FARGO - MORTON'S FORK - SEASON FINALE RECAP

[I feel like there is something wrong with me. It seems everybody who watched the show wanted Thornton's character to be killed. That was never the case with me, so naturally, I'm grieving.]

Many of recappers and reviewers compared Lorne Malvo to the devil, though in my opinion, he was more like a werewolf. One way or the other, he was turning people he would meet into animals (not necessarily predators - remember the guy from the motel, whom he convinced to use his boss's car as a toilet?). And  he died like an animal, wounded by the bear trap, still breathing after numerous shots taken at him.

Anyway, back to the recap. Lester goes to his shop, puts his car keys into Linda's hand and comes to Lou's diner to arrange an alibi. He orders grilled cheese sandwiches and ginger ales for himself and his wife, who, according to his words, went down to the office to pick up some papers. He asks to use the bathroom, leaves the place through the backdoor and calls the police from the payphone outside, anonymously reporting gunshots . Then he gets back to the cafe and waits.

Only seconds before he sees the police cars drive by, he realizes that he's left the e-tickets to Acapulco in the pocket of the jacket that Linda was wearing. He rushes to the office and plays grieving husband, screaming "aw jeez!", like that time when he was hitting his first missis with the hammer. He convinces Bill to let him say goodbye to his wife and tries to steal the tickets, but Molly doesn't let him do that.

Lou comes to the police station and tells his daughter about how Malvo asked him where Lester lives. Bill, Molly and the FBI agents interrogate Mr. Nygaard, but he denies knowing Lorne, and after realizing that the chief won't help him escape this time, he refuses to answer questions without a lawyer.

Deputy Solverson decides to use Mr. Bluebeard as a bait and sends him home with the FBI guys (considering they missed Lorne twice, at that point in the episode it was already clear that they were doomed). At the same time Bill realizes he's not capable of being chief and offers the position to Molly.

Gus calls his wife while driving somewhere to ask her not to take part in the search for Malvo personally, proving once again he's not the brave kind, and she promises him to stay at the station. As he hangs up, Gus sees a wolf in the middle of the road and stops his car. He notices a red BMW, that he's seen before, parked next to a cabin and comes closer to check it out. He sees Malvo getting into the car and driving away. Grimly enters the cabin.

Prior to all this Lorne used the police scanner and overheard that the FBI got involved. He once again proves being very resourceful, as he calls the bureau and successfully cancels back up with the help of the Bemidji police receptionist and the information from the notebook he stole from the agents' car earlier.

Malvo visits a car dealer, where the guy to whom Lester tried to sell life insurance to in the first episode (only then the guy was a librarian) works. Lorne chooses a dark Ford, which looks like an undercover FBI car and asks to go for a test drive.

Lester gets driven home and refuses to let the FBI agents in, so they wait outside. Soon they see Malvo's new car coming. They point their guns at the vehicle and demand that the driver gets out. As no one does, they close in. When they realize that it's Malvo's hostage who's behind the wheel, it is already too late, one by one, the killer takes them out.

Mr. Nygaard sees the abandoned FBI car and the blood trail on the snow and rushes upstairs. As Lorne breaks into his house, he hears Lester "speaking on the phone" from the bathroom. The killer approaches the room and takes a few steps, before he gets into Chazz's bear trap hidden under a pile of clothes and screams. The next moment Lester jumps out of the bathroom and takes a shot at his rival. Lorne manages to escape the bullet and throws "Salesman of the Year" award to the shooter's face (once again Lester's nose breaks from being hit against the glass, luckily for him, he doesn't lose consciousness this time). Then Malvo gets a hold of the gun and shoots back. Lester rushes to the bathroom and stays on the floor, pointing a gun at the door. After a few moments, he walks out and finds no Malvo, just the blood trail he's left behind.

Lorne gets back to the cabin and deals with the open tibia fracture. Only after he's done, Gus walks in and says he's figured out the riddle about shades of green. Malvo takes a look at him. "And?" he asks. Instead of an answer, Gus shoots him in the chest. Covered in blood, Lorne stays still for a while, as if dead, only to regain consciousness moments later, coughing and growling, like a dying wolf, until Grimly puts a bullet to his head.

When Molly comes to the cabin, her husband shows her the case with the tapes, and she listens to the one under Lester's name. Finally, she's got the evidence she needed.

   

Mr. Nygaard runs to Montana, but the cops spot him two weeks later. He rushes to the lake and falls through the ice, dying from what Numbers and Wrench planned for him a year ago.

Molly receives a call about his death. She goes back to the living room, where Gus and Greta watch Deal or No Deal. Gus says he's going to be given a citation for bravery and that Molly should have gotten it instead, but she argues that this is his deal.

"I get to be chief", she concludes.

Even though there were a couple things that I expected to play some role in the narration and that did not (like Lester's nephew noticing him in their house), as well as a number of loose ends - we've never got to know what happened with Mr. Wrench, Milos, Mrs. Hess and Bill's African kid, the main story still feels complete and there's even a happy ending of sorts, which nowadays is so rare in series like this. I don't think I've seen any other TV show that is as good as Fargo script-wise, and I'm afraid it'll be long before there will be one. There is no official confirmation of the season two yet (not that I know off, at least), but I'm positive it'll come, and hopefully, Noah Hawley can deliver another story of a similar quality.