You'd be forgiven for assuming that Sam Spruell's 500-year-old sin-eater Ole Munch would be the villain of "Fargo" Season 5. But it's no otherworldly force teasing out humanity's capacity for evil in this installment. "Fargo" Season 5, Episode 6 clarifies that evil walks among us in plain-old form. Jon Hamm's Sheriff Roy Tillman—a democratically-elected leader, husband and father whose stunning hypocrisy is rivaled only by his extreme violence—is the real Big Bad of the season.
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Episode 6 is one of the most overtly political installments of "Fargo" yet, with series creator Noah Hawley even playing on the 1971 feminist manifesto "I Want a Wife" (more on that later). And for a franchise that delights in cartoonish violence (remember the wood chipper?), this week's abuse is all the more disturbing because it's realistic. It's as if the "Fargo" bubble has popped. Like Juno Temple's Dorothy, we're not in Kansas anymore.
Warning: Spoilers ahead for "Fargo" Season 5, Episode 6, "The Tender Trap."
Directed by Dana Gonzales and written by Noah Hawley and Bob DeLaurentis, "Fargo" Season 5, Episode 6 outlines what the remaining four episodes of the season will look like. Since going on the offensive last week, Dot is nowhere to be found. But having learned the truth about Roy's abuse, Indira (Richa Moorjani) recruits Lorraine (Jennifer Jason Leigh) to the pro-Dot cause. Elsewhere, Lorraine flexes her connections to "steal" the sheriff's election, which will no doubt put her up against the militia run by Roy's father-in-law.
Here's a rundown of all the details you might have missed in "Fargo" Episode 6:
Roy Is an Abusive Husband
Frank W Ockenfels III/FX
Determined to sabotage Lorraine's business, Roy catches Vivian Dugger (Andrew Wheeler) outside a strip club called The Tender Trap (title drop!) and threatens bodily harm if he goes through with the bank sale. It sounds like Roy papered over some old assault charges against Vivian. In return, Vivian has donated to his re-election campaign, but he still owes Roy a debt.
Indira leaves her husband Lars (Lukas Gage) in charge of Scotty (Sienna King) for the day, and we get the full extent of his scumbag ways in a comically misogynistic monologue in which he says he wants a real wife: A "cheerleader ... to keep the house clean and cook" and for whom "everything revolves around [him]." The whole speech is modeled after Judy Syfer's landmark 1971 "I Want a Wife" essay, a feminist manifesto included in the inaugural issue of Gloria Steinem's Ms. magazine. Noah Hawley told THR in November that this season of "Fargo" subverts the 1996 film by asking, "What if [the wife is] not kidnappable and there's a backstory there?" He cited Syfer's essay as inspiration.
Directly after Lars' ridiculous diatribe, we get one of the most overtly political moments in all of "Fargo," followed by probably the most disturbing and realistic act of violence in the show's history. Roy's wife Karen (Rebecca Liddiard) is trimming his hair while they watch then-President Donald Trump dispute his impeachment on FOX News (The show is set in 2019). "Impeaching that great man — gets my goat," Karen says. Roy is visibly enraged when he sees Wayne's car dealership commercial on TV. Then, Karen accidentally nicks his ear with the scissors. She grabs one of Roy's mother's napkins for the blood and Roy slaps her so hard she spins into the wall. This all happens in front of their twin daughters.
Gator (Joe Keery) enters and clearly catches that Roy is currently on a streak of uncontrollable violence. From the look on his face, it's safe to assume Gator's been on the receiving end of Roy's physical abuse, too. Sure enough, when he finds out that his men failed to kidnap Wayne, Roy shoots the patsy, Mr. Sawyer, in the forehead. He chalks up Gator's continued failures to bad luck, even assuming the "boogeyman" Ole Munch hexed him. (He did leave an occult symbol above his daughters' beds.)
Indira Learns the Truth About Dot and Roy
Michelle Faye/FX
At the hospital, FBI Agents Joaquin (Nick Gomez) and Meyer (Jessica Phly) interview a brain-damaged Wayne (David Rysdahl), who's largely talking gibberish. He doesn't remember the Halloween break-in but has a fuzzy recollection of the "Nightmare Before Christmas" masks and the house burning down. Neither Wayne nor his dopey British father seem to hear the agents when they reveal that Dot's real name is Nadine Bump and that she ran away from her first husband.
Indira interrupts the agents and we cut to all three comparing notes on Dot's case at a diner. She disappeared 11 years ago, and the agents want her to help uncover Roy's crimes — either by convincing Gator or the ranch foreman to betray him. Indira reminds them that although Roy deserves to be put away, they must not forget their responsibility to help Dorothy, "the victim."
Roy Pays His Debt to Ole Munch
Michelle Faye/FX
Roy must get control of the situation before the election next week. He starts by paying Ole Munch the hitman fee he's owed, plus interest. "If I had a nickel for every time she found the daylight when I thought I had her buried... Never had a problem before or since breaking a woman. But that one..." Roy tells Munch. "You think you're hunting her but all the while you're just a mouse and she's playing with her supper. Probably oughta let her be, but..."
When Roy comments on Munch's silence, Munch seems to predict that he and Roy don't have much time left on Earth: "A man has only so many words in his lifetime. For us, there are very few left." He takes the money and hints that if Roy really wants to defeat Dot, victory will come with some kind of cost. "When a man digs a grave, he has to feel it," he says. "Otherwise, it's just a hole." Munch drives away, but Gator has attached a tracker to his car.
Lorraine Has a Change of Heart
Michelle Faye/FX
When she learns that Roy halted the bank sale, Lorraine and Danish (Dave Foley) gear up to "steal an election" — Roy's re-election, that is. Danish heads to North Dakota to relay the bad news to Vivian Dugger, who's getting a lap dance at The Tender Trap. With one phone call to the SEC, Lorraine brought the regulatory might of the federal government down on Vivian's bank. He's now penniless, with no money to contribute to Roy's campaign. His son has been expelled from college for not paying tuition. Vivian's mistake, says Lorraine, was thinking that "death [by Roy's hand] was the worst thing that could happen."
Indira brings Scotty back to Lorraine's house for a touching reunion with Wayne. Then, she slaps Dot/Nadine's massive case file—a personal history "written in punches and chokeholds"—on Lorraine's desk. Dot is a victim of horrific domestic abuse, and, like Lorraine, she'll fight for her family's safety. Impressed with Indira's spiel, Lorraine offers her a job managing her all-male security team. Indira promises to consider the offer if Lorraine agrees to help Dot in some way. The episode ends with Lorraine visibly shaken by the contents of Dot's file, which show her daughter-in-law in the hospital with broken bones, black eyes and bruising — all presumably at Roy's hand.
New episodes of "Fargo" premiere Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET on FX and stream the following day on Hulu.
