Trials And Tribulations – The episode opens in North Dakota with Roy Tillman (Jon Hamm), on horseback, admiring one of his very own reelection billboards. Speaking to the audience, he provides a quick history of his family’s lineage in the area while also mentioning his belief in the natural order of the universe. It is revealed several seconds later that he’s actually giving a speech to the Hunks who are sitting across the table from him at a diner. Speaking directly to the battered Lenore Hunk (Kelsey Falconer), he explains his beliefs about marital roles while Deputy Nugent (Scott Pocha) puts Josh Hunk (Sean Depner) in a chokehold. After a bit of pleading, Nugent releases Josh but gets a face full of hot coffee with his bad attitude. The meeting ends with Roy giving her some cash and promising to check on her in the morning. They nearly run Gator Tillman (Joe Keery) over rushing from the diner. After Gator tells Roy that they missed her, the two of them pay a visit to Ole Munch (Sam Spruell).
Munch immediately defends the failed kidnapping by claiming Roy never told him that Dorothy “Dot” Lyon (June Temple) is much more than the average housewife. Gator aggressively teases him about the failure before mentioning the convenience store shootout is all over the news. Munch continues to calmly defend himself and even plays the wronged party by claiming the lack of information caused him to underprice the job. Against Gator’s advice, Roy reveals that Dot is his wife and has been hiding from him for the past 9 to 10 years, although he doesn’t say why. Roy agrees to pay him restitution and tells Gator to use the rainy day fund.
Supposedly on his way to get paid, Munch stops to pick up a still-lit cigarette and takes several puffs while making his way toward two armed guards. He hears Gator pull his weapon from behind but manages to distract him by flicking the butt in his face. He also uses Gator’s weapon to kill the two armed guards and escape before Roy can even make it to the scene.
While being questioned at home Dot continues to use her “bad day” excuse to explain her disappearance. Deputy Indira Olmstead (Richa Moorjani) says she’s had her fair share of bad days, but can’t grasp how two different blood types were taken from the home. And, neither of them matches what’s on record for Dot. Scoffing at the use of the word “records,” Dot points out how hospitals make mistakes. Olmstead then asks about the mismatched hair DNA they retrieved from the balaclava. Dot claims she bought the item used. Wayne Lyon (David Rysdahl) even tries to take the blame at one point by claiming he overreacted with the phone call. When it becomes clear Olmstead isn’t going to back off, Wayne unsuccessfully uses Danish Graves’ (David Foley) name as intimidation.
Elsewhere, Lorraine Lyon (Jennifer Jason Leigh) doesn’t buy the kidnapping story either as she discusses it with Graves. Lorraine mentions the possibility that Dot kidnapped herself but backed out after getting cold feet. Graves agrees something is off and mentions the thin background check he ran on Dot before she married Wayne. Lorraine says she doesn’t know what’s going on, but she knows they can’t have the authorities running around asking questions that can’t be answered. At one point, she theorizes that Dot might have even convinced Wayne to help her. She ultimately decides to question separately and volunteers to question Dot while Graves questions Wayne.
While enjoying what appears to be a homemade outdoor Jacuzzi, Roy learns from Gator that Dot has been married and living in Minnesota for the past 10 years and has a daughter, Scotty Lyon (Sienna King). Their meeting is soon interrupted by FBI agents Joaquin (Nick Gomez) and Meyer (Jessica Pohly), who are not only new to the area but want to know why Roy isn’t enforcing the law. Roy claims there is no greater law of the land than him, but there is the matter of “Freedom.” Scoffing at the word, Meyers claims everyone in North Dakota wants to throw the word around without understanding its real meaning. The agents end the meeting by letting him know they suspect and are looking into corruption in his office.
After an outing at the local Dairy Queen, Dot and Scotty are shocked to return home to find Lorraine and Jerome (Kudjo Fiakpui) inside their house. Jerome is ordered to escort Scotty to her room while Lorraine tries to uncover what and why Dot is lying about the break-in. Lorraine doesn’t waste any time letting Dot know that she doesn’t trust or like her. Dot continues to play dumb until Lorraine threatens to cut both her and Wayne out of the will. The threat changes Dot’s entire demeanor as she assures Lorraine that she does not want to go up against her. Although Lorraine insults her before leaving, it’s clear that Dot scared her. Later that day, Scotty and Dot bond while making a vegetable medley and booby-trapping the entire downstairs.
Graves visits Wayne at the KIA dealership and uses his office phone to link Lorraine into the conversation about the fake kidnapping. Wayne continues with the ruse that Dot simply had a bad day. Even after laying out the mountain of evidence from the police reports and the announcement of the dead kidnapper, Wayne continues to believe anything else.
While recovering in the hospital, Deputy Witt Farr (Lamorne Morris) receives an unexpected visit from Deputy Olmstead. Just as Olmstead begins questioning him about Dot, Gator makes an appearance as well. After brushing off Gator’s advances, Olmstead returns to her line of questioning and mentions having a photo of Dot. Before she can show it, Gator jerks the phone from her hand and deletes the only photo of Dot. After they trade information about the case, Gator joins Nugent outside and they leave the hospital together.
Much later that evening, Wayne is surprised to come home to a house full of booby traps and Scotty working on more. He suggests she go upstairs so he can have a private word with Dot. Once alone, he shares his meeting with his mother and Graves. She goes back to her defense about having a bad day. Although Wayne says he believes her, he mentions some of the inconsistencies with her story and her strange behavior. She tells him that he wasn’t at the school board meeting and didn’t see how the parents were acting. She claims it’s only a matter of time before the very fabric of society breaks down. He appears to believe her claims and even suggests getting a gun.
Gator and Nugent visit the convenience store where Dot makes her escape. Nugent stays outside to pump gas and gets stabbed in the throat by Munch. After returning to the vehicle, it takes Gator several minutes to realize Nugent is dead. The episode wraps with him discovering the corpse.
Fargo Review
I would give the episode a 5 out of 10. I can’t say that was horrible, but I certainly can’t say it was spectacular. It honestly felt kind of slow despite some of the big reveals. I didn’t expect Dot to be Roy’s runaway wife. In addition, I’m still having a hard time grasping how Wayne is buying into Dot’s story. As far as introducing the characters and setting the story, both episodes 1 and 2 sufficiently accomplished that. I am intrigued to see how things develop from here. I also have to admit all Dot’s bobby trapping kind of reminds me of Walter White.
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