Fargo – Bisquik

By: Kelly Kearney

After last week’s standoff between the FBI and Roy’s militia, Dot finally faces her ex and the meeting sets off a series of events that ends in an unforeseen tragedy she never expected. With debts to be paid and collections due, all of the characters are faced with their comeuppance; but first, it’s time to mix up some Bisquik because a wholesome meal can fix anything.

The Getaway

The finale opens with a bloody and blinded Gator (Joe Keery) struggling to make his way across the desolate snowy landscape of his father’s ranch. As he struggles to make sense of every step he takes he stumbles upon the dugout–Roy’s escape route. With a stable hand following the dirt walls, Gator makes his way up through the dugout’s hatch and pops out on the other side of the FBI standoff. He’s escaped the Tillman ranch, Ole Munch (Sam Spruell), his apathetic father, and now he’s delivered himself directly into the hands of the FBI. Considering the state he’s in, winding up in the fed’s territory will probably save his life because after that last interaction he had with Roy (Jon Hamm) it’s clear his father wasn’t going to help him. It seems like Roy wouldn’t even shed a tear over the younger Tillman’s death.

Back at the ranch house, Odin (Michael Copeman) disrespects Roy for the last time and pays the ultimate price for questioning the Sheriff’s bravery. When the old man attempts to fight him, Roy swings his knife on Odin and slices the man’s throat wide open. Karen (Rebecca Liddiard) witnesses the immediate aftermath and takes off running as she knows Roy is in a–death to all witnesses of my crimes, type mood. He stalks after her until he turns a corner and runs directly into Dot’s (Juno Temple) gun! Before he gets the chance to pull out his weapon, Dot shoots him in the gut and Roy falls into a laughing heap on the porch. She misses her opportunity to take the kill shot as she pauses to consider her next move. As horrible as Roy is, Dot isn’t a mindless killer, she looks for other ways. It’s why she wanted the ghost of Linda to testify against Roy rather than just kill him the first chance she got. Those few indecisive moments are all it takes for the feds to seize their opportunity to storm the property. Both sides–the militia and the federal agents, start shooting off their guns and the entire scene devolves into a mini warzone. Dot takes cover to avoid getting hit with a stray while Roy uses the mayhem to his advantage and crawls off unnoticed before the FBI can slap cuffs on him. Once again, he gets away and Dot is devastated by the fact she might not ever be free of this monster. That’s when Officer Witt Farr (Lamorne Morris) swoops in like the hero he is and promises Dot he will find him. Witt-Farr has a debt to pay to Dot for saving his life and he won’t give up until he makes things right with her. He follows Roy’s bloody trail to the dugout where the wanted Sheriff is attempting to make his escape. The two men come face to face in the dank and dark corridors when Roy tries to sneak up behind him and stab Witt Farr in the back. Like Dot, the trooper is no killer, and instead of taking the kill shot he goes by the book and orders Roy to drop the knife. Knowing that the trooper is the only person standing between a lifetime in prison or his freedom, Roy does not take Witt Farr seriously–even after the man shoots a warning shot. After calling for backup the two men seem to be at a standoff. Eventually, Roy follows orders and appears to lay his knife down but he never gets fully to the ground before he turns on a dime and charges at Witt Farr, taking another non-life-threatening bullet in the process. He drives his blade directly into the trooper’s heart and looks him in the eyes as life fades from them. It’s been said that in stories like these, the poet is always the first to die, and in a lot of ways Witt Far fits that description. He had a moral code–a compass guiding him towards what was right. Roy thought his destiny existed on the other side of the dugout’s hatch, but in reality, it was intertwined with Witt Farr’s death. If a debt had to be paid to end this tragedy and set Dot free, Officer Witt Far paid it in blood.

It didn’t take long for the small band of federal agents to take down Roy’s MAGA militia and save Dot–who is grateful, but also concerned over Roy’s whereabouts and Witt Farr’s safety. She is right to be worried when we see Roy falling into Gator’s trap as his blind and disowned son tells the FBI about the dugout escape. So, when a wounded Roy opens the hatch and climbs out, he is surrounded by guns and the gloating smirks of Agent Meyers (Jessica Pohly) and Agent Joaquin (Nick Gomez). They finally got their man, and Gator–who ironically now that he is blind sees the error of his ways, proves what Dot always knew: he is a better man than his father. Speaking of Dot, she forgives him for what he did under Roy’s orders and the two have a heartfelt moment right before she learns about her trooper Witt Farr’s fate. The news of his death breaks her resolve and a “why” leaks out along with her tears. Even Gator hangs his head in shame–knowing he played an important role in this man’s death. If not for catching him stealing that evidence in Dot’s case, Witt Farr might not have made it his mission to end the Tillmans and save Dot. Her war with Roy might be over, but there are a lot of bodies the two left in their wake.

Dot Goes Home

Now that she is free, Dot gets her tearful reunion with Wayne (David Rysdahl) and Scotty (Sienna King). Everyone is happy for her safe return–even Lorraone, who has fully adopted the young woman as a Lyon and daughter worthy of her name. Dot’s strength partnered with her unwavering kindness changed people; It proved Witt Farr to be an honorable man, it changed Gator back into the good kid Dot knew he always could be, and even defrosted the stone-cold heart of Lorraine Lyon and turned her into a lioness who protects her pride.

One year later we catch up with Dot, Scotty, and Indira (Richa Moorjani) paying their respects to Witt Farr at his grave. We learn the officer was one of 7 children–six sisters and has no children of his own to carry on his family’s name. He did, however, leave behind a cat that Indira adopted. As for Dot, she and Wayne opened up a chain of dealerships and she is both her husband’s muse and his bookkeeper. Everyone is thriving, even Indira in her new job with Lorraine. The good vibes seem to be flowing until Dot and Scotty return home to find Wayne chatting with Ole Munch in their living room. Her husband has no idea who the man is, and Dot has no idea why he is there. He helped to save her life, so he can’t be there to settle some old debt. Or can he?

In a divisive ending that pitted fans and critics against each other and their beloved show, the finale comes more like the resolution to last week’s build-up than a stand-alone episode. No hidden twists are leading to more tragedies or deaths, no surprising discoveries or unjust ends tugging at the viewer’s heartstrings. This season put a new face on an old friend and instead of abusing its characters for their human flaws, it granted them forgiveness and a new chance at a better life. We find out Roy is in jail and thanks to Lorraine flooding the prison’s commissary accounts with her money, he is about to have a miserable experience behind bars. When she visits him in person she makes it clear he can kiss his appeals case goodbye and instead, focus on the pain his fellow inmates are about to put him through. She sets his mind at ease–somewhat, by promising he won’t be killed, he’ll just wish he had after his cellmates are done with him. What he did to Dot, Linda, and Karen, was unforgivable and death is too good for him. Lorraine Lyon will make sure he pays for what he did to her “daughter” over, and over, again.

Debts and The Currency of Forgiveness

What her money can’t do is protect Dot from her fate–only she and Ole can do that. Why is Ole at her house? He starts to ramble on about his reasons and why freeing her was necessary because he refuses to hunt a caged tiger–fairness is key to him. Regardless of his issues with Roy and Gator, the men paid him for a job and Ole has traced everything–Irma, Witt Farr, and Danish Grave’s deaths, to his inability to finish what he started. As he explains a bit about his life as a sin eater and debt collector a nervous but steady Dot flips the conversation towards forgiveness being the more humane choice if the alternative is murdering a mother based on a debt someone else says they are owed. She understands Munch has a code, but what if someone who owes can’t pay? Isn’t it kinder to forgive–especially when the debt owed is a figment of some abuser’s imagination? Whichever he chooses–forgiveness or death, it will have to wait because it’s dinner time. Dot gives him the option to either kill her or wash his hands to help with dinner. Ole is flabbergasted by the woman’s ability to steamroll over him with a smile and baked goods and for some reason, he can’t help but let her. Next, we see him mixing biscuits with Scotty and Dot while talking in sinful monologues that keep the tension at the forefront of the scene. His dialogue becomes secondary to the fear that this happy ending Dot fought for can still be ripped away from her by Roy Tillman and his paid hitman. Throughout the dinner-making and eating scenes, Ole continues to try and explain to Dot why he has no other choice but to follow through with his orders but he keeps getting interrupted by the Lyon’s hospitality. It is infectious–with their orange pop and their homemade biscuits that can only be described as orgasmic after Ole takes his first bite. After diving deeply into why food for him is bitter–it tends to be when you only eat the sins of the rich, that one bite of that Bisquik is mind-blowing to him. A new man is born! Tears of tasty joy pour from Ole’s eyes and while we never really know if he let Dot live or not, her straightforward decency seems to have saved her life more than once in this series. After the Hell Roy put her through, I, for one, am glad the show didn’t abuse her more. I hope Dot is still making pancakes for Scotty, Halloween costumes for Wayne, and new and happier memories with her mother-in-law, Lorraine, because like it or not, anything else would be a sin too tragic to swallow.