FX’s Fargo season five episode six immediately reveals the reason behind the episode’s title. Banker Vivian Dugger (Andrew Wheeler) stumbles out of The Tender Trap strip club only to discover Sheriff Roy Tillman (Jon Hamm) waiting outside. Roy points out Vivian’s legally not allowed to be near one of the strippers, and Vivian fumbles for an appropriate response before reminding Roy that he already sent him a re-election donation.
Roy cuts to the chase and orders Vivian to stop all negotiations to sell his bank to Lorraine Lyon.
Dot’s daughter, Scotty (Sienna King), eats her breakfast, oblivious to the fact that her babysitter, Minnesota Police Deputy Indira Olmstead (Richa Moorjani), has had a rough morning that began with a threatening phone call from a debt collector. Indira’s day goes from bad to worse when her no-good, extremely lazy husband Lars (Lukas Gage) walks into the kitchen after spending the night on the garage floor. This is apparently a recurring thing Lars does, and Indira deliberately raised the garage door so that the kids on the school bus could laugh at him. (Please pause for a round of applause for Indira.)
Lars isn’t happy about being spotted in his undies and demands Indira be a real wife. You know, cook and clean and all that… Indira has more patience than 99% of us and listens to Lars’ ridiculous description of what a wife is supposed to do without punching him in the face.
Lars falsely claims he supports all her needs, even though Indira is the only one who has a real job. They’re $192,000 in debt, and Lars would like it if she never reminded him of that again; it’s just too negative. (Indira, we wouldn’t blame you one bit if you tossed this creep out of your house – and life – permanently.)
Meanwhile, over at the Tillman ranch, vape addict Gator Tillman (Joe Keery) supervises the interrogation of the man he believes is Wayne Lyon. Inside the main house, Roy’s wife, Karen, fumes about Trump’s impeachment while trimming Roy’s hair. Roy’s attention is drawn to the TV when a commercial for Lyon Motors featuring Wayne airs, and Karen earns a slap to the face for accidentally cutting Roy’s ear.
Gator reports to his dad that they haven’t gotten Wayne to talk yet, but they’re still busy working on it. Also, Wayne keeps claiming they have the wrong man. Roy wonders how Wayne suddenly grew a spine after Gator had previously insisted Dot’s husband is soft. Maybe the electric shock scrambled his brain?
Roy takes matters into his own hands and heads to the barn to take over questioning. “Wayne” calls Roy the king of the idiot brigade but doesn’t have time to say much more before Roy shoots him in the head. Roy’s furious his boy screwed up again, and Gator’s quick to point out he was ordered to stay in the car. This is one screw-up that actually isn’t his fault.
Uh-oh…Gator’s lies have come home to roost. He told his dad he got a good look at Wayne at Dot’s house, so why didn’t he realize they had the wrong man? For the tiniest of milliseconds, we feel sorry for Gator – at least until he opens his mouth.
Roy believes his son has a bad luck problem. To fix it, they’ll need to pay off Ole Munch.
Gator isn’t sure that paying off Ole Munch will lift the curse, but Roy’s willing to try everything at this point. “We need to take luck out of the equation. Period. End of story,” says Roy.
A short while later, Ole Munch (Sam Spruell) meets with Roy and this time it’s Ole Munch who cuts to the chase. Roy pays him off and includes a little extra because of all the trouble. Roy admits he’s never had a problem breaking a woman until now. He should let her be…but he can’t.
Gator’s still harboring a grudge against Ole Munch, and the two square off. Ole Munch leaves, unaware that Gator’s placed a tracker on his vehicle.
Indira takes a missing persons report from a nurse and learns two men took one of the patients while claiming to be family members. The man’s wife has no idea where he is and is desperate to find him. Indira quickly puts two and two together and comes up with Wayne as the real target of a kidnapping, not the patient who went missing. It was likely a case of mistaken identity.
FBI Agents Meyer and Joaquin question Wayne (accompanied by his drunken dad), and it’s obvious Wayne (David Rysdahl) is still confused about the last few days. He sort of recalls his house burned down and somehow thinks it’s tied to Nightmare Before Christmas.
Wayne’s shocked to learn his wife’s real name is Nadine Bump. Wayne’s dad appears to be on the verge of comforting his son, but no, that’s not what comes out of his mouth. Instead, we’re treated to the delightful news that Wayne wanted to be a ballerina as a child.
Wayne can’t wrap his brain around what he’s being told by the FBI. They describe Dot’s path to him included escaping an abusive husband, taking over a dead person’s identity, and establishing a new life for herself. The agents believe Dot’s first husband is trying to get her back and probably burned Wayne’s house down. It’s really all too much for Wayne to handle.
Indira interrupts the agents and claims this is her case. Wayne just wants his wife to come back to him, and Indira assures him Dot is probably fine.
Indira and FBI Agents Meyer and Joaquin have a private chat away from Wayne, and the agents fill in the parts of Dot’s story that Indira didn’t already know. Indira realizes she saw Roy at the Lyon Estate looking for Dot, and the agents describe Roy as a guy who spends taxpayers’ dollars on tactical gear and weapons and then gives them to a right-wing militia.
The agents need Dot to tell them what she knows about the key players in Roy’s orbit. It’s possible she even knows where the bodies are (literally) buried. Their plan is to flip Gator or the ranch foreman, with Dot’s help.
Indira claims she doesn’t know where Dot is, and she thinks they have enough to get a warrant on kidnapping or abuse charges. They don’t need Dot right now to inspect the Tillman Ranch for signs of the patient who was kidnapped. The agents disagree, not willing to show their hands.
Lars leaves Scotty home alone, without dinner, because he needs to see his physical therapist. Although Lars told her not to, Scotty plays his drum set after he leaves. She’s better than Lars could ever dream of being.
Elsewhere, Danish Graves (Dave Foley) informs Lorraine Lyon (Jennifer Jason Leigh) that banker Vivian Dugger has ghosted them. A note and one of Vivian’s dress shirts indicate Roy Tillman’s behind Vivian’s refusal to pick up the phone. Since he didn’t get what he wanted, Roy squashed Lorraine’s deal with Vivian.
Wayne tells his mom he wants to see his wife, and Lorraine speaks to him like a child and suggests he get comfortable in his old room until Dot returns.
Lorraine orders Danish to get Vivian’s cell phone number by any means necessary. Her claws are out, and she tells Danish their next move is to steal an election. Roy’s about to find out he messed with the wrong family.
Indira arrives home and is shocked to learn Lars is gone and Scotty hasn’t eaten since crackers at lunch. Indira quickly realizes what she needs to do and heads over to Lorraine’s with Scotty. Wayne’s overjoyed to see his daughter, and Scotty’s equally happy to be reunited with her dad.
Happy reunion accomplished, Indira sits down for a one-on-one with Lorraine. She places a folder with all the details of Dot’s life with Roy in front of Lorraine, but Lorraine refuses to open it. She’s unsympathetic to the stories of abuse victims, even if the victim is her own daughter-in-law.
Indira reminds her Dot has never once claimed to be a victim of anything. Indira’s done with Lorraine’s pompous attitude and even curses at the billionaire businesswoman. Lorraine’s not used to this attitude from those beneath her, and Indira says, “Tough sh*t.” Indira believes they’re the same – they both work hard to make their mark on the world – but Lorraine just happens to be rich.
Indira thinks Dorothy and Lorraine are actually a lot alike. Dot is incredibly intelligent and was able to outsmart her kidnappers. She saved Wayne and Scotty’s lives and won’t quit when it comes to protecting herself or her family. Dot never complains, no matter the circumstances.
“I brought you her file so that at least you can be an educated asshole,” snarls Indira.
Lorraine reacts to this unusual turn of events by offering Indira the job as head of her security team. She’ll even let Indira name her price. It would be Indira’s first white-collar job, and she’d get to travel the world.
Indira’s momentarily speechless and finally says she’ll consider it. In the meantime, Lorraine should reconsider her opinion of Dot. She needs help but won’t ask for it.
Danish Graves finds Vivian Dugger back at his favorite hangout, The Tender Trap. He hands Vivian a phone and Lorraine informs him that she’s pulled her offer off the table. Instead of making money off their proposed deal, Vivian will now feel Lorraine’s wrath. She’s got the SEC chairman at her beck and call, and right now, agents are tearing through Vivian’s office, seizing his books, and freezing all his assets.
Also, for good measure, she’s gotten his son expelled from Notre Dame for being late on tuition. Vivian backed the wrong horse, and now he’s going to pay with everything he’s got. Lorraine promises he’ll live the rest of his days in squalor and then chuckles as she hangs up.
That bit of nasty business wrapped up, Lorraine opens the folder Indira left behind. It’s full of photos of Dot in horrible shape after being beaten up. The folder even contains copies of X-rays showing broken bones.
Episode six ends with Lorraine considering her next move.
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New Fargo season five episodes air on FX on Tuesdays at 10pm ET/PT.
- Fargo Season 5 Episode 1 “The Tragedy of the Commons” Recap
- Fargo Season 5 Episode 2 “Trials and Tribulations” Recap
- Fargo Season 5 Episode 3 “The Paradox of Intermediate Transactions” Recap
- Fargo Season 5 Episode 4 “Insolubilia” Recap
- Fargo Season 5 Episode 5 “The Tiger” Recap
- Fargo Season 5 episode 7 “Linda” Recap
- Fargo Season 5 Episode 8 “Blanket” Recap
- Fargo Season 5 Episode 9 “The Useless Hand” Recap
- Fargo Season 5 Episode 10 “Bisquik” Finale Recap
