Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Fargo Season 1 Episode # 4 "Eating the Blame" - Recap and Review

Glenn Howerton as Don Chumph in Fargo Season 1 Episode 4 Eating the Blame

As the episode opens in 1987, a much younger Stavros Milos is traveling with his wife and son in his car. He is down and out on his luck and is seeking new fortunes. He soon discovers a briefcase full of cash.

Cut to the present. Stavros (Oliver Platt) hires Don Chumph (Glenn Howerton) to get his pipes repaired, after he had a literal bloodbath in his shower. The plumber quotes Bible and angers Stavros. While leaving the house, he notices a man watching the house.

Deputy Gus Grimly (Colin Hanks) runs into Lorne Malvos (Billy Bob Thornton), who is spying on the Stavros house. Gus arrests Lorne, who continues to threaten his captor during the ride to the police station.

Back in Bemidji, Deputy Molly Solverson (Allison Tolman) is still focussed on Lester Nygaard (Martin Freeman). She is informed by Gus about his arrest of Lorne.

Her efforts to visit Duluth gets stymied by her still incredulous boss, Chief Bill Oswalt (Bob Odenkirk). Bill drives down to Duluth Police Department to take a look at the suspect. Lorne is let go, much to Gus' dismay and puzzlement.


Adam Goldberg as Mr Numbers in Fargo Season 1 Episode 4 Eating the Blame



Lester gets abducted by Mr. Numbers (Adam Goldberg) and Mr. Wrench (Russell Harvard) and is thrown into the car. Lester calls his brother Chaz Nygaard (Joshua Close) for help and then pretends to be playing a practical joke.

Lester makes his escape and notices Deputy Knudsen (Gary Valentine) standing nearby. Lester punches the police officer in order to get arrested.

Stavros is getting increasingly restless and paranoid. His supermarket store, Phoenix Farms is soon under attack by swarms of crickets. He receives a ransom demand of one million US dollars.

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Gus meets up with Molly and poses her the same question, he himself was asked by Lorne: “Do you know the human eye can see more shades of green than any other color?” (Gus gets a chance to get even with Lorne in the season finale Morton's Fork”).

Molly answers the aforementioned Lorne's riddle as saying that humans needed to be alert and observant to detect the presence of predators amidst all the greenery present in the forest.

Mr Numbers and Mr Wrench get into a fight in a bar and end up sharing the jail cell with Lester.

This was another strong episode. The humor is dark and hits the funny bone.

Billy Bob Thornton as Lorne Malvo in Fargo Season 1 Episode 4 Eating the Blame

Billy Bob Thornton gives another captivating performance. His impersonation of Frank Peterson, the minister from Baudette during the interrogation scene was spot on and amusing. Billy is quite a revelation in his role.

The acting is solid from the rest of the cast. I have enjoyed Gary Valentine's performance in The King of Queens and it was a pleasant surprise to see him turn up here. 

The scene with Mr Numbers and Mr Wrench in Lou Solverson's restaurant was hilarious.

A highly recommended watch for fans of the Coen Brothers/Fargo/Thrillers.

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Image Sources: FX Productions, MGM Television, FX Network

You might also like:

Fargo - Morton's Fork
Fargo - A Muddy Road


8 comments:

  1. Thanks for the review. This is too good not to watch!

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    1. You are most welcome, Kathleen. And yes, this is a must watch :)

      B2B.

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  2. I'm still half and half with Fargo. Love any scene with Billy Bob (his preacher was hilarious) but am struggling with some of the others. Wrench and Numbers annoy and entertain me in equal measure too. Some moments, such as the opening of episode 3, which showed us how the man in the trunk got there are sublime, but then other bits are just too self-consciously quirky such as Molly's college friend and the Gus/Molly romance. That said, I'm still tuning in!

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    1. I too love Billy Bob's performance in general and specifically, his preacher act. That was just too funny and extremely well done.

      This show has been my introduction to Billy Bob. Since then, I saw The Man Who Wasn't There directed by the Coen Brothers.

      Have you any other good recommendations starring Billy Bob..

      B2B.

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  3. PS: Is this still a blogger page? It looks so much more sophisticated than mine!! How do you put pics of related posts at the bottom? It's a nice looking blog!

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    1. Thanks GK for the kind compliment :)

      B2B.

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  4. It's a bit rude but Billy Bob is awesome in black comedy Bad Santa.

    ReplyDelete