Ed Blumquist

Ed Blumquist
Portrayed by	Jesse Plemons
Featured in	Season 2
Vital information
Alias	The Butcher of Luverne
Occupation	Butcher's assistant (formerly)
Affiliation	Blumquist family Bud's Meats (formerly)
Family	Frank Blumquist - Father Peggy Blumquist - Wife Velma - Aunt
Residence	Luverne, Minnesota
Statistics
Age	29
Born	1950
Died	1979
Status	Deceased
Fate	Shot by Hanzee Dent, succumbed to blood loss
Appearances
First seen	Waiting for Dutch
Last seen	Palindrome

Ed's corpse.

Edward "Ed" Blumquist is a main character in Fargo Season 2. He works as a butcher's assistant who wants to be supportive of his wife's self-discovery, even if he doesn't quite understand it.

History

Early life

Ed was born and raised in Luverne, Minnesota by Frank Blumquist, a shoe salesman. Ed met Peggy in high school in 1970, but she started dating his best friend Tim. Tim later dropped out of high school to fight in the Vietnam War, in which he was subsequently killed in. Ed spent a few months trying to comfort Peggy over her loss, and eventually won her over.

Ed did not fight in the war. He was put into the 4-F classification on account of kidney problems. At some point he began working at Bud's Meats.

Murder of Rye Gerhardt

Ed returns home from work with meat from a wasted order. At dinner, his wife Peggy Blumquist discusses her upcoming seminar for Lifespring, believing it will help her become a "fully actualized" person. Ed, confused, asks if they are already doing fine. He brings up Bud's offer to buy the butcher shop after he retires, something that has been on his mind for some time. Ed fantasizes a scenario where he owns the shop and Peggy buys the salon, and the two of them have a litter of children. They begin to discuss their attempts to have children before a loud noise is heard coming from the garage.

Ed goes to investigate, despite Peggy's protests. He finds their car covered in blood on the hood and the windshield shattered. Peggy "admits" to hitting a deer, to which Ed asks if she is alright. While still shocked, Ed remains calm, believing the insurance will cover most of the damage. Suddenly, he hears more noise in the back of the garage. Ready to confront a supposedly injured deer, Ed grabs a flashlight and moves towards the noise. However, it is not a deer but a bloodied man trying to escape. The man turns and charges at Ed with a knife and the two grapple onto one another. Ed eventually gets the upper hand by taking a gardening spade and stabbing him to death.

Ed is visibly shaken, having just killed someone. Peggy tries to comfort him, which results in Ed accidentally jolting and elbowing her in the face. Ed tries to piece together what really happened, and is eventually talked into helping cover up the murder for the sake of both their futures. The next day, Ed sits outside the garage studying Rye's driver's license, contemplating the previous night's events. He begins having flashbacks of finding the man in his garage, and later dumping his body in a freezer. He decides to stay home from work and clean up the bloody mess.

He starts by brushing the broken glass off the hood, then washing it. He vacuums up the shards, then scrubs and bleaches the floor. Ed opens the freezer and examines the frozen corpse inside. Afterwards, he removes Rye's clothes and burns them in the fireplace before removing and burning his own. Later that night, Ed goes to the butcher shop after closing to dispose of Rye's body. He drags it inside, and proceeds to cut the body up and push it through the meat grinder.

The process takes quite some time, and later that night Ed gets an unexpected visitor in the shop from Lou Solverson, who is on a late night patrol. Ed jumps at the sound of the door knocking which causes him to cut off Rye's hand wrong, sending a finger rolling into the main shop area and under a desk. Lou, having happened to see the kitchen lights were on, wanted to stop by to get some bacon for his daughter, Molly.

The two of them discuss their wives, when suddenly Lou fumbles with his wallet and change rolls under the desk where the finger is. Ed sees the finger, and panics to retrieve the change until the phone rings. There is a brief moment where Ed is unsure of what to do. Lou grabs the coin himself without noticing the finger, and Ed answers the phone. Peggy is on the other end wondering what is taking so long. After waiting for Lou to leave the shop, Ed calms her down, letting her know how much of a process it is to grind a human body. He reassures her that it is being taken care of, and that he loves her. He then retrieves the finger from under the desk and gets back to work.

Covering a lie

Ed is back at the shop the next day until Peggy arrives in a panic, insisting they leave now for a "family crisis". She fills Ed in on Betsy Solverson's accurate theory of the Waffle Hut shooter being hit by a car, and that they need to take care of it somehow. They come across a wanted poster for Rye, and Ed realizes that the investigation has already begun.

The two of them drive the car out to the middle of nowhere, planning to fake a car accident by running it into a tree. That way insurance can cover the damage, and they can get it fixed without raising any suspicion. Ed has her get out of the car to avoid injury, and proceeds to swerve into the tree, proceeding to ram it with the back bumper instead of the front. After trying a second time and hitting the front bumper successfully, they call a tow truck. Ed complains about getting whiplash. They take a bus into town after Ed goes to the hospital to get a neck brace. Later that night, Ed asks Peggy if she thinks it worked. Peggy insists it did, but Ed still has his doubts.

After another attempt at conceiving a child with Peggy, he tells her they cannot afford the seminar due to him wanting to buy the butcher shop, claiming it to be more of a priority. He again fantasizes about the future now that they've cleaned up their mess. Unbeknownst to the them however, multiple people are already hot on their tails.

Ed returns to work with the neck brace where his boss, Bud Jorgenlen, tells him he is likely going to sell the shop to another buyer, and that Ed's check didn't clear. He has until the end of the week to get the money. Ed walks over to Peggy at the salon to confront her about the money. As the two of them are arguing, pauses briefly for a moment as he notices Hanzee Dent driving by slowly, staring him down. Refocusing, Ed begs Peggy to get the money back.

That night, Ed and Peggy return home to find Lou Solverson sitting on their porch, who insists they let him in. Lou tries to convince Ed into admitting he and Peggy killed Rye and tried to cover it up, offering them protection if they do. However after Peggy speaks up for him and asks Lou to leave, Ed sides with his wife. Ed watches as Lou reluctantly leaves.

Living in fear

Ed has a nightmare about Rye. The following morning, Ed wakes up to find Peggy in the basement thinking of what she should bring with her if the time comes to run. He is bewildered by the idea, until she elaborates about all the factors against them. The Gerhardts are looking for them, law enforcement has their eye on them, and she is also afraid her boss Constance Heck knows about the accident. Despite this, Ed insists on staying to protect his version of their future.

At work, Ed is nervously picking at a piece of loose wood on the shelf as he calls in for favors from his family. His co-worker, Noreen Vanderslice, calls his attempts pointless. Ed argues that he is trying to live the "American dream" by purchasing the shop and being his own boss, to which she still says is pointless. She argues they're all going to die anyway, but Ed insists he is going to live a long life. He goes into the back to begin working.

Later, Charlie Gerhardt sneaks into the shop in an attempt to assassinate Ed. Ed is alerted by Noreen and manages to dodge the gunshot. The bullet, however, hits the breaker which starts a fire. As Ed tries to put out the flames, a second assailant kicks down the back door and begins shooting at him. The two of them fight, and just as the man seemingly gets the upper hand, Ed hits him over the head with one of his tools. Before he can get up, Ed puts a cleaver into the man's head. Ed helps Noreen up and also drags Charlie out of the burning building, upon her request. He asks Noreen to cover for him as he gets into his car in a panic and drives away.

Ed returns home to Peggy who tells him she is sorry for going ahead and paying for the seminar, and in order to make it up to him, she sold her car so Ed could buy the shop. Ed tells her the shop burned down, and that Lou was right. The Gerhardts are after them and they need to leave town. He has her start to pack her things, but as soon as they get up, police sirens surround their house.

Episode appearances

Season 2

• 201 - Waiting for Dutch
• 202 - Before the Law
• 203 - The Myth of Sisyphus
• 204 - Fear and Trembling
• 205 - The Gift of the Magi
• 206 - Rhinoceros
• 207 - Did You Do This? No, You Did It!
• 208 - Loplop
• 209 - The Castle
• 210 - Palindrome

Murders committed

• Rye Gerhardt - Stabbed with a gardening spade. (Waiting for Dutch)
• Virgil Bauer - Hacked head with a meat cleaver. (The Gift of the Magi)

Trivia

• Jesse Plemons previously played Todd Alquist Breaking Bad. Along with -son and -gard, the suffix -quist is common in Swedish surnames, borne by many in the Fargo universe, owing to the large population of Scandinavian-Americans in Minnesota and North Dakota.