FX’s Fargo, which just received a third season renewal, continued season two with yet another outstanding episode that found a key player biting the dust. Season two episode seven titled “Did You Do This? No, You Did It!” had a little bit of everything, including one of the most touching scenes of the season, the police getting in bed with the Gerhardts, and Betsy discovering a bizarre secret about her dad, Hank.
Recap of Fargo Season 2 Episode 7:
Bear (Angus Sampson) and an associate travel to Kansas City where they masquerade as high-rise window washers and shoot up a business meeting. KC strikes back with the surviving Kitchen brother killing a Gerhardt associate. The deaths pile up, graves are dug, Rye and Otto Gerhardt are buried, and the war between KC and the Gerhardts continues to escalate. Even associates from Buffalo make the trek to Fargo to help protect the Gerhardts’ interests.
Bear tells Floyd (Jean Smart) South Dakota is now with KC, and Hanzee (Zach McClarnon) hasn’t reported in and neither has Dodd (Jeffrey Donovan). Bear thinks Dodd is dead and so does Simone (Rachel Keller), but Floyd isn’t ready to even think about that. Simone isn’t the least bit sad her dad could be dead and gets a slap from Floyd for disrespecting the family. She drives off in a huff.
Lou Solverson (Patrick Wilson) and Ben Schmidt (Keir O’Donnell) arrive at the Gerhardt farm with backup. They’re there to collect Floyd and take her back to the police station. As they drive off, Ricky from Buffalo tells Bear there’s a guy on the phone who knows where Dodd is. Bear doesn’t care and tells him to take a message.
Lou and Ben explain to Police Chief Gibson (Terry Kinney) why Floyd’s been brought in, and Hank (Ted Danson) says they still haven’t located Ed the Butcher (Jesse Plemons) or his wife, Peggy (Kirsten Dunst). Lou and Ben are hoping to talk to both sides of this war and see if they can work this out. Gibson sends them off to visit the out-of-towners while he and Hank talk to Floyd.
Chief Gibson says he’s sorry Otto passed and Floyd’s angry the KC mafia shot him in his own home with kids sleeping right upstairs. Hank wants to know how far this war will go, with her family paying a stiff price. Floyd says her back’s to the wall, claiming the Butcher of Luverne killed her boy and he’s working for KC. Hank’s known Ed since he was a kid and says there’s no way that’s what happened. Floyd calls Ed a sleeper agent and insists Hank doesn’t really know him. Chief Gibson wants the war to be over, but Floyd says her boys won’t stop; they’re too proud. Hank suggests she point the police in the right direction to take down the KC mafia, but she thinks that would be snitching.
Simone heads over to the Pearl Hotel to see Mike Milligan (Bokeem Woodbine), getting high first to give her a little courage. Mike’s on the phone with his boss who’s back in KC at the shot-up office building, and he’s not happy with Mike’s work. Mike tells him he can still break this family and his boss gives him two days and then he’ll send in the Undertaker. Simone runs in and yells at him for shooting up her house. Mike tosses some quotes at her that she’s never heard before, angering Simone even more. Just then there’s a knock and Lou and Ben barge in, taking down the Kitchen brother who was about to attack Simone. Ben escorts her out while Lou holds the Kitchen brother and Mike at gunpoint.
In the elevator, Ben asks Simone if Floyd knows she’s there. Simone flirts with Ben to try and get him not to tell her mom she was with Mike. Ben falls for it and then Simone knees him in the groin. She heads out to her car and Bear and Ricky from Buffalo pull up next to her. She’s completely shocked to see them and makes up a story about being at the hotel to buy drugs. Bear appears to buy the story but then tells her Ricky will drive her car home and she can ride with him.
Mike wants to know if he has to go home but Lou says no, “Just don’t be here.” Mike asks if he knows about Manifest Destiny, and Lou says he owns two pairs of shoes because you don’t need to own more than you need. They discuss capitalism, greed, and making this war an all-or-nothing proposition. In walks Ben and he’s in a lot of pain. Mike tells a story of a guy who steals wheelbarrows and says sometimes the answer is too obvious. “See, we can’t leave because we’re the future and they’re the past. Past can no more become the future than the future can become the past.” Lou and Ben prepare to leave, telling him they’ve said their peace. Lou warns him that maybe next time he’ll shoot first.
Betsy Solverson (Cristin Milioti) arrives home to see a strange pair of boots next to Molly’s on the floor. She gets a shotgun from the closet, heads upstairs, and finds Sonny (Dan Beirne) and Karl Weathers (Nick Offerman) cooking in her kitchen. Lou gave them a key and asked them to look out for her and Molly while he’s gone. They’re going to hang out there and spend the night, whether she likes it or not. Karl jokes that he’s the Breakfast King and she should just grab a plate and deal with it.
Bear is driving Simone home and they’re pretty quiet until Simone asks how grandma is after being taken in by the police. She keeps trying to convince Bear she was just buying weed and no one on their side of town would sell it to her because of her dad. Bear wants to know why she doesn’t ask about Charlie, so she does. Bear says he’s in the state pen and she thinks they should visit without Dodd. Bear tells her to call him dad, not Dodd. She really hates her father and gets fired up when Bear talks about him. Bear takes a detour out in the middle of nowhere and forces her out of the truck. He tells her he knows she’s sleeping with the enemy.
They walk through the snowy woods for a while and then Simone says she can give Mike fake info, but Bear says that’s not the Gerhardt way. She says the KC mafia are kicking their ass, and Bear says that’s on her. The deaths of her uncle and her grandfather…that’s all on her. Simone blames her father because he wouldn’t let Floyd negotiate. Bear draws a gun and tells her to kneel. She does and begs for her life. She says they’re family and he answers, “None of us are family anymore.” She wants to be banished and claims she’ll go away forever. He hushes her and says, “It’s already done.”
“Danny Boy” plays as Bear walks alone back to the truck. A split-screen montage shows Floyd at the police station, Dodd walking into the Blomquist home, Charlie in jail, Hanzee loading his gun, Rye on a street, and Simone at Rye’s funeral.
Bear arrives home and Ricky tells him the guy called about Dodd again. Bear thinks Dodd is dead and tells Ricky not to mention the call to anyone else.
Lou calls and checks in on Molly to see if the guys are still there. She tells him she doesn’t need looking after, but he says it’s bad out there. Lou wants her to rest and take care of herself. Hank walks up and Lou tells her his dad says hi and to feed his cat. After the call Hank lets Lou know he thinks Floyd will flip and snitch on the KC mafia.
At the station, Floyd wants it known she’s doing this because there’s no other way. She makes a deal that any old crimes won’t go against her kids; it’s all on her. She tells Hank and the Chief Gibson the KC people run their drugs through a trucking company’s tires. They also have a nail salon and auto repair shop with weapons.
The phone rings in Mike’s hotel room and it’s his boss telling him the Undertaker is coming and he’s done.
Bear collects his mom at the Fargo police station and she whispers to him to find Hanzee and Dodd, and to finish the KC mafia while they’re reeling. As they pull away, Hank tells Ben and Lou that Hanzee shot two troopers in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Hanzee was looking for Ed and Peggy and shot up a bar. Hank thinks that means Ed and Peggy must be close to them, and Ben reminds them they just gave the Gerhardts a free pass. Lou calls him a shit cop and heads out with Hank to save the day, minus Ben.
Back at the Solverson house, Karl keeps a watchful eye on Betsy who claims she feels fine. She tells the story of how her older sister was supposed to marry Lou but he went off to serve in Vietnam and she couldn’t wait. Karl’s happy it’s Betsy and Lou, telling her he’d take the two of them over Lou and her sister any day. Betsy is touched and asks Karl if he’ll look after her family when she’s gone. She knows she got the sugar pills and isn’t getting better. She says to pass on to Lou that it’s okay to get married again when she’s gone. She tells him to stop drinking, he says okay, and then they hug. It’s a very touching scene.
Betsy goes to her dad’s house to feed the cat and spends time looking over the family photos hanging on the wall. She keeps searching for Snowball and opens a door to her dad’s office, discovering his walls are covered in what looks like hieroglyphics.
Bear and Floyd return home and she asks him to send Simone in. Bear says she left in a hurry and he doesn’t think she’s back yet. Ricky has another message for Bear’s ears alone, but Floyd wants to know the message too. Hanzee’s on the phone and says he found Dodd.
At the hotel, Mike stares in the mirror until he’s interrupted by a knock. The Undertaker is on his way up. He’s accompanied by two men and upon entering the room Mike and the Kitchen brother take all three out quickly before they can reach for their guns. Mike tells the Kitchen brother to drop them in the woods and tell the boss the Gerhardts got them. The phone rings and it’s Ed who says he has Dodd Gerhardt in his car and wants to know if Mike wants him.
More on Fargo Season 2: Episode 1 Recap / Episode 2 Recap / Episode 3 Recap / Episode 4 Recap / Episode 5 Recap / Episode 6 Recap / Episode 8 Recap / Episode 9 Recap
