Fargo: “A Muddy Road” Review

Malvo embarks on a dirty tricks campaign while Molly’s investigation takes a step forward. Lester’s troubles continue to mount.

Note: The following review goes into detail about the episode. SPOILER ALERT!

I’m absolutely loving this batch of slow burn storytelling we’re getting here on “Fargo.”Little by little and piece by piece, we’re getting a better idea of how things may end up going here, but the show is still keeping a lot of cards close to its chest. Malvo continues to be a delightful menace, although his brutal killing of Milos’ dog (RIP King) put him in my personal bad books for a little while. Lester continues to fall apart while Molly continues working the case.

There are so many little stories in play at the moment, some of which are obviously connected, while others remain seemingly disconnected, for now. Malvo’s time spent with Stavros Milos has been pretty fun off on its own, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see it tie into the overall storyline at some stage. Malvo continues to be a source of wicked nature. After flipping the blackmailer to work for him, he sets about making Milos’ life a living hell. That starts with killing his dog and replacing his medicine with Adderall, ensuring many restless moments ahead for poor Milos. Making pigs blood come out of the shower taps was just the icing on Malvo’s torture cake.

“You’re and idiot.” (Credit: FX Networks)

So far he seems to revel in death and destruction. In just three episodes he has wreaked havoc across the lives of so many people. Gus Grimly continues to replay his meeting with Malvo over in his head. After he finds out that Malvo was driving Lester’s car that night, he knows he has to come forward with the information. We can see throughout the episode that he is absolutely wracked with guilt over letting a potential cop killer get away, but he plucks up the courage to go in person to Bemidji to inform the police there. It’s a stroke of good fortune then that the person he runs into there is Molly, the one person who would be sure to not go hard on him and actually use his information.

Molly is proving herself to be every bit as tenacious and intuitive as Marge Gunderson from the 1996 “Fargo” film. She seemed to believe early on that there could be a connection with the double homicide at the Nyygard residence and the case of the frozen man out in the woods. Her investigation leads her to a video of Malvo dragging the man out of a building and into the trunk of his car. Her relationship with her father is sweet and there were also a few hints at a budding romance between her and Grimly, but I’m really fearing a bad outcome at the end of this story for her at the moment. Hopefully not though as her great detective work and incredible stories about baby spiders crawling out of peoples necks are a joy to behold.

This show has awkward conversations in restaurants. (Credit: FX Networks)

Lester is still cracking. I actually don’t think I’ve ever seen a worse liar in my whole entire life, and Molly knows for a fact now that his story isn’t completely true. The wound on his hand continues to get worse as the infection is surely spreading, which leads to a wonderful realization that Lester’s guilt is literally killing him. He had an interesting run-in (to say the least) with Sam Hess’ widow this week as he went to visit her in regards to the insurance settlement, which then lead to her trying to seduce him to speed up the payment while one of her sons got shot in the ass with an arrow just outside the window. Hysterically brilliant scene. It doesn’t get any easier for Lester though as the two men from Fargo, introduced last week, witnessed the whole encounter and now suspect him of having some involvement with Sam Hess’ death.

THE BREAKDOWN

The closing scene with Lester blowing off some steam by firing his brother’s gun, intercut with Malvo enjoying the bloody fruits of his labor, was another standout scene this week. It actually sums this show up perfectly: delightfully dark. I’m not sure what fresh torture Malvo has planned for Milos next week, or whether Lester will get to use that taser he slipped into his pocket, but I can’t wait to find out. Above all else though, I’m certainly extremely intrigued by the reference to a certain red ice scraper that eagle-eyed viewers will have noticed. Very intriguing indeed…

How are you enjoying “Fargo?” What character are you rooting for? Let us know in the comments below.