Episode 208 Pictured: Jeffrey Donovan as Dodd Gerhardt. CR: Chris Large/FX

We then see Hanzee making a pit-stop at a bar. Outside, there’s a sign that says, “Here were hanged 22 Sioux Indians. May 25th, 1882.” Right below it, there’s a pile of puke, so you can imagine his mood going in. Inside, he asks for a water, but sees spit in the glass. Then, he asks for a tequila and information on the whereabouts of Ed and Peggy. The bartender then gives him crap, saying he doesn’t want to serve a man “who doesn’t want to be an American.” Hanzee rambles off his Vietnam resume and leaves. Three men from the bar follow. As you can imagine, that wasn’t such a good idea. He shoots two of the three in the knee and then goes back inside and kills the bartender. Two cops arrive and Hanzee kills both before driving off.

After all this time, Dodd realizes he needs to pee. Ed grabs a tea kettle and helps him out. I can’t imagine he didn’t relieve himself during all of those pokes with the cattle prod, but okay then …

Meanwhile, the Lifespring conference has begun. Constance (Elizabeth Marvel) is there waiting to get romantic with Peggy. Unfortunately, Hanzee shows up and spoils the mood.

Ed goes to make a second call to the Gerhardt house, but there’s no answer. He buys a few items in the convenience store and strikes up a conversation with the owner, Maynard Oltorf (Bob Bainborough). Meanwhile, Peggy tries to call Constance at the hotel. Hanzee is listening in, as Peggy tells Constance about a “breakthrough” and how she may not need the seminar after all. However, Constance needs Peggy to need the seminar or at least the course materials. Otherwise, Hanzee will no longer need Constance.

Later that night, Ed and Peggy try to sleep, but a staring Dodd keeps them awake. Ed puts a pillowcase over Dodd’s head. He needs his rest, so he can call the Gerhardt house in the morning.

FARGO -- “Did You Do This? No, you did it!” -- Episode 207 (Airs Monday, November 23, 10:00 pm e/p) Pictured: Bokeem Woodbine as Mike Milligan. CR: Chris Large/FX
FARGO — “Did You Do This? No, you did it!” — Pictured: Bokeem Woodbine as Mike Milligan. CR: Chris Large/FX

Ed goes to make the call, but ends up calling Mike Milligan (Bokeem Woodbine) instead. Meanwhile, Peggy gets wrapped up in a movie on TV. In fact, she’s so into it that she doesn’t notice Dodd is now gone. How the heck did he get out?

Mike Milligan does want Dodd and is willing to make a deal. Ed then asks Mike to meet him in Sioux Falls the next day. Yes, Sioux Falls, which you may recognize as the location of the upcoming massacre, or at least part of the Hangman game in progress inside the phone booth. Well technically, he wants to meet at the Motor Motel, where Candace is most likely dead.

Of course, there’s a slight problem. See, Dodd is on the loose and Hanzee is on the way. First though, he needs to stop at the convenience store to ask about Ed. Maynard gives up the information and right as Hanzee leaves, the guy picks up the paper and sees the story about the two dead cops with Hanzee’s picture next to it. He then calls the police.

When Ed gets back to the cabin, he sees the empty chair and Peggy’s lifeless feet next to the bed. As he walks towards her, Dodd ropes Ed around the neck and pulls nice and tight. The rope is swung over the rafters, so Dodd is actually hanging him. Dodd then begins to lecture Ed about Peggy and women in general. It’s probably not too easy to hear him, since Ed’s face is turning beet red and his eyes are starting to bulge. Fortunately, Peggy is starting to wake up.

Just as Dodd says, “I think Satan is a woman,” Peggy stabs him in the foot. She also breaks off the handle of the knife, so when he tries to pull it out, it slices his hand. He pulls his foot upward (in a truly tummy-turning scene), just in time for Peggy to knock him out with a fireplace poker. Peggy then cuts Ed down and he’s surprisingly still alive — for now.

Hanzee spots Dodd’s car next to the cabin. When he walks in, Ed and Peggy are tying up Dodd, who says, “get me outta here.” (Thanks Cindy!) Things are looking pretty bad for the couple, but first, Hanzee asks Peggy for a haircut. Um, what? Dodd starts calling him a “half-breed” and a “mongrel,” telling him to shoot the two. Instead, Hanzee shoots Dodd in the head.

FARGO -- “Loplop” -- Episode 208 (Airs Monday, November 30, 10:00 pm e/p) Pictured: Ted Danson as Hank Larsson. CR: Michelle Fay/FX
FARGO — “Loplop” — Episode 208 (Pictured: Ted Danson as Hank Larsson. CR: Michelle Fay/FX

Hanzee sits down, saying he wants a professional cut. “Tired of this life,” he says. Ed then notices Lou and Hank approaching the cabin. Hanzee stands up, fires a few shots through the window, and Peggy stabs him in the neck with the scissors. Hanzee tries to shoot Ed, but he’s out of bullets. He escapes out the back, just as Hank and Lou burst through the front.

Wow. This was another memorable episode. It was a pretty comical one, too. Sadistic yes, but still sort of funny. We didn’t get to see Bear, Floyd, Ben, Betsy, or even Karl. Still, the whole “you’ve got to stop stabbing him” thing was pretty amusing. However, parts of this episode seemed more confusing than Hank’s secret room. Did Hanzee want Peggy to kill him? It sort of looked like he wanted to go out on his own terms, but not via the cops. Also, why after putting up with so much from Dodd did he finally snap? Oh, and so Dodd is finally dead. It’s for keeps this time. I am sure that’s going to anger the Gerhardts and even the Kansas City boys, but really, how many people are left to massacre in Sioux Falls? We should find that out pretty soon, since there are only two more episodes left!

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

9 Comments

  1. Dodd didn’t say “Get me Yoda here”, he said “Get me out of here.” Guess you have to be Minnesotan to understand the accent. Close captioning might help you.

    • I watched a preview, so there’s no closed captioning. (I could really use it on some of the Bear episodes, though!) I don’t doubt you’re right in what Dodd said. It certainly makes more sense. I’m guessing that’s what I heard because in the info from FX, it says: “Peggy goes full Yoda.” Ha!

  2. Hanzee killed Dodd because he was told to by Bear and/or Floyd. Remember the episode past saw Bear running in the house after his mother, after they hear that the Indian is on the phone and he’s found Dodd. I think Bear either convinces Floyd or kills her and tells Hanzee to kill Dodd.

    • Hmm…. interesting take! I can’t imagine Floyd would have put a hit out on her own son, but you never know. She’s a sly one. I definitely don’t think he would have listened to Bear, though. Remember, he almost killed Bear for attacking Dodd.

  3. This memorable line should have made the recap verbatim: “Hon, did you stab the hostage?”. Loved it!

    Hanzee may not, as Russell suggests hilariously, have actualized fully (which by the way may now be my new life goal), but I think that plaque outside the bar might have awakened some dormant sense of Native American identity, ultimately causing his lethal reaction to Dodd’s “mongrel” and “half-breed” cracks (starting with his inflicting a couple of “Wounded Knees” outside the bar — see what the writers did there? :-))

    Another riveting episode. Why must this season ever end?!

    Jacques.

  4. Excellent recap. Yours is my go-to page to get up-to-speed on elements I may have missed on first watching (although I can see you are as stymied as I about some turns in the recent ep. A haircut…?).

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