‘Fargo’ season 2, episode 7 review: Death and the inevitable

With Ed on the loose it’s hard to tell what his next move is going to be on this week’s episode of “Fargo”. Is he going to go back to the house, grab Peggy and run or are the Gerhardt men going to find him and kill him before he has a chance? Let’s see what happens tonight…

We start with a surprise: The show left the whereabouts of Peggy stay under wraps for now, but it was not so much for any reason other than that they had so many other major stories to attend to … and we will begin with death. It’s totally a bummer that Simone is already gone, especially in the inevitable way in which she was. The moment that you saw this character heading out into the woods, didn’t you know on some level what was going to happen to her? Uncle Bear was willing to do the need, and now, we have one less character. On the flip side, Dodd is still out there, and that is one more character to worry about doing crazy stuff later.

The thing here is that “Fargo” can get away with letting a moment linger, and giving you a minute to prepare for and process what is about to happen in ways other shows cannot. Much of the credit for that has to go to the writers for their skill in making these characters layered enough so that even the slightest move sends a shiver down your spine. The slow evolution of Lou and Hank is a part of that, as we can figure out now where their story is going without it even being explicitly said. Patrick Wilson is phenomenal. Oh, so is Cristin Milioti, Jean Smart (Floyd is the most fascinating character going right now), and Nick Offerman. Can we just say everyone is phenomenal and leave it at that?

We’re still not entirely sure what Hank is up to, and anything that gives us reminders of aliens is enough to make us grimace somewhat. Still, it would be foolish for us to let our unease about one little moment take away from a season that really keeps improving week after week. There are three episodes left, and the Gerhardts are gearing up for something big … and something that will probably not end well, since much like the Granthams in “Downton Abbey” (never thought we would make that comparison here), the days of a family running a huge operation are dying. We imagine nightmares of Kansas City coming. Episode grade: A-.

What did you think of tonight’s episode of “Fargo” season 2? Leave us a comment and share your thoughts on the season. (Photo: FX)