Waiting for Dutch | |
Season 2, Episode 1 | |
Episode Information | |
Air Date: |
October 12, 2015 |
Viewers: |
1.59 million |
Written by: | |
Directed by: |
Michael Uppendahl |
Episode Chronology | |
Previous Episode: | |
Next Episode: | |
Crew • Gallery • Transcript | |
Waiting for Dutch is the first episode of Season 2 of Fargo, as well as the eleventh episode overall. It premiered on October 12, 2015.
Description
An unexpected turn of events at a diner disrupts the lives of the citizens in a small Minnesota town.
Plot
In 1979, while filming the aftermath of a vicious battle scene for the film Massacre at Sioux Falls, an Indigenous actor stops the take to ask where presidential candidate Ronald Reagan, starring in a cameo, is. The assistant director tells him that Reagan is getting fake arrows stuck in his body for the scene, and the two discuss their views of Reagan and the fact that they are filming on the field where the real massacre happened. As they share a smoke, a soldier in the background asks for a blanket, as he is cold.
While President Jimmy Carter gives his "crisis of confidence" speech, mobster Dodd Gerhardt and his henchman, Hanzee Dent, meet with younger brother Rye in Fargo to confront him over his failure to deliver collection money. Rye, having spent it all on himself, complains about being no better than a henchman despite being part of the family. Dodd ignores him and orders him to get the money. Dodd returns to the Gerhardt ranch to meet with his father and mother, Otto and Floyd, and brother Bear over the family crime syndicate's lost profits. Bear identifies the problem as rivals from the South trying to move in on the Gerhardt's territory, which Dodd insists he is taking care of. Furious, Otto works himself up into having a stroke.
Meeting with a debtor, typewriter salesman Skip Sprang, Rye is curious about his idea for the electric typewriter, wanting to invest and get a share of the profits. Sprang asks Rye to convince a local judge, Irma Mundt, to unfreeze Skip's accounts. Rye tracks her down to a Luverne Waffle Hut and tries to intimidate her, but she laughs him off, comparing herself to the biblical figure Job, a reference Rye does not understand. When Rye refuses to leave, she sprays him with bug killer, enraging him to the point of shooting her. He shoots the diner's cook and waitress before Mundt, barely alive, stabs him in the back, and he shoots her dead. As he steals money from the register to make it look like a robbery, the waitress, still alive, stumbles out into the snow, and Rye kills her. From the woods across from the hut, Rye sees a mass of green and yellow lights. Mystified, he stands in the middle of the road and stares at them as they fly away, before being hit by a car. The car drives away with him smashed through the windshield.
Minnesota State trooper Lou Solverson reads a bedtime story to his daughter Molly when he gets a call from his boss, asking him to check out the homicide at the Waffle Hut. Met by his father-in-law, local sheriff Hank Larsson, the two theorize about the murder based off of Rye's abandoned car and the victims. They discuss the condition of Lou's wife, Betsy, as they walk outside, noting the skid marks from the car and Rye's shoe in a tree. Lou gets a drink with conspiracy theorist lawyer Karl Weathers and mechanic Sonny Greer to talk about the case, which Karl equates to a conspiracy theory regarding the assassination of John F. Kennedy. As Lou leaves to pick up Betsy from chemotherapy, Karl wishes her well and affirms she can beat her cancer.
Butcher's assistant Ed Blumquist takes some chops from work home to his wife, salon worker Peggy. She excitedly tells him over dinner about a "Lifespring" seminar, which is supposed to help her actualize herself. Ed, not understanding what she means, reminds her of his dream of owning the butcher shop and having kids with her, something she is clearly uninterested in. A loud noise comes from the garage, and Ed finds their car splattered with blood, and a hole in the windshield. Peggy claims she hit a deer, but Ed finds a disoriented Rye stumbling around in the back. Rye attacks him with a knife, but Ed easily kills Rye with a pair of gardening shears. Peggy convinces Ed to cover up the murder, and they dump his body in a freezer to be disposed of later.
In bed together, Lou and Betsy wish each other good night with the phrases "Good night, Mr. Solverson," and "Good night, Mrs. Solverson. And all the ships at sea."
The Kansas City Mafia holds a meeting to discuss their "northern expansion strategy," which involves, as explained by Joe Bulo, the absorption of the Gerhardts. When boss Hamish Broker asks what will happen if the Gerhardts resist, Bulo simply replies "we liquidate." Broker approves Bulo's plan.
Cast
Main cast
- Kirsten Dunst as Peggy Blumquist
- Patrick Wilson as Lou Solverson
- Jesse Plemons as Ed Blumquist
- Jean Smart as Floyd Gerhardt
- Ted Danson as Hank Larsson
Recurring cast
- Cristin Milioti as Betsy Solverson
- Jeffery Donovan as Dodd Gerhardt
- Bokeem Woodbine as Mike Milligan
- Brad Garrett as Joe Bulo
- Mike Bradecich as Skip Sprang
- Nick Offerman as Karl Weathers
- Kieran Culkin as Rye Gerhardt
- Ann Cusack as Irma Mundt
- Michael Hogan as Otto Gerhardt
- Zahn McClarnon as Hanzee Dent
- Angus Sampson as Bear Gerhardt
Co-starring
- Adam Arkin as Hamish Broker
- Raven Stewart as Molly Solverson
- Eric Keenlyside as Bud Jorgenlen
- Emily Haine as Noreen Vanderslice
- Lara Zaluski as Waitress
- Dwight Layne as Fry Cook
- Daniel Beirne as Sonny Greer
- Anthony Ulc as Clyde Butterworth
- Gregory Odjig as Running Bear
- Jonas Chernick as Syd Schwartz
- Marty Hanenberg as Dad
- Area Murdoch as Mom
- Wilma Pelly as Native American House Keeper
- Karl Sine as Trucker
- Kara Francisco as Brenda
- Chandler Kerr as Corpse
- Christopher Heatherington as Bjorn Gruffenson
- Louie Loutis as Spanish American War Vet
- Brad Mann as Gale Kitchen
- Todd Mann as Wayne Kitchen
Deaths
Trivia
- First appearance of Betsy Solverson.
- First appearance of Hank Larsson.
- First appearance of Peggy Blumquist.
- First appearance of Ed Blumquist.
- First appearance of Floyd Gerhardt.
- First appearance of Otto Gerhardt.
- First appearance of Dodd Gerhardt.
- First appearance of Bear Gerhardt.
- First appearance of Rye Gerhardt.
- First appearance of Hanzee Dent.
- First appearance of Mike Milligan.
- First appearance of Gale Kitchen.
- First appearance of Wayne Kitchen.
- First appearance of Joe Bulo.
- First appearance of Karl Weathers.
- First appearance of Sonny Greer.
- First appearance of Skip Sprang.
- First appearance of Noreen Vanderslice.
- First (and last) appearance of Irma Mundt.
Season 2 episodes | ||
---|---|---|
01. "Waiting for Dutch" |
06. "Rhinoceros" |