After most of the violence played out in last week’s penultimate episode of “Fargo,” the finale takes a much quieter approach, giving each character a satisfying wrap-up. Aside from some initial fallout — which quickly diffused — from the previous episode’s shootout, the episode circles back to the season’s ongoing themes. Each of the main characters says their piece, and the focus quickly shifts back to Lou’s (Patrick Wilson) family life, specifically his wife Betsy (Cristin Milioti) and her struggle with cancer.
Betsy is the highlight of the episode, starting with her refutation of Noreen’s (Emily Haine) Camus-inspired view that the inevitability of death trivializes life. As the most overt representation of this inevitability, terminally-ill Betsy is also the one most capable of responding to it, in contrast to Ed’s (Jesse Plemons) confusion when the idea was brought up earlier in the season.
Betsy’s storyline concludes in an interesting way. While the episode gives a glimpse of the time between the action of season two and her eventual death, the writers decided not to show her death. Instead, the event parallels the low-key ending of both the movie and season one as Lou and Betsy return to quiet domestic bliss. Unlike her counterparts, Norm (John Carroll Lynch) and Gus (Colin Hanks), who spent most of their time on the periphery, Betsy emerged throughout the season as one of the most compelling characters despite her lack of screen time relative to the other characters.
Like Betsy and Noreen, Lou and Peggy (Kirsten Dunst) are given a chance to play their ideas off of each other. For all her emotional instability and literal insanity, the search for autonomy behind Peggy’s actions has been echoed by several of the show’s other female characters. As Lou points out, however, she is blind to all the damage she has caused along the way. Lou’s own family-oriented philosophy is shown in action as he reacts to his wife’s brush with death in the previous episode.
Hanzee (Zahn McClarnon) and Mike Milligan (Bokeem Woodbine) both escape to find their own happy endings, though each proves to be a hollow victory. Hanzee’s arc concludes with a link back to a character in season one and a possible avenue for his appearance in the upcoming third season. This link is unsatisfying, as it shows a shift in his character from an unstoppable force of nature — over the last few episode he was the center of repeated visual nods to the unstoppable Anton Chigurh of “No Country for Old Men” — to a fat mob boss who is quickly killed off by season one’s own unstoppable killer. For Milligan, his hard-earned promotion is the criminal equivalent of a nine-to-five desk job.
While both survive, they leave behind the most fascinating parts of their characters. With season three’s storyline possibly occurring in the 20 or so years between season one and two, it will be interesting to see if either character factors into the upcoming installments.
So far, quiet endings have been the norm for “Fargo,” and this season is no exception, slowing down the pace to spend time with each character before season three jumps to a whole new story.
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