Fargo - “Eating the Blame” Recap. It’s All Connected.

Season 1, Episode 4

Air Date: Tuesday, May 6, 2014, 10PM E/P on FX Networks.

Rating: ★★★★★

“You’re making a mistake.” – Gus

Lester (Martin Freeman)

Deputy Molly Solverson (Allison Tolman), as well as Mr. Numbers (Adam Goldberg) and Mr. Wrench (Russell Harvard), want the truth from Lester (Martin Freeman), who they believe has some part in the recent murders happening in Bemidji. As things become dire, Lester is forced to make a tough decision in the funniest Fargo episode so far.

“Eating the Blame” opens in 1987 with a young Stavros Milos (Carlos Diaz) moving his family to Minnesota to start a new life with their son. While driving on a desolate road, Milos runs out of gas. Mentally and emotionally broken, he falls to the snowy ground and prays for help. When Milos looks up, he notices a red object off in the distance. Making his way through the snow, he realizes it is an ice scraper and uses it to dig out some of the snow around it. In the process, Milos discovers a briefcase full of money. He returns to the car in a daze telling his wife, “God is real.”

Fans of the movie Fargo will quickly recognize the briefcase found by Milos is the one left behind by Carl (Steve Buscemi) towards the end of the movie. Carl had used the ice scraper as a marker for the money and planned to come back for it. That didn’t happen as he unfortunately met his demise at the hands of Gaear (Peter Stormare) and the infamous wood chipper. Kudos to the director and writers for finding a way to connect both the movie and the TV series.

Going forward to 2006 and “Eating the Blame,” Gus (Colin Hanks) is responding to a call when he notices Malvo (Billy Bob Thornton) standing on the side of the road. Nervously, Gus places him under arrest. You can feel the weight start to lift off Gus as he not only faces his fears, but captures Malvo as well. Excited, Gus calls Molly and lets her know he has Malvo in custody. Molly tells Chief Oswalt (Bob Odenkirk) the news but Oswalt tells her it is his case and he will be heading up to Duluth to check things out. I still don’t understand why Oswalt treats Molly like a second class citizen. Is it because she is a female or could something else be at play here? What do you think?

Malvo (Billy Bob Thornton) and Gus (Colin Hanks)

Thornton is absolutely hilarious to watch as his character is interrogated about the murders. I love watching Thornton transform from the strong and intimidating Malvo into his alias Frank Peterson, a soft-spoken minister. Through the one-way glass, Gus is dumbfounded as Malvo explains his convincing yet totally false alibi to Oswalt. The scene is both brilliantly written and so humorous, it had me laughing the entire time. Convinced the mild mannered Peterson isn’t the cold blooded killer, Oswalt releases Malvo, much to Gus’ dismay. Unfortunately Gus can’t tell Oswalt or his Lieutenant how he knows Malvo is the right guy.

Free from jail, Malvo continues his blackmail campaign against Milos (Oliver Platt), using biblically inspired themes to compel Milos to pay the ransom or go crazy in the process. First, he pours gallons of pigs’ blood into the water line at Milos’ house. Then, he unleashes thousands of crickets inside Milos’ grocery store. I can’t wait to see what Malvo does next.

Mr. Numbers (Adam Goldberg) and Lester (Martin Freeman)

Mr. Numbers and Mr. Wrench decide intimidating Lester into confessing he killed Hess (Kevin O’Grady) isn’t going to work. Mr. Numbers is convinced Lester did it but Mr. Wrench wants Lester to confess first. The two decide to kidnap Lester and drag him out to the lake where they have been disposing the bodies of people they had mistakenly thought were behind the Hess murder. While Mr. Wrench is drilling a hole through the ice, Lester escapes using his brother’s taser on Mr. Numbers. He makes it back to the main road and spots Deputy Knudsen (Gary Valentine). Thinking he will be safer in police custody, Lester hits Knudsen and gets arrested.

You can feel a sense of relief from Lester sitting in jail as he reflects on having gotten away from the two men intent on killing him. Exhaustion seems to take over and just as Lester gets ready to lie down, an officer enters the jail bringing in two men who had gotten in a bar fight. The men are put in Lester’s cell and I laughed out loud as Mr. Numbers gives Lester a big smile. Fade to black.

“Eating the Blame” is my favorite episode so far. The humor is subtle yet works on many levels, and the characters are fascinating to watch. Fargo has become one of those shows you can view a few times and catch things you might have missed the first time around, making it even better. I’m excited to see how Lester gets out of the mess he’s put himself in. How about you?

Tweet me @staffaroadtrip or leave a comment below to let me know what you think about “Eating the Blame.”

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Greg Staffa

I provide testosterone to the site. You won’t be reading about how nice a actress looks in a dress or how much of a hunk Matt Bomer is in my reviews. I describe colors using words like brown, not taupe. My twitter name is @staffaroadtrip because I love road trips and have done two different 48-state road trips since 2008. My favorite show is White Collar.