Fargo Season 3 Episode 6 Review: The Lord of No Mercy

A shocking goodbye made this an episode of Fargo to die for!

This Fargo review contains spoilers.

Fargo Season 3 Episdoe 6

Last week, I said that this season of Fargo had become a powder keg waiting to blow, and this week it quietly went boom. A brotherly tussle quickly turned fatal when Ray took an unfortunately sharp shard of glass to the jugular. Though it unfolded slowly and without much noise, Ray’s death was perhaps the most shocking death of Fargo’s run thus far. It was never going to end well for the dimwitted “loser,” as his murderer described him, but I didn’t expect Ray to be dispatched so early.

That being said, it’s his own damn fault that he’s dead. I was under the impression that Ray was going to step his game up a notch after he came home to find Nikki badly beaten and barely able to walk. Ray was willing to sacrifice not only his job, but his entire relationship with his brother for the woman that he loved, so I certainly thought he would pull out all of the stops to get revenge on Meemo and Yuri.  Through a mixture of luck and skill, Ray was able to avoid Gloria and Winnie when they came by his house looking for him, and he was even able to get Nikki and himself safely to a motel. Too bad poor Ray wasn’t as sharp as the glass that took his life; otherwise he may have remembered to bring his money with him while fleeing and he wouldn’t have had to return to the house.

However, I’m sort of thankful for Ray’s forgetfulness, because it provided us with that scene between him and Emmit. I’ve said it before, but Ewan McGregor does a hell of a job convincing the audience that these are two different people. Emmit’s defeated melancholy and compassion coupled with Ray’s teary eyed defiance are two powerhouse performances in one. Had Ray not been so prideful and stubborn, he could have been on the run with his prized stamp in hand, but instead he ended up face down in a pool of his own blood. Another big reason that Ray’s death is so surprising is because I think I was expecting Emmit to bite the dust first. My reasoning is laid out by Emmit himself; he’s kind, well-liked, and successful, but also he’s sort of vain and empty-headed, which on a show like Fargo makes him a perfect target. I guess it will be more fun trying to see Emmit stick to the story that Varga gave him as the heat starts to surround him.

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Though Fargo’s two brothers may be lacking in brains, our women characters aren’t. Nikki is wise enough to avoid going to the hospital since authorities are looking for “Vanessa,” and even though Meemo leaves the motel before she returns to the room, Nikki is prepared for an ambush after going out for some ice. Maybe even defying the believability of her street smarts, she easily is able to deduce just what sort of trouble Emmit and Sy have found themselves in. Ray may be gone, but Nikki is alive and kicking, and I’m sure she won’t just disappear into the night.

Expect Gloria to shake things up too. Something appears to have snapped in Gloria, and she comes off much more aggressive and stern in this episode. She doesn’t allow herself to be pushed around by Varga during her visit with Emmit, and she’s also back to calling herself chief, as if she’s bucking against the condescending man in front of her and the one that’s on her mind. Worried by her visit, Varga tries to get some dirt on Gloria, but Gloria’s disdain for modern technology has made her completely invisible to Varga online. He’ll wish he had unearthed something too, because Gloria embraces her devil may care side and heads back to Ray’s for one more visit, just as Varga has been summoned there to deal with a body.

The possible collision of those two characters makes me anticipate next week, but there are other things I’m looking forward to as well. Sy’s reaction to Ray’s death will surely be something to behold, and there’s still the matter of the Widow Goldfarb hanging in the air. Also, Varga’s discovery of the low tech Eden Valley Police Station leads him to order Yuri to go obtain Ennis Stussy’s case file. No matter how low tech the station may be, breaking into a police station still sounds exciting. Fargo has steadily gotten better each week and I hope that trend continues. 

Rating:

4.5 out of 5