S04.E09: East/West

[paigow]

Rabbi and Satchel hit the road.

Airdate: Nov 15 / 20

Edited November 11, 2020 by paigow

[Gimmick Genius]

"The Future is Now" is the motto from THE HUDSUCKER PROXY. (You know -- for kids!)

[Lonesome Rhodes]

Hated the entire sequence in Barton Arms.  Toto, er, Rabbit, was the only good thing in this ep.

How on earth did Calamita get the drop on Loy's guy?  Was the dude Barney Fife, with a single bullet in the chamber, which he had just used on the Fadda guy?

 

[paigow]

How long was the dog in the cabinet? The room was cleaned...nobody heard or smelled anything?

[Gimmick Genius]

Liberal, KS, hosts one side of the International Shrove Tuesday Pancake Race. The other half, which I attended about 15 years ago, is in Olney, Buckinghamshire, England. That race has been run since the 1400s, and the Kansas end since 1950. Housewives of the town race a certain distance carrying (or flipping) a pancake in a skillet. Dignitaries from England come to Kansas and vice-versa. It's quite the event.

Spoiler

Sorry, spoiler tag was a mistake

 

Edited November 16, 2020 by Gimmick Genius
Bogus spoiler

[rur]

18 hours ago, paigow said:

How long was the dog in the cabinet? The room was cleaned...nobody heard or smelled anything?

That kept throwing me off for the rest of the episode. I kept wondering if the dog ever got taken outside.

Edited November 16, 2020 by rur

[thuganomics85]

Well, unless he miraculously survived that tornado, that's it for Rabbi (and Calamita), which basically means that everyone I actually cared about are gone.  At least Ben Whishaw finally got some material to work with, but if this is really it for the character, he was pretty wasted this entire season.  I guess I'm curious to see if we'll actually revisit Satchel and see him officially become Mike, but I'm still pretty disappointed here.

Even then, while I get the concept they were going for this episode, I still mainly found it dull.  At least Rabbit was cool...

Actually glad there are only two episodes left.  I should able to power through those, since I do like to finish what I started.  But the anticipation is definitely not there for me. 

[paigow]

8 hours ago, Gimmick Genius said:

"The Future is Now"

Because nobody was using the term "African American" in 1950

Alternative Theory: Rabbit now contains the soul of Rabbi - the change from B&W to colour marks the transference

Edited November 16, 2020 by paigow

[Blakeston]

Rabbi's fate was sealed the second he left the hotel and left a message for the boy that wasn't "If I don't come back, I'm dead or in jail."

An episode about Rabbi and Satchel was an idea with a lot of potential, but I found this pretty boring. I really wish this series had called it quits after season 2. Seasons 3 and 4 haven't been anywhere near the level of quality of the first two.

[The Wild Sow]

28 minutes ago, Blakeston said:

Rabbi's fate was sealed the second he left the hotel and left a message for the boy that wasn't "If I don't come back, I'm dead or in jail."

True. He wasn’t planning to leave the house, only to go up the kitchen to find Satchel a birthday treat.  

Looks like Satchel’s figured it out though. He has a gun, & I’m pretty sure Rabbi left however much of his bug out $5000 the Catalog brothers didn’t spend.  So he has cash, although he better hide it good! Did they have red ice scrapers in 1950? 😉

Edited November 16, 2020 by The Wild Sow

[Kiddvideo]

I was surprised Rabbi didn't recognize Calamita's car and known to GTFO.

[Crashcourse]

Yet again, I'm confused.  Was that an actual "tornado" or some kind of metaphor?  The hotel was only eight or nine miles away, and that area didn't look like it had any damage, and the "The Future Is Now" sign wasn't damaged.

And why was that guy in the hotel all bandaged up?  How was he injured?

This season has been a painful slog. I'm glad they're only two episodes left. 

[Eulipian 5k]

4 hours ago, paigow said:

Alternative Theory: Rabbit now contains the soul of Rabbi - the change from B&W to colour marks the transference

Didn't that happen with the kitten last season?

[Eulipian 5k]

I understand that adding a "road trip - buddy boy" aspect appealed to the writers but this was so unconnected and uneventful. So much was set up that eventually happened off screen while we saw this dull, slow kid and his mangy dog.

[Blakeston]

2 hours ago, The Wild Sow said:

True. He wasn’t planning to leave the house, only to go up the kitchen to find Satchel a birthday treat.  

Once the woman at the front desk told Rabbi that he'd need to go up the road to find something with sugar, he said, "If the kid comes looking for me, tell him I'll be right back." He sealed his fate right there.

[Eulipian 5k]

So... we get the tornado sweeps up Rabbi(t), (he's not in Kansas anymore!) and then Satchel's life changes from b/w to color. Does Satchel have to click his heels to get home? Or... does he follow the (not so) White Rabbit to Wonderland?

Edited November 16, 2020 by Eulipian 5k
Flatland

[cardigirl]

I liked all the Wizard of Oz references, like the two men name Hunk and Hickory and one of them sold "tin" siding. East and West dividing the house.  And the color came back after the tornado.  I'm sure there are more, but maybe Satchel will find another guide on his way out of Kansas. 

Edited November 16, 2020 by cardigirl

[Eulipian 5k]

Heh, as Satchel watched the nurse with the bandaged old man in the room next door all I could hear was "Get Out!". Don't stir the teacup!

[Eulipian 5k]

3 hours ago, cardigirl said:

one of them sold "tin" siding.

In the old days they were called "Tin Men". Are the "sisters" the Witches of the East and West?

[Gimmick Genius]

I wonder if the receptionist was a Miss Slippers... first name Ruby?

[tennisgurl]

I liked all of the Wizard of Oz shout outs, it had the potential to be interesting, but like a lot of things in this season, it has a lot of good ideas but the execution itself is lacking. I get the Wizard of Oz stuff, but I am not sure what the actual point was. I guess its the idea that Satchel is finally in the place he needs to be when the color all comes back? Does he plan on going home? Was this really the end for Rabbi? I hope not, because he is the character I like the most this season, but getting sucked up by a tornado does not normally end well, unless he really did get sucked into the land of Oz. So now we are just closing up the season with people I don't really like, and people I don't really know much about, which doesn't exactly exactly make me excited to keep watching. But, like I said, there are still some good ideas being thrown around, and I do want to see what happens to Satchel and if this whole show really is the origin story of Mike Milligan. Rabbit is a very good boy. 

When the twist arrived, I did wonder for a minute if it would be filled with fish. 

I actually thought the Goldilocks story worked better metaphorically than the Oz references when it came to Rabbi. He went from bed to bed and house to house as a hostage as a child, three in fact (Irish Mob, Jewish Mob Italian Mob) and when he thought the third one was right, he still had to make a run for it and was left without a bed or food anymore. Satchel did certainly remember what Rabbi always said, that if he didn't come back he was dead or in jail. 

Edited November 16, 2020 by tennisgurl

[Crashcourse]

Just color me dumb--I don't mind--because I didn't even get the Wizard of Oz reference.  If that's what it was, I found it to be totally unnecessary.

[shapeshifter]

I really liked this episode. 
I wonder if the season would've worked better if this was the first episode and the rest was flashback until we got to the penultimate and finale episodes.

 

9 hours ago, paigow said:

Alternative Theory: Rabbit now contains the soul of Rabbi - the change from B&W to colour marks the transference

Sounds right.

 

5 hours ago, Crashcourse said:

Yet again, I'm confused.  Was that an actual "tornado" or some kind of metaphor?  The hotel was only eight or nine miles away, and that area didn't look like it had any damage, and the "The Future Is Now" sign wasn't damaged.

That's pretty realistic for tornadoes. One passed by here a couple of days ago.

 

5 hours ago, Crashcourse said:

And why was that guy in the hotel all bandaged up?  How was he injured?

Given the date of 1950, it looked like radiation poisoning (rather than mustard gas) which could be from something like: https://www.kansas.com/news/local/article49479255.html or maybe some misguided medical "treatment."

 

[The Wild Sow]

27 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

Given the date of 1950, it looked like radiation poisoning (rather than mustard gas) which could be from something like: https://www.kansas.com/news/local/article49479255.html or maybe some misguided medical "treatment."

Oh, they used to use radiation for all kinds of things!  Our Mom was a teenager in the 1930s, and had radiation therapy for acne!  I had a patient who had radiation treatments as a child, for ringworm (so did his twin brother.) A lot of people who had these treatments in the 30s and 40s developed thyroid cancer later in life (Mom was fortunate; she lost her thyroid to a tumor, but it was benign.)

I'm just barely old enough to remember when every shoe store had a fluoroscope - an Xray machine that was considered the best scientific method for measuring your feet.  You stuck your foot in the opening and looked through a window at the top, to see your bones.  You were supposed to wiggle your toes so your parents/the shoe salesman could see how much room you had.  This was commonplace from the 1920s till around the early 60s.   Yes, after the discovery of radiation, people were pretty fascinated by it, and had no idea how dangerous it is.  All sorts of things contained radioactive material - glass, ceramics, clocks & watches that glowed in the dark.  Our Dad had a radium-dial alarm clock - I think it glowed a bluish-green.

We know better now!

[paigow]

2 minutes ago, The Wild Sow said:

Our Mom was a teenager in the 1930s, and had radiation therapy for acne!  

Did she go to a legit clinic or a creepy-ass, racist Bed & Breakfast in the middle of nowhere?

[AimingforYoko]

7 hours ago, Crashcourse said:

The hotel was only eight or nine miles away, and that area didn't look like it had any damage, and the "The Future Is Now" sign wasn't damaged.

There's been tornadoes where one side of a street had houses completely destroyed and the other side was untouched. Tornadoes are very localized. 

Hawley's good for one of these 'off the beaten path' episodes every season. I liked The Wizard of Oz allegory. Gonna miss Ben Whishaw, though.

[shapeshifter]

2 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

actually thought the Goldilocks story worked better metaphorically than the Oz references when it came to Rabbi. He went from bed to bed and house to house as a hostage as a child, three in fact (Irish Mob, Jewish Mob Italian Mob) and when he thought the third one was right, he still had to make a run for it and was left without a bed or food anymore

From the beginning of the episode: https://photos.app.goo.gl/HzexbEDLPHYRzx1e8

 

[tearsandhysteria]

I couldn't even finish this episode and I really tried. 

[Crashcourse]

20 minutes ago, andreamf15 said:

I couldn't even finish this episode and I really tried. 

Yeah, I hear you.  I stuck it out but it was so boring.

[madmax]

I totally missed the Wizard of Oz references.

I wanted so much more for Rabbi and Satchel.  This...wasn't it.

[Crashcourse]

I'm glad I wasn't the only one who missed the Wizard of Oz references.

[Gimmick Genius]

When the receptionist was quizzing Rabbi and Satchel to see if they were East or West (Plymouth Rock or Sutter's Mill? Etc.) I thought one of the choices was "McCarthy or Eisenhauer?" and I thought it meant the Army-McCarthy Hearings. But it's too early in the decade for that. I realize she must have said or meant "MacARTHUR (commander of the war in the Pacific; East) or Eisenhauer (war in Europe; West).

Rabbi heard a few minutes of anti-communist diatribe before he turned off the radio. Was that Senator Joe McCarthy or Father Charles Coughlin?

[LittleIggy]

9 hours ago, cardigirl said:

I liked all the Wizard of Oz references, like the two men name Hunk and Hickory and one of them sold "tin" siding. East and West dividing the house.  And the color came back after the tornado.  I'm sure there are more, but maybe Satchel will find another guide on his way out of Kansas. 

Don’t forget Em and Henry!

I found the episode interesting in all its bizarreness, but it didn’t advance the story at all. I hate that Ben Whishaw is gone. ☹️

Edited November 17, 2020 by LittleIggy

[The Wild Sow]

2 hours ago, Gimmick Genius said:

When the receptionist was quizzing Rabbi and Satchel to see if they were East or West (Plymouth Rock or Sutter's Mill? Etc.) I thought one of the choices was "McCarthy or Eisenhauer?" and I thought it meant the Army-McCarthy Hearings. But it's too early in the decade for that. I realize she must have said or meant "MacARTHUR (commander of the war in the Pacific; East) or Eisenhauer (war in Europe; West).

Rabbi heard a few minutes of anti-communist diatribe before he turned off the radio. Was that Senator Joe McCarthy or Father Charles Coughlin?

I think it was Joe McCarthy.  I also thought the receptionist said "McCarthy" but could have been MacArthur!

Quote

Our Mom was a teenager in the 1930s, and had radiation therapy for acne!  

Did she go to a legit clinic or a creepy-ass, racist Bed & Breakfast in the middle of nowhere?

Presumably somewhere in St. Louis, as it was her home! I expect most hotels in the 50's - the decade I was born -  were racist.  Watch Green Book.

Did we catch that the Bandaged Man is Ira Amyx, aka Owney "Yiddles" Milligan?! 

[Cherpumple]

On 11/16/2020 at 12:31 AM, Lonesome Rhodes said:

How on earth did Calamita get the drop on Loy's guy?

I was so confused by the timing and geography of this episode, even after watching some bits twice. I remember Calamita finding an ad for the feed store in Liberal, Kansas in the book by Milligan's bed, which obviously put him on the right track after Milligan, but I have no recollection of when/how Loy's guy started his pursuit, and how he knew which way to go or anything about the feed store. [Edited to remove my incorrect ramblings.]

12 hours ago, The Wild Sow said:

Did we catch that the Bandaged Man is Ira Amyx, aka Owney "Yiddles" Milligan?!

Whaaaat? Is that Rabbi's dad? I don't remember what happened to him in the first episode. I need to go back and check this out.

Edited November 17, 2020 by Cherpumple

[The Wild Sow]

3 hours ago, Cherpumple said:

However, when Loy's guy pulled into the gas station, he already had the dude from the ex-feed store in his trunk (at least, I think this was the same guy - correct me if I'm wrong)

That was Aldo, one of the Fadda minions.  Not a feed store guy.  

[BC4ME]

6 hours ago, Cherpumple said:

Whaaaat? Is that Rabbi's dad? I don't remember what happened to him in the first episode. I need to go back and check this out.

Didn't Rabbi kill his own dad when he was still basically a kid? 

[paigow]

1 hour ago, BC4ME said:

Didn't Rabbi kill his own dad when he was still basically a kid? 

Yes. No way the old man walks away from a non-peaceful transition of power...

[khyber]

14 hours ago, Gimmick Genius said:

Rabbi heard a few minutes of anti-communist diatribe before he turned off the radio. Was that Senator Joe McCarthy or Father Charles Coughlin?

McCarthy. He said "here in my hand I have a list"

[SoMuchTV]

So is everyone convinced Rabbi's dead?  I mean he was shot and picked up in a tornado, but...  I was half expecting the tornado to drop him off back at the billboard.

[Cherpumple]

6 hours ago, The Wild Sow said:

That was Aldo, one of the Fadda minions.  Not a feed store guy.  

Thanks! That makes much more sense, and really shows how difficult it is for me to tell the minor characters apart this season. I went back and watched a few scenes leading up to this, and I still don't know how Loy's guy got ahead of Calamita, but I guess it doesn't matter.

3 hours ago, BC4ME said:

Didn't Rabbi kill his own dad when he was still basically a kid?

Yes, Papa Fadda made him shoot Owney (his dad) after the Italians stormed the Irish mob's hangout. I mean, *technically* we only see a close-up of the gun and then Rabbi's face when it goes off, so it's possible Owney survived, but I highly doubt it. If it's the same actor as the creepy man wrapped in bandages at the Barton Arms, I don't think it's meant to be the same character. I doubt we'll see that place again, but who knows.

Also, when I went back to re-watch the opening sequence in episode 1, I was reminded that Owney forced Rabbi to kill the Jewish boy he had been swapped with. His justification was that this Jewish boy was Rabbi's "Goldilocks," eating his food and sleeping in his bed, and now Rabbi needed to act like a bear and take back what was his. Cool callback from this episode.

I also heard the radio report in Rabbi's car about a shoot out in a slaughterhouse in Kansas City "yesterday." I'm losing track of time in this season, so I wonder if we'll see this shoot out next time, since I think the other one (by the two women) was longer ago.

On another note, I loved Rabbi yelling at the billboard man. We all get irrationally angry at things when we're frustrated, and it was funny to see him get so fixated on it. 

[Crashcourse]

I wouldn't be sad at all if this was the last of the Fargo series.  They've gone overboard with all of the quirky characters and quirky names and it's just become hard to keep up with all of the "plots."  I'm tired of trying to figure shit out.

[apollonia666]

I thought the Barton Arms had to be a reference to Barton Fink, so I did some Googling and it turns out it was also the name of an apartment building in Miller's Crossing. And while it looked completely different and was from a different time period, the creepy atmosphere and weird guests reminded me of the hotel in Barton Fink for sure.

This episode was a baffling slog, but that tornado scene! Wow.

[cpcathy]

Yes, slog, for sure. Funny, I didn't think not having Josto in an episode would feel so strange, but he really does bring the only humor this season has. I'm not sure where everything will lead, and I still enjoy most of Fargo--the cinematography and the colors alone are beautiful--but the episodes go nowhere. Not even a tornado is shocking and leading up to something you can't wait to see.

Is there no episode next week?

[cpcathy]

Oh, whoops, there is—I was looking at the wrong date!

[Cotypubby]

And that episode has solidified my decision to not bother watching any other seasons of this show. I’ll stay til the end of this one just because I want to see what happens with Jack Huston’s character, but I am so over Noah Hawley’s “weird for weird’s sake” type writing. I bailed after season 2 of Legion for the same reason. 

[Suzysite]

I also went back and watched episode 1 to see if Rabbi actually killed his father in light of the reveal that the bandaged man was Owney Milligan.   It showed young Rabbi aiming the gun and firing but then it cut away before we saw the damage.   Owney was already pretty shot up, but he was still talking, so who knows.  I guess he was just Mostly Dead.

[shapeshifter]

On 11/16/2020 at 1:08 AM, thuganomics85 said:

Well, unless he miraculously survived that tornado, that's it for Rabbi

Rabbi was sucked up into the tornado with his injured arm first, right? It seemed odd and obvious in a Chekhovian manner. 
Maybe Rabbi will land next to that Future is Now billboard with the bullet having been sucked out of his arm.

Am I the only one who suspected it was not Satchel's birthday and that he just made that up so he could keep the dog? (I reared 3 kids.)

[Razzberry]

I hope we haven't seen the last of Rabbi.  It is possible to survive a tornado.  My dad was 3 when he was sucked up by this one and found wandering miles away. His baby sister was killed, his mother seriously injured, and they say my dad stopped speaking for two years.  They do kind of jump around, as most of their neighbors were okay and helped them rebuild a house.

[FoundTime]

6 hours ago, Cotypubby said:

And that episode has solidified my decision to not bother watching any other seasons of this show. I’ll stay til the end of this one just because I want to see what happens with Jack Huston’s character, but I am so over Noah Hawley’s “weird for weird’s sake” type writing. I bailed after season 2 of Legion for the same reason. 

Oh, you must watch season 1. It's one of the best seasons of any of the shows in TV's New Golden Age. I did teach a class on it, though, so I might be biased 😉

Legion is an entirely different matter. I never had any idea what the hell was going on in that show, but it was so visually creative, I couldn't take my eyes off it. Plus, Aubrey Plaza and Jean Smart FTW.