Alright, Fargo's been moving towards a new theme over the past several episodes, and this one in particular hammers it in. Clearly, evil pays. Our heroes are in a decent place right now, but the wrong man's in jail and they're no closer to finally getting our villains behind bars. Meanwhile, our villains have only gotten better off from this whole ordeal. Hope is a fleeting emotion for Fargo viewers, and it's one that isn't allowed very often. The bright light we wait for has to be somewhere, but for now we can only wait until the next episode.
We start off here with our old friend Lester. Since basically abandoning his redeeming qualities as a human being, he's become much more popular, especially with the ladies. He's more confident, and quite able to fend for himself. This of course makes him a charismatic villain, a complete reversal of the meek victim he was earlier in the series. However, as much presence as Lester has on screen, and as entertaining as he is, this certainly comes at the expense of his likeability... though, in his new position as the secondary villain, he wouldn't need it anyway.
On a lighter note, Gus and Molly are together! They've grown closer and closer together over the course of the show, and they really do make a wonderful couple. Gus' part of the plot is at an end, and it will remain to be seen how he becomes relevant later on. Meanwhile, Molly's own hopes to resolve her part are sadly diminishing due to the incompetence and seeming disinterest in actual justice of the police department. Unfortunately, this holds a heavy risk of causing a decay of viewer investment, and at this time I'm tired of things getting worse and worse. Maybe next episode her fortunes-and, consequently, our fortunes-will reverse.
The FBI comedic relief characters from last episode return, and continue to be mostly comedic relief, though they do allow for a small bit of plot progression. For being on the scene and failing, they are demoted to the file room, which is very reflective of this show's contempt for the forces of good. It introduces some new likeable character in the previous episode, and wastes no time in giving them the worst of fortunes.
One scene of note is the scene where Malvo talks to Mr. Wrench. He discusses how Fargo came closer to nabbing him than anyone else, and gives Wrench the key to the handcuff that's holding him to the hospital bed. Of course, before any of this, he murders the cop keeping watch over Wrench. Malvo is still a scene-stealing personality, and when he's present the spotlight is squarely on him as he proves to be possibly the most effective character in the show. It seems nothing can stop him, and while at first that makes him a great villain, it's slowly turning my opinion of him to a burning ball of contempt as my patience wears thin.
Then there's a time skip. One year passes. One year. An entire year and almost no progress is made, apparently. As is usual in Fargo, this is executed very well, though apparently a lot can happen in one year. This episode shows almost no progress on the main story, but through resolving the romantic subplot and a few excellent character interactions it'll keep me coming back. That said, it wouldn't be entirely amiss to say that this is an episode where nothing happened. Thankfully, being placed so late in the series, this is clearly a sort of a bridge episode to a turning point, and for that I can't wait.
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