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S02.E09: The Castle


ElectricBoogaloo
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Does anyone think there will be some confusion about the motel?  When Mike asked Ed for the name, Ed sort of hesitated and then gave a vague location and said "Motor Motel, two stories".  That's a stupid name for a motel.  Ed didn't seem sure of the name, which makes sense -- he's not a traveler.

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Peggy and Ed agree to follow through with their plan at the Motor Motel, Lou faces jurisdictional politics and Hanzee reports back to the Gerhardts.

 

Based on what we know now...

 

1. Peggy and Ed agree to follow through with their plan at the Motor Motel: Their plan was to trade Dodd for security, so either they try to trade Dodd's corpse instead of Dodd, or they come up with a new plan. This presupposes that they somehow evade Hank and Lou, who have them dead to rights at the end of 2x08. It will be interesting to see how they manage that.

2. Lou faces jurisdictional politics: I'm guessing Lou finds out about the Motor Motel trade somehow, but the local cops refuse to listen to him and roll in with a ton of men, fanning the flames.

3. Hanzee reports back to the Gerhardts: I'm assuming Hanzee will blame Dodd's death on the Blomquists and sic the Gerhardts on them to cover his tracks. Thus his "I know where Dodd is" phone call from 2x07.

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Based on what we know now...

 

1. Peggy and Ed agree to follow through with their plan at the Motor Motel: Their plan was to trade Dodd for security, so either they try to trade Dodd's corpse instead of Dodd, or they come up with a new plan. This presupposes that they somehow evade Hank and Lou, who have them dead to rights at the end of 2x08. It will be interesting to see how they manage that.

2. Lou faces jurisdictional politics: I'm guessing Lou finds out about the Motor Motel trade somehow, but the local cops refuse to listen to him and roll in with a ton of men, fanning the flames.

3. Hanzee reports back to the Gerhardts: I'm assuming Hanzee will blame Dodd's death on the Blomquists and sic the Gerhardts on them to cover his tracks. Thus his "I know where Dodd is" phone call from 2x07.

At this point I am guessing Hank and Lou's primary goal is to stop the blood bath/mob war, so it wouldn't surprise me if they either enlist Ed and Peggy to act as decoys, or they just decide to follow them from a distance--simlar to when Hank told Lou to not bother chasing Ed the first time. I wonder if Hank regrets that now or not.
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Promo Summary:

 

1. Heavyset male cop surveying a bound Ed and Peggy in the cabin: "So this is what all the fuss is about." Female cop answers "Yes, sir."

2. Four cops, Schmidt, Terry Kinney's character, and Hank looking at Ed and Peggy. Heavyset male cop, to Ed and Peggy: "You don't look like much."

3. Mike standing by the side of the road next to his car, in an awesome coat. A sign reading "South Dakota" is nearby.

4. Mike in a phone booth, wearing the same clothes: "I'm on my way to collect the eldest Gerhardt male."

5. Mike's car heading down the highway.

6. Ed, bound in the cabin, speaking to the cops: "The meeting's set at 8:00 a.m." "Where?" "Sioux Falls."

7. Ed being marched into a hotel by a cop.

8. Floyd, on the phone with Hanzee: "I'll handle this myself." Hanzee responds "Yes, ma'am."

9. Lou seeing Floyd and Bear drive by in a truck.

10. Schmidt in the woods, to Hank: "You know they'll send, like, an army."

11. Bear and his goons walking menacingly through a hotel parking lot at night.

12. Hanzee driving.

13. Hank on a hotel (?) bed in a white T-shirt, staring at the ceiling.

14. Floyd surveying the same hotel parking lot where Bear's goons are moving in.

15. MIke holding out a gun in the back seat of a moving car.

16. Lou busting in on...a hotel room full of cops in T-shirts playing cards and drinking beer.

17. Officer Terry Kinney on the radio with Lou, in a car with Hank and Schmidt: "They're going to find out a thing on this one about what a Dakota man can do (...) Take a seat on the bench!"

 

Sneak Peek:

 

Lou walks into the cabin over to where Ed and Peggy are bound, surrounded by police officers. He tells them with some urgency that they will be offered a deal, and that they should refuse it, ask for a lawyer, and ask to be taken into custody. He says that he's responsible for Ed and Peggy. Peggy responds angrily that he's half the reason they're in this mess. The senior male cop attempts to silence Lou as he tells Ed and Peggy that they're not "ready for this." He talks about how serious the situation is and says that he can't just leave them behind. The senior male cop sneers at Lou to pack his shit and get out. Lou does, telling Ed and Peggy that their luck will run out, with a parting shot to the senior male cop that "This is on you!"

 

So based on the description and what we see in the promo, some speculation about the sequence of events:

-Ed and Peggy spill about the meetup with Mike at the Motor Motel.

-The senior male cop sends Lou packing. Before he goes, he urges Peggy and Ed to refuse any deals and ask to be taken into custody (for their own protection). Lou warns them that their luck will run out.

-Hanzee, having escaped and still alive, tracks Ed and Peggy to the hotel, and tells Floyd about Ed and Peggy's location (blaming Ed and Peggy for Dodd's untimely death). Hanzee offers to take Ed and Peggy out for Floyd, and Floyd says that she'll take care of it herself.

-Booted out by the senior male cop, Lou attempts to armchair quarterback, but is shut down by Officer Terry Kinney.

-MIke drives down to Sioux Falls, making a call to his boss to announce his intention of getting Dodd.

-Floyd heads down to Sioux Falls with Bear and a small army in tow.

-Ed is manhandled into a hotel by the cop.

-Night falls.

-The cops hole up in a hotel en masse. Hank is with them.

-Lou either disobeys the order to go back to Luverne or initiall obeys it and changes his mind.

-Lou sees Floyd and Bear drive by in a truck and realizes that holy shit, the Gerhardts are in Sioux Falls, too!!! (Alternatively, he sees Floyd and Bear and realizes that the Gerhardts are rolling out)

-the Gerhardts roll out in the hotel parking lot, ready for murder.

-Lou busts in to alert the cops to warn them about the Gerhardts, finding them out of uniform, drunk, and completely unprepared.

-Massacre of Sioux Falls ensues.

-Ed and Peggy escape somehow when the cops charged with securing them are murdered or are called away to deal with the massacre.

Edited by Eyes High
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I enjoy these speculations. The promo goes so quickly I had to watch it twice and still got nothing!

 

There are I think several scenes that all take place at the same location: a motel (the Motor Motel, I'm guessing), which in the promo has a brick facade, two levels, and distinctive turquoise doors. There is also one of those streamer things in some of the nighttime shots (plastic bits of different colour on a line, of the type you see in car dealer lots, with lights strung on it). Here are the scenes that I think take place at the motel:

 

1. Ed, held by a state trooper, is being moved into a room. He's being led up the stairs (the motel has two floors), and there's a turquoise door behind him. The lighting suggests that this is in the late afternoon or early evening.

2. Bear and his goons moving through a parking lot at night, with the streamer thingy overhead.

3. There's a shot of the hotel at night with a bunch of what I assume are Gerhardt goons moving in. The back of Floyd's head is in the foreground of the shot. You know it's the same shot as #2 because the streamer thingy is overhead in this shot as well.

4. Lou bursting into a hotel room with cops (state troopers?) out of uniform, drinking, and playing cards. This may or may not be at the same motel. They're definitely in a hotel room (you can tell by the paper stuck on the back of the door), but I don't know where they are. We know that Lou gets booted off the case at the cabin, and it also appears from the promo that he sees Floyd and Bear in their truck, but we don't know where he sees them.

 

I think the episode will involve Lou playing Cassandra. He will warn the South Dakota state troopers that they're out of their depth and that they are completely unprepared for the shootout brewing, and I'm guessing they won't take kindly to his efforts and will resent his attempts to advise them; the sneak peek suggests that the male state trooper gives Lou the heave-ho (since he's not a state trooper for South Dakota), and the promo also shows Officer Kinney telling him to take a seat on the bench. Lou also warns Ed and Peggy that they should be in custody for their own protection and that their luck will run out. All of that suggests to me that 1) Lou's advice being ignored will contribute somehow to the Massacre and that 2) Ed and Peggy's luck will indeed run out.

 

Lou's promise that Ed and Peggy's luck will run out seemed to me a strong hint that they won't survive the season. I have no spoilers to base that on, it's just a feeling.

Edited by Eyes High
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The preview to E-9 about "...what a Dakota man can do..." [to Lou] juxtaposed with the [fake] movie scene from E-1, which showed lots of dead soldiers (unusual since most of the massacres were of dead natives, and very few dead soldiers) suggest that indeed the Dakota cops (troopers whatever) will be mowed down like grass.

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On the off-chance that the episode title refers to Kafka's novel of the same name, here's what Wiki says about the book:

 

The Castle is often understood to be about alienation, unresponsive bureaucracy, the frustration of trying to conduct business with non-transparent, seemingly arbitrary controlling systems, and the futile pursuit of an unobtainable goal.

 

(Bolding mine.)

 

Seems like a theme through this entire season. 

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1. Peggy and Ed agree to follow through with their plan at the Motor Motel: Their plan was to trade Dodd for security, so either they try to trade Dodd's corpse instead of Dodd, or they come up with a new plan.

 

So "Weekend at Dodd's"? Yeah, that sounds exactly like something Peggy would come up with.

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So "Weekend at Dodd's"? Yeah, that sounds exactly like something Peggy would come up with.

 

Unfortunately, I hadn't seen the promo when I wrote that. It seems as if Ed and Peggy "agree" because it's a term of whatever deal the South Dakota cops offer Ed and Peggy (since Lou warned them that the South Dakota cops would try to make a deal with them, and poor Lou's job in this season appears to be to give people good advice that they refuse to take or to issue dire, accurate warnings that are ignored). I'm guessing they'll be offered an opportunity for a reduced punishment by acting as bait for Mike Milligan, as opposed to insisting on being put in custody as Lou recommends. I doubt they escape until after the massacre takes place, since they probably escape in the confusion.

 

The 2x10 episode description says that Ed and Peggy make a break for it, which is consistent with them taking advantage of the Sioux Falls massacre to escape from the police.

 

...But yeah, it sure sounds like something Peggy would try to do.

 

The 2x09 promo photos are out. There's not much of interest except that there's a picture of Hanzee with Bear and Floyd from the same night time scene where the Gerhardt goons appear to be descending on the Motor Motel. I guess Hanzee is going back to the Gerhardts because he thinks he can cover his Dodd-murdering tracks by having Ed and Peggy killed and that the Gerhardts can protect him from the police.

Edited by Eyes High
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While the previews don't look too promising for Ed and Peggy to get out of this free and unharmed, and Lou's wise advice seems worth heeding, I somehow do not think harm will come to them. Possibly an ambiguous escape into the night, with us not knowing the outcome. It doesn't ring true for Hanzee to tuck tail and go back to being a pawn for the remaining Gerhardt's. Somehow I suspect he may slip away unscathed in the confusion of the massacre. Maybe it is me projecting what I want to happen. The best "bad guys" are ones that have qualities that make you like and root for them, and while Hanzee isn't really likeable, he does have a sadness about him that inspires empathy. If memory serves, aren't we nearing Lou's last days as a cop- didn't he retire on disability after being injured in the massacre? Don't recall any mentions of Hank in season one?!

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While the previews don't look too promising for Ed and Peggy to get out of this free and unharmed, and Lou's wise advice seems worth heeding, I somehow do not think harm will come to them. Possibly an ambiguous escape into the night, with us not knowing the outcome. It doesn't ring true for Hanzee to tuck tail and go back to being a pawn for the remaining Gerhardt's. Somehow I suspect he may slip away unscathed in the confusion of the massacre. Maybe it is me projecting what I want to happen. The best "bad guys" are ones that have qualities that make you like and root for them, and while Hanzee isn't really likeable, he does have a sadness about him that inspires empathy. If memory serves, aren't we nearing Lou's last days as a cop- didn't he retire on disability after being injured in the massacre? Don't recall any mentions of Hank in season one?!

 

1. Ed and Peggy: I really do want Ed and Peggy to survive the season. There's something so touchingly pathetic about them. They are not particularly ambitious, and they are not greedy. Ed just wants to run his butcher shop, protect Peggy, and have a normal life. Peggy just wants to "actualize," but she's mentally ill and isn't able to see any other way out of being trapped in a domestic life she doesn't want other than using Rye. And for all their flaws, they love each other very much (I never doubted Ed, but Peggy was a bit of a question mark until she panicked when Ed was hanged) and they aren't evil or even malicious people. With all that said, I just don't think it will be possible. Even though they lack Lester's cruelty, malice, and willingness to throw innocent people under the bus, they are the "Lesters" of the season and the piper will have to be paid.

2. Hanzee: I agree that it doesn't make a lot of sense, unless you consider that Hanzee is now wanted for murder. Maybe he believes that the Gerhardts can protect him from law enforcement. Also, it seems likely that for all of Hanzee's hatred of Dodd, the Gerhardts are the closest thing he has to a family.

3. Lou: I believe Lou's injury was unrelated and occurred during a traffic stop or something of that nature. Molly remembers in Season 1 being pulled out of her algebra class when the injury happened, which suggests that she was in high school when it happens. Molly was 31 (turning 32) over Season 1 of Fargo, which was set in 2006, so in 1979 Molly would have been about four years old. Assuming she took algebra class when she was 14 or so (I don't think they teach it in middle school), Lou would have been injured no earlier than 1989.

4. Hank: Hank's not around in Season 1, but if Hank is Ted Danson's age (67) in 1979, he would be 94 in 2006, which is pretty old (especially for a man). It's not unrealistic that he would have died of natural causes long before 2006 rolls around. Also, I doubt Lou would have been as cool and calm in the retelling of the Sioux Falls Massacre to Malvo in Season 1 if he had lost a family member in the massacre, much less the father of his wife and the grandfather of his child. It didn't sound as if Lou had lost anyone he cared about in the massacre.

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On the off-chance that the episode title refers to Kafka's novel of the same name, here's what Wiki says about the book:

 

The Castle is often understood to be about alienation, unresponsive bureaucracy, the frustration of trying to conduct business with non-transparent, seemingly arbitrary controlling systems, and the futile pursuit of an unobtainable goal.

 

I assume it is a reference to Kafka, since all the titles this year seem to refer to artistic or philosophical works, but I suspect it's also a callback to the line from episode 2: "The word WE is a castle, hon, with a moat and a drawbridge." Seems like it would be in keeping with both of those sources if the episode is about the characters chafing under the demands of their interpersonal relationships.

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WTF, Hawley?!? Well, they paid off the "Massacre in Sioux Falls" and the UFO imagery. Wow.

And look Hawley, I know you're busy plotting out Season 3 and all that, but at some point you have to put out that True Crime in the Mid-West book. And that was definitely Martin Freeman as the narrator, right?

Nothing much funny about this ep with one notable exception ("C'mon hon, it's just a flying saucer"), just anger at the South Dakota asshat's incompetence and the building tension of the Gerhardt ambush. Not to mention the heartbreak of Betsy and Hank.

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Noooo, Betsy!

 

I love Hank's respect for Ed and Peggy managing to stay alive and Peggy stabbing Hanzee.

 

"It's just a flying saucer, Ed." Explains a lot about Peggy.

 

"Okay, then." Good attitude, Mike! Funniest part of the episode for me, by far.

 

Looks like I was pretty much spot-on for my prediction of how the episode would go down (although the promo and sneak peek mostly gave the game away). The only part I missed was Hanzee deciding to betray the Gerhardts and mistaking a Gerhardt goon for Lou busting in on the cops. That and the flying saucer ex machina.

 

And that was definitely Martin Freeman as the narrator, right?

 

Sure sounded like it.

 

I was surprised that there was blood on the wall in the hotel room where Constance was murdered. I thought they said she was strangled.

 

It seems consistent at least that Hanzee decided that he'd had enough of all the Gerhardts, not just Dodd. I wonder whether we were supposed to take away from that narration that he always intended to turn on the Gerhardts and was just looking for the right opportunity to take them out.

Edited by Eyes High
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Wait..what?? A flying saucer?  I'm going to make believe I never saw that.

 

When we see Hanzee was standing next to Floyd at the motel, I had a bad feeling he was gonna off her.

At leat that weasel officer(forgot his name) did something right and saved Ed and Peggy.... who still don't seem overly concerned that people want TO KILL THEM!

 

 

   When Lou was trying to talk some sense into the knucklehead "Dakota man" cop about how horrific this whole this was going to turn out, I kept thinking about all the times last season when Molly was the only person who had a clue about things and no one would listen to her either. 

They always refer to Ed as a redhead. He looks blond to me.

RIP Constance. Hanzee is leaving no loose ends I see.  Bastard.  At least they didn't leave that unanswered.
The store clerk too. Damn!

Edited by Valny
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And that was definitely Martin Freeman as the narrator, right?

 

Good catch! Special guest star Martin Freeman indeed.

 

Mike's "Okay, then," and then getting back in the car and driving away was hilarious. We didn't get a lot of Mike Milligan this episode, but what we got was just about perfect.

 

I'm surprised Lou would leave Hank dying to chase after Peggy and co. without at least alerting someone that Hank was up there needing help. I feel like I need to watch it again to try to process my thoughts, but that UFO is definitely playing a bigger part this season than the fish rain did last season. 

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Its like Wes Anderson and the Coen Brothers got together to direct an episode of the X-Files. 

 

Holy crap that was intense. What a season its been. 

 

"Its just a flying saucer hun, we gotta go!" 

 

Perfect description. There was a real Royal Tenenbaums vibe to the narration. I think Wes Anderson would approve of Fargo's meticulous attention to detail in the sets, props, and costuming.

 

...Poor Charlie's now lost his uncles, his father, and his paternal grandparents. I wonder if we'll ever hear what happened with his trial, or whether we just assume that he's going to prison for some indefinite amount of time.

 

The Previously.tv writeup suggests that it's possible that Hanzee's intentions towards Ed and Peggy are benign, or even that he wanted to protect them from Dodd. I doubt it: Hanzee fired at Ed at point-blank range and the only reason Ed's still alive is that the gun happened to be out of bullets.

 

The writeup does point out that we could have written off Rye's UFO sighting as the product of a coked-up hallucination, but here we have five characters (Hanzee, Ed, Peggy, Bear and Lou) all seeing the same thing.

Edited by Eyes High
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So Bear got shot point blank range twice by Lou, after being shot in the head (? or was that just a graze) and still had strength to strangle him.  Wow.  I wondered if the UFO was a hallucination of either Bear's or Lou's (or both) given the physical state they were in, but then Ed and Peggy saw it too.  

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Well Christ on a cracker, this was both the most frustrating and most awesome episode yet!

Poor Lou.  This was not his day.  And he doesn't even know about his wife's death yet.

Those arrogant cops got what was coming to them.  Those guys were an Insult to good cops everywhere.  Death might have been too extreme for such hubris, but this is based on a Coen Brothers film.

The Alien Ex Machina was a bit much, even if it was foreshadowed to hell and back in previous episodes.

Despite all the shit they've done, I still want Ed and Peggy to make it.  Peggy especially, because she rocks!

The Gerhardts are no more and no one will mourn their passing.  Hank is dead and the world has lost some of its light.

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So Bear got shot point blank range twice by Lou, after being shot in the head (? or was that just a graze) and still had strength to strangle him.  Wow.  I wondered if the UFO was a hallucination of either Bear's or Lou's (or both) given the physical state they were in, but then Ed and Peggy saw it too.  

 

Am I the only one who thought of Mongo from Blazing Saddles? "If you shoot him, you'll just make him mad."

 

..."[bear] only pawn in game of life." (Apropos. Sorry.)

 

Did anyone notice that the drum line from the end of 2x08 that kicked in when Lou and Hank arrived also kicked in the moment Lou decided to go back to Sioux Falls and not home to Luverne?

Edited by Eyes High
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I'm surprised Lou would leave Hank dying to chase after Peggy and co. without at least alerting someone that Hank was up there needing help.

Based on its location fairly low on the torso, Hank's wound looked serious but not immediately life threatening. With help audibly on the way, and Lou's tenacity - it seemed like a reasonable choice to make.

 

 

And he doesn't even know about his wife's death yet.

I wouldn't make that call quite yet. Collapsed yes, but there was no confirmation of her demise.

Edited by SteveAC10
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I liked everything about this episode except the deal with the ufo. Why, Joel & Ethan, why?

However I did gasp when Hanzee stabbed Floyd. Shocker

Edited by rhys
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I honestly didn't expect Hanzee to take out Floyd. I'll also admit I'm torn on the timing of the UFO, but thank God for it or else Lou would be dead.

Mike was given a mobster's dream gift...now I wonder if the KC folks will just go back to business as usual.

Edited by Nutjob
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What's the official body count for the Sioux Falls massacre? Dude napping on the first floor + 12 Gerhardt goons + Floyd + Bear + lady cop + pool pissing cop + Officer Terry Kinney + asshole senior cop + other cop = 20? Considering 15 people were killed in the woods gun battle a few episodes back, I was expecting a higher body count.

 

Mike was given a mobster's dream gift...now I wonder if the KC folks will just go back to business as usual.

 

It seems that if anyone winds up on top in this mess, it will be Mike, assuming Gale Kitchen stays loyal to him and he's never caught in a lie about the Undertaker's murder.

 

It sure sounds from the book's discussion of Hanzee's unknowable motives that he either gets away in 2x10 and disappears or is killed. It doesn't sound as if anyone ever gets anything out of him on the subject, much less that he was arrested and tried.

Edited by Eyes High
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It is telling that the UFO showed up in an episode that featured an unreliable narrator. Although I was half-way convinced by his manner and UFO room that Hank may turn out to be an alien. There's just a way he was speaking to everyone, even Lou, that seemed aloof for lack of a better word.

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Absolutely gripping. I am so invested in Lou and Hank. Peggy, now fully actualized, is a one-woman army. And the cops, all suitably undercover in identical t-shirts and jeans...perfect. 

Can't decide which cops were more infuriating...I might vote for that trooper who smirked at Lou and told him to turn around and go back to Minnesota.  That while the poor convenience clerk was lying dead. Though the idiot in charge of the Dakota forces is right up there.

I love the camera work, the split screen truly pulls you into the story.

For all the actors, the writers, the prop folks...top work, all hands.

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Whoa, I didn't think they'd actually go there.  I know they had plenty of hints and stuff about UFOs, but to actually show one?  I could have bought it being some kind of hallucination if it was just Bear and Lou, but obviously both Peggy and Ed saw it too, and I'm pretty sure Hanzee stared at it as well.  Not sure what to think of it. Part of me respects the show for not pulling punches, but another part of me thinks it was a bit too much.  Then again, it led to Peggy's "It's just a flying saucer, Ed!" line, which might be the greatest thing ever (and really explains everything.)

 

Well, the Sioux Falls Massacre certainly lived up to its name.  Basically everyone is dead, except Peggy, Ed, Lou, Hanzee, and, for now, poor Hank is hanging on. Figured Bear was going to be a goner, but I'm surprised that, baring a swerve, Floyd is done for.  I guess characters have survived worse, but Hanzee is an expert at killing people, so it would be strange if he failed this time.  And I he did end up killing Constantine after all.  Damn, Hanzee is cold.

 

Mike showing up late for the party was a bit anticlimactic, but I did love how he saw the bodies, heard the sirens, and was like "Nope!  Time to back away slowly!" about it.  But I'm guessing he'll play some part in the final episode.

 

Lou (and Hank) dealing with the rest of the cops and their bullshit, was so frustrating, but believable.  Wayne Duvall (actor playing the captain), always plays these type of arrogant characters.

 

Betsy, no!  Lou is going to be a wreck once he finds out all that has happening, during his time away.

 

The book concept and narration was a hoot.  And I thought that was Martin Freeman as the narrator, and I'm glad it was.  A nice touch, there.  It certainly helps that his real voice doesn't sound anything like Lester Nygaard.

 

So, the only thing we really no going into the finale right now is that Ed and Peggy are running like hell, Hanzee is hot on their trail, and Lou is right behind all of them, trying to stop this mess.  I have no idea how this will end, but I still continue to strangely root for Ed and Peggy.  Maybe not to get away, but I still want them to somehow still be breathing after this.  They way these two nitwits keep surviving is just amazing.

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The way these two nitwits keep surviving is just amazing.

 

Were they really so nitwitted in this episode, though, other than failing to take Lou's advice about insisting on being taken into custody?

 

1. Ed had misgivings about the wire plan being "the right thing," even though the dumb South Dakota cops and Ben were totally cool with it and were convinced it would work.

2. Peggy flirted with Ben(jamin) to get him to let his guard down and convince him that she wasn't a threat.

3. Peggy outwitted Ben(jamin) by taking advantage of his being distracted and took him down with an improvised weapon, even though Ben(jamin) had shown enough presence of mind to kill two Gerhardt attackers.

4. Peggy and Ed managed to thwart Hanzee from killing them immediately, despite 1) Hanzee outarming them and 2) Hanzee killing everyone else he wanted to kill this episode.

5. Peggy took advantage of the UFO distraction, while all the "smarter" characters (Lou, Hank, Bear, etc.) were gawking at it.

 

For two supposedly "stupid" people, Ed and Peggy have shown surprising resourcefulness. It's no wonder that Hank gave them props this episode, marveling at Ed and Peggy managing to stay alive despite having the Gerhardts and Hanzee after them and applauding Peggy for stabbing Hanzee.

Edited by Eyes High
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How did Hanzee know about the meeting in the Motor 8?  He was there in advance so couldn't have been following.

I liked parts of this including the book narrator.  But overall I am not liking how Hanzee turns on all the Gerhardts and that instead of massacre due to the KC Gang and Gerhardt gang converging on Ed/Peggy we end up with this.

And so far I could do without the UFO.

Plus, Hanzee had already killed a couple cops.  If he was through with the Gerhardts and his former life, why he didn't just get the hell out and go start over somewhere is beyond me.  Everyone knows he killed the cops, now he's killed a bunch more cops and nothing can ever be good for him again unless he can get away and hide somewhere. 

Peggy and Ed are not the people to be around, a lot of people get murdered that end up around them.  Hanzee should figure that out. 

Is Mike out of the picture now?

He can fake being a hero to the KC Gang now that the Gerhardts are dead.  But it doesn't seem like he's needed in whatever ends up happening to Peggy/Ed/Hanzee.

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Wow. Awesome ep. The storybook narration was great and I especially loved the freeze frame muzzle flash moments during the shootout. I must have missed Peggy stabbing Hanzee last week. (Did they show it? I thought she only contemplated doing it.) The UFO moment didn't bug me because the show foreshadowed the hell out of it. 

 

But remember, Jimmy Carter saw a UFO. There were many sightings in the 70s but, alas, I never saw one.

 

I saw a UFO one summer night on Long Island, NY. It was massive yet silent and I'll never forget it.

Edited by numbnut
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I say the red wedding can eat its heart out. These episodes just keep topping themselves week after week.

 

Still too mesmerized to say much about the episode itself. The Coen brothers have been my favourite filmmakers for years. So to see a TV show based on their work AND pulled off so well just blows my mind. Joel and Ethan may not be doing any of the actual writing here, but you can just tell that Hawley and his team have a great respect and understanding of their style and sense of humour. Ok then... done ranting like a fanboy now. :)

Edited by SlipperyPete
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I was racking my brain to figure out what it was that Mike arriving and then leaving reminded me of, and now I remember.

 

I saw a UFO one summer night on Long Island, NY. It was massive yet silent and I'll never forget it.

 

When I was in my teens, on one particularly hot summer night out in the country, my brother took me to a drive-in to see a movie (it was a bad movie, too...Space Cowboys, maybe). Anyway, the sun was setting, and I looked over at the horizon and saw on the horizon, evenly spaced apart, high enough off the horizon that they couldn't be mistaken for towers, five lights. They looked like stars, except no stars were out yet. As I watched, the five lights began slowly blinking in sequence. I tried to get my brother's attention to show him, but he told me to shut up and watch the movie, which I did.

 

I remember that feeling of terror and awe when I saw them, though. It still sends chills down my spine even now.

Edited by Eyes High
  • Love 8
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So Otto took Hanzee "off the street" when he was eight(?) years old. Given what we saw of Otto's training of young Dodd, I'm guessing Otto saw great potential in Hanzee when he saw Hanzee's rabbit trick. And now I'm thinking that after Otto died, Hanzee was no longer indebted to the Gerhardts. When Hanzee went along with Dodd's ruse about the Butcher of Luverne, it was likely out of respect for the still-living (barely) Otto's favorite.

It is telling that the UFO showed up in an episode that featured an unreliable narrator.

Good point! This is a story we are being told that is not quite accurate and not without embellishments.

That said, is there any chance the writing in Hank's private room was Native American? Or a fictional space alien language from Star Trek or some other scifi show of that era?

So Bear got shot point blank range twice by Lou, after being shot in the head (? or was that just a graze) and still had strength to strangle him. Wow.

This too could be an embellishment of the narrator.

I don't think Peggy needs to go to any seminars. She's already actualized.

About 4 and a half minutes in, Peggy says they're "realized" to the cops. One cop asks, "What'd she say?" to which the lady cop replies, "She said she realized something." Heh.

Loved, loved, loved Mike Milligan's survivalist smarts.

Edited by shapeshifter
  • Love 4
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God I love Kristen Dunst in this role.  I can't figure out who should take home the Emmy for the series this year, Kristen or Jean Smart...I hope they don't both submit in the same categories of Lead and Supporting.

 

This episode I was just so on the edge of my seat during the actual massacre, and I agree about the UFO, I thought it was too a figment of their imaginations, but damned if everyone didn't see it.  

  • Love 3
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Why was Mike flashing back on Simone while in the car on the way to the motel?

 He luuuuuved her. Lol yeah right.

 

I would have liked to have seen a glimpse into Mike's past at some point in this season.

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