Familiar faces, answers, and an explosive opening made Fargo’s “Who Rules the Land of Denial?” a truly jaw-dropping episode.
First things first, it’s been a while since season 1 so I hope I’m not the only one who didn’t immediately recognize Wes Wrench (Russell Harvard) sitting right next to Nikki (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), but you know what really gave him away…?
The jacket.
The first twenty minutes of “Who Rules the Land of Denial” was an insane and volatile experience unique to Fargo’s true crime drama. We pick up immediately where we left off in “The Law of Inevitability” with Varga’s crew taking down the prison bus to get to Nikki. We get a behind-the-scenes glimpse of just how Yuri (Goran Bogdan) pulled it off before all hell breaks loose.
Golem and Yuri share an illuminating moment that puts the opening scene of this into perspective. Yuri murdered Helga Albracht and I’m anxious to know why.
Nikki and Wrench escape out the back and are followed into the woods where the blood bath begins. After taking a beating on the bus, Golem (DJ Qualls) is decapitated in a dual effort by Nikki and Wrench using the chain keeping them together. The scene is perfectly Fargo in balancing that exact amount of comedy and drama as Golem’s head slides to the snow. Needless to say, my jaw dropped for the first time this episode (the second would come later).
Nikki and Wrench take shelter in a purgatory-like bowling alley hosted by Paul Marrane (who Gloria met in California, played Ray Wise) who soothes her soul with an adorable orange kitten named Ray. This episode was laden with Coen Brother’s references and this setting screams The Big Lebowski.
“Who will rise for me against the wicked? Who will take a stand against evil doers?” Marrane asks Nikki after claiming Wrench has been given a second chance. I’m hoping we can interpret this as a sign of hope that Nikki will come out on top and even get justice for Ray’s death. Will that be at the expense of Emmit (Ewan McGregor), Varga (David Thewlis), or both?
I’m intrigued by who exactly Marrane is and why he’s so enigmatic but, I’ve watched enough Noah Hawley (who co-wrote the episode with Monica Beletsky) to just go with the flow and take answers as they come (i.e. Legion). He’s less pleasant to Yuri when he comes through and haunts him with a ghostly black and white image of Helga surrounded by spirits (upping the intrigue of his character even more).
Things aren’t going so well with Emit and Sy (Michael Stuhlbarg) either. After Emit avoids his meeting, Varga attempts to eliminate the jumpy Sy with “a cuppa” his mum’s tea recipe (with an added ingredient). We get a nice close up of the suspicious Sy being careful not to swallow and think he’s safe…until he arrives in his office the next day.
In the second jaw-dropping moment of the episode, Sy erupts into a coughing fit, assures us he’s okay, and then vomits all over the floor before passing out. “Well that’s not right!”
We flash-forward three months later and Sy is still in a comatose state with Emit at his side. Gloria and Winnie ask Emit about Sy’s “toxic shock” and confirm that he’d been poisoned. From here, Emit begins an guilt-ridden episode of drunken paranoia that leads to him believing Ray is haunting him from the dead. From the rusty, red corvette parked in his spot at the hospital to the infamous stamp replaced in all the frames in his office (“What the shit is this?!”), and even a Ray-like mustache appearing while he slept; Emit is on a downward spiral of self-destruction explicit in his request to confess at the end.
I think we know who’s responsible for Emit as the wolf is on the hunt again with a new shopping mall on the horizon.
Extra thoughts
• Amidst the blood and philosophy, I hope Carrie Coon’s “Socks!” and Michael Stuhlbarg’s “Good Christ!” don’t go unnoticed.
• I’ll never be able to see Varga with a plate of food and not feel nauseous.
• It’s also nice to see David Thewlis be bad on the big screen over the weekend (in Wonder Woman) just in time to see him finish up on Fargo these next few weeks. The acting range he has is extraordinary.
• The irony of the parking lot king having his parking spot stolen…
• The accurate portrayal of sibling rivalry remains excellent even after Ray’s death.
• Varga: “You. Won.” Emit: “I won?! But what did I win?!” Varga: “Life.”
Fargo airs Wednesday nights at 10 p.m. on FX.