The Nadir
Episode 8 of Fargo Season 4 begins with Josto sat eating dinner with Dessie and Milvin. As he entertains the idea of marriage, Milvin tries to hide his disdain, especially given he wants to postpone this until after the Mayoral Election. Josto however is having none of it. After, we cut across to kinky lovemaking sessions with Oreatta as Josto’s suffocating fantasy continues. When the latter finds out about him getting married, Josto reinforces how he’s not in love. At least not with Dessie anyway. While Josto leaves the room, Oreatta rings the hospital and finds out Dr Harvard has made a full recovery. It’s a brief phone call but enough to rattle her somewhat. That rattling becomes full-blown tremors when Josto declares his love for her – something even he admits made him feel sick to his stomach. Unfortunately the result of this sees him kicked out the house. Oreatta meanwhile, heads to the hospital and learns that Dr Harvard has been transferred. Sensing her jig may well be up, Oreatta heads back home and starts packing up her things. In the midst of this chaos, she stumbles upon Ethelrida’s journal. As Oreatta studies the handwriting, she realizes it’s the same as the anonymous letter sent to the Doctor. Josto’s luck turns from bad to worse when he heads back home and finds a bloodied Gaetano very much alive. After slamming his brother through a table, Gaetano knocks him out with a swift right hook, leaving him a woozy mess on the floor. When Josto awakens, Gaetano suddenly switches and embraces his brother. It turns out he’s realized Loy’s manipulation, referring to themselves as a snake (Josto) and a lion (Gaetano). Dropping down to his knees, Gaetano succumbs to the idea of Josto’s leadership. He gives a stern warning to his brother while he’s on his knees, promising that if he ever betrays him then a bullet to the head will be waiting for him. When Loy finds out his plan is a bust, he decides on the next best thing – “Fargo”. Elsewhere, Buel visits Dibrell’s house, where Dibrell tries to make a plea for Ethelrida – bringing up Buel’s daughters as common ground. She wants to make things right and eventually Buel agrees to do what she can – if they can hold the service for Satchel there. Upstairs, Lemuel and Ethelrida continue to flirt until Dibrell reminds her that he’s her captor – not her friend. “You can’t afford to make mistakes,” She warns. Defy heads over and visits Loy, asking where Zelmare and Swanee are. Although Loy asks him to leave, Defy draws his weapon and matches the American blow for blow. Just before he leaves, he tells Defy to give up the girls. Loy chuckles and eventually tells them about the train. This sees him back to the police station, briefing the team about heading to Philly. The officers chuckle at the unintentional innuendo (“Enter through the rear” nudge nudge) and prepare for the job at hand. Weff wants to become a cop again, confirming to Defy that he just got off the phone to Loy Cannon who wants to make sure he catches the two girls. Just before he’s allowed to join the raid, Weff reveals just why he was persuaded to the dark side in the first place. He has some nervous ticks that were exploited and now, he wants to try and right those wrongs. At the train station, Swanee and Zelmare wait impatiently for their train, which leaves in approximately 15 minutes. As police storm in through the front door, a nervous Weff tries to snap out of his paralyzing fear while sat in the police car. Inside the station, Zelmare spies Defy overlooking the station just as police rush down the stairs. Realizing this is their last stand, the girls brandish their guns and spray bullets into the officers. When Weff finally shows, he finds the place a bloodbath; a mosaic of twisted, bloodied corpses lining the ground. Following the sound of gunfire, he finds the two girls and Defy at a stand-off upstairs. With handcuffs handed over, Weff turns on his partner, shooting him in cold blood and shooting Swanee in the head. Zelmare charges at him, Weff misses her head, and lies on the ground breathing heavily as Zelmare manages to get away. While Gaetano and Josto both talk outside, with the latter revealing that Satchel is still alive, Mort Kellerman and his Fargo gangsters suddenly show. Spraying bullets at their location, Josto hides while the muscle (Gaetano) brandishes a dual pair of pistols. He runs them off the lot and manages to thwart their threat. Unfortunately their Mother is shot dead in the ensuing skirmish, which is where the episode ends.
The Episode Review
Fargo delivers an action-packed, tense episode full of plot revelations and conclusions to some of the sub-plots we’ve been dealing with this season. It appears the Zelmare/Swanee situation has now been resolved (although Zelmare could still show) and it seems likely that Weff’s real conversation with Loy involved killing Defy too. Although it’s not explicitly told to us that’s the case, the faded shot across to Loy after this incident seems to hint as such. That’s to say nothing of the various pockets of action and violence dotted throughout this episode. The incident at the train station is obviously the most dramatic moment, but the shoot-out at the end with multiple camera movements was really well shot too. All eyes now turn to next week’s episode, which looks set to be just as dramatic!
