Changes: Lester Nygaard

Revision as of 11:30, 8 May 2020

Lester Nygaard was an insurance salesman from Bemidji, Minnesota. His life is changed when a mysterious contract killer named Lorne Malvo comes to town.

Biography

Early life

Lester was born in 1966, presumably in January. He had a younger brother named Chaz, and was high school classmates with Sam Hess and Bill Oswalt. During a mouse dissection in Mrs. Knudsen's class, Lester fainted. He also fainted when a girl had her period in gym class. ("The Rooster Prince")

At school, he was frequently bullied by Hess. In one such instance, he was shoved into a barrel and rolled onto a highway. In his senior year, he went to the prom with Pearl, his future wife. The two married around 1988, when Lester was in his early twenties. ("The Crocodile's Dilemma")

2006

By January 2006, Lester's marriage had turned frigid, with Pearl constantly comparing him to his much more successful brother Chaz. Lester had garnered a reputation in town as a meek pushover, and remained a victim of Hess' bullying well into middle-age. During one such encounter with Hess and his sons, Lester inadvertently broke his own nose against a store window.

At the hospital, Lester found himself sitting next to a man named Lorne Malvo. Lester opened up to Lorne about Sam's harassment, to which Lorne replied that he would have killed a man over such treatment. Lester jokingly asked Lorne to kill Sam.

That afternoon, Lester and Pearl visited Chaz to celebrate their nephew Gordo's birthday. While showing him his private gun collection, Chazz tried to bond with Lester but lost his patience after he broke a machine gun Chaz recently bought. Lester tried to apologize, but was instead ridiculed for being a weak older brother. Lester hit Chaz and drove home with Pearl.

The next day, Lester learned Sam had been murdered and was tasked with delivering his life insurance money to his family. Lester confronted Lorne about the killing, but was told to stand up for himself more often. Later, when Pearl taunted Lester, he finally snapped and killed her with a hammer. He called Lorne and asked for help cleaning up the murder, but planned to frame Lorne when he arrived.

Vern Thurman, Bemidji's police chief, arrived at the house before Lorne and discovered Pearl's body in the basement. Before Vern could arrest Lester, Lorne showed up and shot Vern twice with Lester's shotgun. Lester told Lorne where Pearl's body was. Lester followed Lorne into the basement after Deputy Molly Solverson arrived. Down there, Lester found Lorne is no longer there. Lester, thought quickly and ran his head into the wall to knock himself out and made it look like he and Pearl were victims of a home invasion. He woke up in the hospital the next morning and noticed he had a peculiar hand wound. (The Crocodile's Dilemma)

Lester is seen at Chazz's house attending a service for Pearl. Chazz offers him a spare room to stay in for a few days, which he agrees to. He returns to his house and starts having flashbacks of the night Pearl and Vern died. He then gets a visit from Molly and Bill, who ask him a few questions about what happened. He gives them a very half-hearted story which Bill is satisfied with, and they leave. He packs a few days worth of things and moves into Gordo's bedroom, while Gordo sleeps on the couch in the living room. He finds a jar of urine in Gordo's cloest. Later at dinner, Lester tells Chazz he plans to sell the house like he recommended, much to Chazz's surprise. He also decides to join him on the hunting trip this weekend.

Later that night, Lester goes to the pharmacy to pick up antibiotics to treat his hand wound. He is approached by Molly, who continues to question him as he tries to leave without picking up his medication. He is followed out to the parking lot, and Lester tells Molly to stop harassing him as he drives away. (The Rooster Prince)

Lester visited Sam Hess's widow Gina Hess to discuss the payout of life insurance. Gina flirted with Lester, but they stopped when her son Mickey accidentally shot his brother Moe with a crossbow.

Fargo hitmen Numbers and Wrench, who were watching Lester at the Hess residence, visited him at his work. They tried to intimidate him and get information, but left when Deputy Molly Solverson arrived. She pretended to be interested in an insurance plan, but in reality only came to subtlely show Lester a picture of Lorne Malvo. She left after seeing his startled reaction. (A Muddy Road)

Lester was later kidnapped by Numbers and Wrench and taken to a frozen lake to be killed. However, he was able to escape after attacking Numbers with a taser. He attacked police offer Knudsen in order to be taken away. Unfortunately for him, Numbers and Wrench were soon arrested as well and all three ended up in the same police cell. (Eating the Blame)

Numbers and Wrench torture Lester and extract the name of Sam Hess's killer: Lorne Malvo. Lester was then taken to hospital for the infection in his hand, caused by a stray shotgun pellet when Vern Thurman was shot. (The Six Ungraspables)

Lester later escaped from hospital by disguising himself as the bandaged Mr. Creech. He planted evidence in Chazz's gun safe, such as the hammer used to kill Pearl, and also put a handgun in Gordo's schoolbag. Then he snuck back into hospital, where a smile formed on his face. (Buridan's Ass)

After this evidence was discovered, Lester told the police that Chazz was the real killer of Pearl and Vern, and that he didn't say this before because he was Lester's brother. Lester was then released from custody, and Chazz was arrested. As Lester was being escorted out of the station, he discreetly smiled as Chazz called out to him (most likely enjoying his revenge against Chazz for always outshining him). Afterwards, Lester returned to the Hess residence where he had sex with Gina, promising to work hard to get the life insurance payout but knowing that it was actually canceled for nonpayment. (Who Shaves the Barber?)

Lester later married his coworker Linda Park and together they moved into a new house. He also left Bo Munk Insurance to create his own business, Nygaard Insurance.

2007

Whilst in Las Vegas attending an insurance awards ceremony, Lester spotted Lorne Malvo. (The Heap) He refused to walk away from Malvo, causing Malvo to kill his three companions. However Lester grew scared and assaulted Malvo before running to his hotel room. He and Linda hurriedly left and they flew home to Bemidji, with plans to escape immediately to Acapulco, Mexico. Molly Solverson visited Lester's house to ask him questions about the Las Vegas murders, but he did not give any information.

Lester and Linda quickly made arrangements for their trip to Acapulco, Mexico. They visited Lester's new shop to collect money and passport. Lester feared that Malvo could be inside, and so sent Linda in wearing his orange hooded coat. Lester was shocked when Malvo was inside and shot Linda in the head. (A Fox, A Rabbit, and A Cabbage). Lester immediately went to Lou's Coffee Shop and ordered food and drink for two people, insisting Linda was picking up some items from his shop. He used a pay-phone and disguised his voice to report gunshots.

Lester was later questioned by police about the death. He was released, although was accompanied home by FBI agents Budge and Pepper. After Malvo killed Budge and Pepper, Lester and Malvo had a stand-off in the house, in which Malvo was attacked by a bear trap before escaping.

Lester went on the run. Two weeks later, he was in Glacier National Park, Montana. He was pursued by police on snowmobiles before he went out alone on a thin layer of ice on a frozen lake. He died after the ice cracked and he fell into the water. (Morton's Fork)

Crimes committed by Lester

This is a list of crimes Lester has committed:

Ordered the murder of Sam Hess. (The Crocodile's Dilemma)
Murdered Pearl Nygaard. (The Crocodile's Dilemma)
Assaulted Deputy Knudsen. (Eating the Blame)
Stole Mr. Creech's car. (Buridan's Ass)
Framed Chaz Nygaard for the murders of Pearl and Vern. (Buridan's Ass)

Episode appearances

Season 1

Trivia

Lester bears similarities Jerry Lundegaard, a character from the film of the same name.
- Both are incompetent salesmen. (Jerry tried to sell cars and Lester tried to sell insurance)
- Both suffer from being verbally abused by a family member (Wade in Jerry's case and Pearl in Lester's case)
- Both seek out criminal assistance. (Carl Showalter and Gaear Grimsrud by Jerry and Lorne Malvo by Lester)
- Both are compulsive liars when it comes to staying out of trouble. (Jerry repeatedly claimed that his dealership had no cars stolen off them, and Lester framed his younger brother and told the police he killed his wife)
- Both have a last name ending with "gaard". (Lundegaard and Nygaard)
Lester is the second and last main character to die.
Lester is the last character to die in Season 1.
The only main character Lester never meets is Gus Grimly.
His surname could perhaps be a pun on "N***ard" - an untrustworthy or stingy person.

Season 1 characters
Main	Lorne Malvo • Molly Solverson • Gus Grimly • Lester Nygaard
Recurring	Ben Schmidt • Bill Budge • Bill Oswalt • Bo Munk • Burt Canton • Chaz Nygaard • Don Chumph • Gina Hess • Grady Numbers • Greta Grimly • Ida Thurman • Jemma Stalone • Kitty Nygaard • Knudsen • Linda Park • Lou Solverson • Max Gold • Pearl Nygaard • Stavros Milos • Vern Thurman • Wally Semenchko • Webb Pepper • Wes Wrench
All characters

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+{{TVCharacter
-{{Character
-|name        = Lester Nygaard
+|image = Lester Nygaard.jpeg
-|image       = Lester Nygaard.jpeg
+|name = Lester Nygaard
+|portrayed_by = [[Martin Freeman]]
-|alias       =
+|featured_in = [[Season 1]]
-|occupation  = Life insurance salesman
+|Occupation = Life insurance salesman
-|affiliation = [[Nygaard family]]<br>[[Bo Munk Insurance Shop]] ''(formerly)''<br>[[Nygaard Insurance]]
-|family      = ''[[Pearl Nygaard]]'' - 1st wife<br>''[[Linda Park]]'' - 2nd wife<br>[[Chaz Nygaard]] - Brother<br>[[Kitty Nygaard]] - Sister-in-law<br>[[Gordo Nygaard]] - Nephew
+|Affiliation = [[Nygaard family]]<br>[[Bo Munk Insurance Shop]] ''(formerly)''<br>[[Nygaard Insurance]]
+|Family = ''[[Pearl Nygaard]]'' - First wife<br>''[[Linda Park]]'' - Second wife<br>[[Chaz Nygaard]] - Brother<br>[[Kitty Nygaard]] - Sister-in-law<br>[[Gordo Nygaard]] - Nephew
-|age         = 40 <small>([[The Crocodile's Dilemma]])</small><br>41 <small>([[The Heap]])</small>
+|residence = [[Bemidji, Minnesota]]
-|birthdate   = 1965
+|Age = 40 <small>([[The Crocodile's Dilemma]])</small><br>41 <small>([[The Heap]])</small>
-|deathdate   = February 2007
+|Born = January 1966
-|status      = Deceased
+|Died = 2007
-|fate        = Fell into a frozen lake
+|Status = Deceased
-|firstseen   = [[The Crocodile's Dilemma]]
+|Fate = Froze to death after falling through an icy lake
-|lastseen    = [[Morton's Fork]]
-|portrayer   = [[Martin Freeman]]
+|First seen = [[The Crocodile's Dilemma]]
+|Last seen = [[Morton's Fork]]
-}}
+|Portrayer = [[Martin Freeman]]
-'''Lester Nygaard''' is a life insurance salesman from [[Bemidji, Minnesota]] who is “henpecked by his wife.” His life is changed when a mysterious con artist named [[Lorne Malvo]] comes to town.
+}}'''Lester Nygaard''' was an insurance salesman from [[Bemidji, Minnesota]]. His life is changed when a mysterious contract killer named [[Lorne Malvo]] comes to town.
-==Early life==
-Lester went to high school with [[Sam Hess]] and [[Bill Oswalt]]. He was frequently bullied by Sam. He and his wife got married around 1988.
-==Season 1==
+==Biography==
-==="[[The Crocodile's Dilemma]]"===
+=== Early life ===
-Lester is first seen talking with [[Pearl Nygaard|his wife]] about the loud washing machine in the basement, and in reply is given a long rant from Pearl about how Lester's brother [[Chaz Nygaard|Chaz]] always has better utilities than they do. Lester stops paying attention as he watches the washing machine shake and whir in the basement. At work, he tries to pitch life insurance to an expecting couple, and fails horribly to the point where they leave the building terrified. He is later confronted by his old school bully [[Sam Hess]] and his two sons. The two of them "reminisce" about the times Lester had been tortured by Sam. Sam pretends to punch Lester to get him to freak out again, resulting in Lester flinching and throwing his face into the window of a building. He goes to the hospital to get his nose checked, where he meets [[Lorne Malvo]], who is there due to a head injury. Lester opens up to Lorne about how Sam has always harassed him, to which Lorne replies that he would have killed a man like that. Lester inadvertently asks Lorne to kill Sam, but before he can take back his mistake, he is called to the nurse's office. Lester and Pearl later visit Chaz and his family for dinner, where Chaz shows him his private gun collection. Chaz lets him hold a machine gun, but quickly drops it due to it being too heavy for him. He tries to apologize, but is instead ridiculed for being a weak older brother. It is later implied by Pearl that Lester hit Chaz offscreen. Lester goes to work the next day to find out that Sam has been killed. He confronts Lorne about this, but Lorne tells him he was the one that called for it. Lorne tells him he needs to learn to stand up for himself. Lester takes this advice and applies it to fix the washing machine. The machine breaks, and Pearl nags him for always being a failure. Lester tells her to take it back, but she continued to taunt him. In retaliation, he hits her on the head with a hammer. Realizing what he has just done, he freaks out and continues bashing her head in. He calls Lorne to tell him to come help clean up the crime scene, planning to kill Lorne when he arrives. He instead gets a visit from [[Vern Thurman|Vern]], who quickly puts together what happened. Before Vern can arrest him, Lorne shows up and shoots Vern. Lester follows Lorne into the basement, only to see that Lorne is no longer there and the police have arrived. Lester rams his head into the wall to knock himself out and make it look like he (along with his wife) were victims of a home invasion. He wakes up in the hospital the next morning and notices he has a hand wound from the shotgun shell that ricoheted when it hit Vern.
+Lester was born in 1966, presumably in January. He had a younger brother named [[Chazz Nygaard|Chaz]], and was high school classmates with [[Sam Hess]] and [[Bill Oswalt]]. During a mouse dissection in Mrs. Knudsen's class, Lester fainted. He also fainted when a girl had her period in gym class. ("[[The Rooster Prince]]")
-==="[[The Rooster Prince]]"===
-Lester is seen at Chaz's house attending a service for Pearl. Chaz offers him a spare room to stay in for a few days, which he agrees to. He returns to his house and starts having flashbacks of the night Pearl and Vern died. He then gets a visit from [[Molly Solverson|Molly]] and [[Bill Oswalt|Bill]], who ask him a few questions about what happened. He gives them a very half-hearted story which Bill is satisfied with, and they leave. He packs a few days worth of things and moves into Gordo's bedroom, while [[Gordo Nygaard|Gordo]] sleeps on the couch in the living room. He finds a jar of urine in Gordo's cloest. Later at dinner, Lester tells Chaz he plans to sell the house like he recommended, much to Chaz's surprise. He also decides to join him on the hunting trip this weekend. Later that night, Lester goes to the pharmacy to pick up antibiotics to treat his hand wound. He is approached by Molly, who continues to question him as he tries to leave without picking up his medication. He is followed out to the parking lot, and Lester tells Molly to stop harassing him as he drives away.
+At school, he was frequently bullied by Hess. In one such instance, he was shoved into a barrel and rolled onto a highway. In his senior year, he went to the prom with [[Pearl Nygaard|Pearl]], his future wife. The two married around 1988, when Lester was in his early twenties. ("[[The Crocodile's Dilemma]]")
-==="[[A Muddy Road]]"===
-''To be added''.
-==="[[Eating the Blame]]===
+=== 2006 ===
+By January 2006, Lester's marriage had turned frigid, with Pearl constantly comparing him to his much more successful brother Chaz. Lester had garnered a reputation in town as a meek pushover, and remained a victim of Hess' bullying well into middle-age. During one such encounter with Hess and his sons, Lester inadvertently broke his own nose against a store window.
-''To be added''.
-==="[[The Six Ungraspables]]===
+At the hospital, Lester found himself sitting next to a man named [[Lorne Malvo|Lorne Malvo.]] Lester opened up to Lorne about Sam's harassment, to which Lorne replied that he would have killed a man over such treatment. Lester jokingly asked Lorne to kill Sam.
-''To be added''.
-==="[[Buridan's Ass]]===
+That afternoon, Lester and Pearl visited Chaz to celebrate their nephew [[Gordo Nygaard|Gordo]]'s birthday. While showing him his private gun collection, Chazz tried to bond with Lester but lost his patience after he broke a machine gun Chaz recently bought. Lester tried to apologize, but was instead ridiculed for being a weak older brother. Lester hit Chaz and drove home with Pearl.
-''To be added''.
-==="[[Who Shaves the Barber?]]===
+The next day, Lester learned Sam had been murdered and was tasked with delivering his life insurance money to his family. Lester confronted Lorne about the killing, but was told to stand up for himself more often. Later, when Pearl taunted Lester, he finally snapped and killed her with a hammer. He called Lorne and asked for help cleaning up the murder, but planned to frame Lorne when he arrived.
-''To be added''.
-==="[[The Heap]]===
+[[Vern Thurman]], Bemidji's police chief, arrived at the house before Lorne and discovered Pearl's body in the basement. Before Vern could arrest Lester, Lorne showed up and shot Vern twice with Lester's shotgun. Lester told Lorne where Pearl's body was. Lester followed Lorne into the basement after Deputy [[Molly Solverson]] arrived. Down there, Lester found Lorne is no longer there. Lester, thought quickly and ran his head into the wall to knock himself out and made it look like he and Pearl were victims of a home invasion. He woke up in the hospital the next morning and noticed he had a peculiar hand wound. ([[The Crocodile's Dilemma]])
-''To be added''.
+Lester is seen at Chazz's house attending a service for Pearl. Chazz offers him a spare room to stay in for a few days, which he agrees to. He returns to his house and starts having flashbacks of the night Pearl and Vern died. He then gets a visit from [[Molly Solverson|Molly]] and [[Bill Oswalt|Bill]], who ask him a few questions about what happened. He gives them a very half-hearted story which Bill is satisfied with, and they leave. He packs a few days worth of things and moves into Gordo's bedroom, while [[Gordo Nygaard|Gordo]] sleeps on the couch in the living room. He finds a jar of urine in Gordo's cloest. Later at dinner, Lester tells Chazz he plans to sell the house like he recommended, much to Chazz's surprise. He also decides to join him on the hunting trip this weekend.
+Later that night, Lester goes to the pharmacy to pick up antibiotics to treat his hand wound. He is approached by Molly, who continues to question him as he tries to leave without picking up his medication. He is followed out to the parking lot, and Lester tells Molly to stop harassing him as he drives away. ([[The Rooster Prince]])
+Lester visited Sam Hess's widow [[Gina Hess]] to discuss the payout of life insurance. Gina flirted with Lester, but they stopped when her son [[Mickey Hess|Mickey]] accidentally shot his brother [[Moe Hess|Moe]] with a crossbow.
+Fargo hitmen [[Grady Numbers|Numbers]] and [[Wes Wrench|Wrench]], who were watching Lester at the Hess residence, visited him at his work. They tried to intimidate him and get information, but left when Deputy [[Molly Solverson]] arrived. She pretended to be interested in an insurance plan, but in reality only came to subtlely show Lester a picture of Lorne Malvo. She left after seeing his startled reaction. ([[A Muddy Road]])
+Lester was later kidnapped by Numbers and Wrench and taken to a frozen lake to be killed. However, he was able to escape after attacking Numbers with a taser. He attacked police offer [[Knudsen]] in order to be taken away. Unfortunately for him, Numbers and Wrench were soon arrested as well and all three ended up in the same police cell. ([[Eating the Blame]])
+Numbers and Wrench torture Lester and extract the name of Sam Hess's killer: Lorne Malvo. Lester was then taken to hospital for the infection in his hand, caused by a stray shotgun pellet when Vern Thurman was shot. ([[The Six Ungraspables]])
+Lester later escaped from hospital by disguising himself as the bandaged [[Mr. Creech]]. He planted evidence in Chazz's gun safe, such as the hammer used to kill Pearl, and also put a handgun in Gordo's schoolbag. Then he snuck back into hospital, where a smile formed on his face. ([[Buridan's Ass]])
+After this evidence was discovered, Lester told the police that Chazz was the real killer of Pearl and Vern, and that he didn't say this before because he was Lester's brother. Lester was then released from custody, and Chazz was arrested. As Lester was being escorted out of the station, he discreetly smiled as Chazz called out to him (most likely enjoying his revenge against Chazz for always outshining him). Afterwards, Lester returned to the Hess residence where he had sex with Gina, promising to work hard to get the life insurance payout but knowing that it was actually canceled for nonpayment. ([[Who Shaves the Barber?]])
+Lester later married his coworker [[Linda Park]] and together they moved into [[Lester and Linda's residence|a new house]]. He also left Bo Munk Insurance to create his own business, [[Nygaard Insurance]].
+=== 2007 ===
+Whilst in [[Las Vegas, Nevada|Las Vegas]] attending an insurance awards ceremony, Lester spotted Lorne Malvo. ([[The Heap]]) He refused to walk away from Malvo, causing Malvo to kill his three companions. However Lester grew scared and assaulted Malvo before running to his hotel room. He and Linda hurriedly left and they flew home to Bemidji, with plans to escape immediately to Acapulco, Mexico. [[Molly Solverson]] visited Lester's house to ask him questions about the Las Vegas murders, but he did not give any information.
+Lester and Linda quickly made arrangements for their trip to Acapulco, Mexico. They visited Lester's new shop to collect money and passport. Lester feared that Malvo could be inside, and so sent Linda in wearing his orange hooded coat. Lester was shocked when Malvo was inside and shot Linda in the head. ([[A Fox, A Rabbit, and A Cabbage]]). Lester immediately went to [[Lou's Coffee Shop]] and ordered food and drink for two people, insisting Linda was picking up some items from his shop. He used a pay-phone and disguised his voice to report gunshots.
+Lester was later questioned by police about the death. He was released, although was accompanied home by FBI agents [[Bill Budge|Budge]] and [[Webb Pepper|Pepper]]. After Malvo killed Budge and Pepper, Lester and Malvo had a stand-off in the house, in which Malvo was attacked by a bear trap before escaping.
+Lester went on the run. Two weeks later, he was in Glacier National Park, Montana. He was pursued by police on snowmobiles before he went out alone on a thin layer of ice on a frozen lake. He died after the ice cracked and he fell into the water. ([[Morton's Fork]])
 ==Crimes committed by Lester==
 This is a list of crimes Lester has committed:
 *Ordered the murder of [[Sam Hess]]. <small>([[The Crocodile's Dilemma]])</small>
 *Murdered [[Pearl Nygaard]]. <small>([[The Crocodile's Dilemma]])</small>
-*Assaulted Deputy [[Knutzen]]. <small>([[Eating the Blame]])</small>
+*Assaulted Deputy [[Knudsen]]. <small>([[Eating the Blame]])</small>
 *Stole Mr. Creech's car. <small>([[Buridan's Ass]])</small>
 *Framed [[Chaz Nygaard]] for the murders of Pearl and Vern. <small>([[Buridan's Ass]])</small>
 ==Episode appearances==
 ===[[Season 1]]===
@@ Line 57: / Line 86: @@
 ==Trivia==
 *Lester bears similarities [[Jerry Lundegaard]], a character from the [[Fargo (film)|film]] of the same name.
-**Both are incompetent salesmen.
+**Both are incompetent salesmen. (Jerry tried to sell cars and Lester tried to sell insurance)
-**Both suffer from being verbally abused by a family member.
+**Both suffer from being verbally abused by a family member (Wade in Jerry's case and Pearl in Lester's case)
-**Both seek out criminal assistance.
+**Both seek out criminal assistance. (Carl Showalter and Gaear Grimsrud by Jerry and Lorne Malvo by Lester)
-**Both a compulsive liars when it comes to staying out of trouble.
+**Both are compulsive liars when it comes to staying out of trouble. (Jerry repeatedly claimed that his dealership had no cars stolen off them, and Lester framed his younger brother and told the police he killed his wife)
-**Both have a last name ending with "gaard".
+**Both have a last name ending with "gaard". ('''Lunde'''gaard and '''Ny'''gaard)
-*Lester is the second main character to die.
+*Lester is the second and last main character to die.
 *Lester is the last character to die in [[Season 1]].
+* The only main character Lester never meets is Gus Grimly.
+* His surname could perhaps be a pun on "N***ard" - an untrustworthy or stingy person.
 {{Season1Characters}}
 [[Category:Characters]]
 [[Category:TV series characters]]
-[[Category:Main characters]]
+[[Category:Season 1 main characters]]
 [[Category:Males]]
 [[Category:Criminals]]
-[[Category:Murderers]]
+[[Category:Killers]]
 [[Category:Deceased]]
+[[Category:Residents of Bemidji, Minnesota]]
+{{DEFAULTSORT:Nygaard, Lester}}