‘Fargo’ Season 3, Episode 9 Recap: ‘You Think the World Is Something’

Hey Nikki - you go, girl! Love the character, love the actress.

What’s the deal with poor Shea Whigham playing dimwit law enforcement officers? I can’t make up my mind who is the biggest loser of Chief Dammick in “Fargo” and Eli Thompson in “Boardwalk Empire”.

I'll agree on the mis-steps this season. But Peter and the Wolf wasn't one. :) Carrie Coon for all shows!

Is it me, or is David Thewlis consciously channeling Jeremy Corbin's north counties accent in his role as Varga? He sounds--as Corbyn does--like someone who grew up in York but has had years of living in London wear away at his vowels. I also like his National Health teeth. Anyone else have this reaction?

Wow, wow, wow, what an episode! I agree with you--the best of the season! This show is so beautifully presented in every way possible. Movies are taking a back seat to TV with Fargo, Better Call Saul, The Young Pope and many others. Ewan has been amazing in the two roles as well as Coon. But Varga is such a creepy villian---eating the ice cream in the stall with the camera coming closer and closer was as scary as a Hitchcock scene such as the ending shot of Psycho with Norman,(Mother) staring at us. Thewlis and those teeth!!!

Still wondering, did they use a body double for the bathtub scene in the first eppisode

Another possible movie reference: Thomas Crown Affair MK2. Beige Rain Coats vs Bowlers and umbrellas.

line of season 3 - "this guy must really hate stussys".

One more point (obviously, I like this show), occasionally certain scenes capsulize a season. In Season One, Billy Bob Thornton turns to Lester in the elevator and says, "Is this what you want, Lester?" And, Thornton's eyes are mesmerizing; they literally seem to glow.

In this penultimate episode of Season Three, Gloria exasperatedly asks Emmit, "Who IS he?" "Who?' "The master pulling the strings. The guy I met in your office who said he sold ladies shoes. This is all him, isn't it?" I re-watched that scene probably four times, and was mesmerized by Gloria's understanding of the situation and the futility in her voice.

Wonderful, wonderful television.

The television “Fargo” is a frustrating blend of crime story, thriller, gratuitous gore, cartoon violence (anvil falls on coyote, coyote survives, chases road runner anew; bad guys pummel Nikki (rather than kill her when they had the chance), Nikki survives, chases bad guys anew), character studies, random other-worldly touches, stylish camera work, side stories, idiosyncratic plot manipulations and wink-wink references to Coen brother films.

One can choose to sit back, relax and enjoy this oddball dramatic stew or, if otherwise captivated enough to view it in its entirety, groan out loud at its severe illogic and numerous plot holes.

I take the latter approach. While some would marvel at the creativity of the show’s writers, I feel it’s far more difficult to write a truly consistent, logical, innovative mystery, crime story or thriller (along the lines of many classics like “The Maltese Falcon,” “Chinatown” or TV’s “Damages”) than a story that can go in any direction, at any time, that the writers choose.

Who could argue if Gloria suddenly possesses super powers in the finale, or Vargas turns out to be the police chief’s long-lost father, or the widow Goldfarb is an undercover FBI agent? Anything goes and anything can be justified as a wonderful writer idea.

A guess, based on this season's opening scene: In some way in the finale, "Stussy" is going to be somehow
related to "Stasi."

I thought the big envelope at the end was addressed to "Large Dullard". Ha!

Easily one of the best shows on television -- maybe THE best. Excellent writing and acting. Interesting plot lines. Sometimes it doesn't quite reach the high bar it has set for itself, but, more often than not, it does.

I love this show...only one more episode....boo hoo.

The camera framing on that interrogation scene was artistically perfect. In fact, the camera work on the entire episode was fabulous. Was the office-room set for the IRS agent built with exaggerated perspective? Whatever caused the wonky effect, it worked a treat. I do love the wordless scenes in Fargo.

Best line ever: "If I have to look that thing in the eye again, sober...". Yep. "Thank God for KY."

I'm glad Nikki gets to be the smart chick here. Just what I was hoping for -- powerful women for the win! (Kudos to her makeup artist, btw.)

I don't know whether anyone has mentioned this here, but wasn't the illustration on the framed stamp Sisyphus rolling his boulder? Kind of a good metaphor for all the Fargo iterations, dontcha' think?

What does VM stand for? Vile Maxim?

Love the reviews. Such a great series!

"I'm thinking about going to the lake this weekend, do some canoeing". No you won't, not until late April after ice out, and based on the outside scenes and the snow boots Gloria is wearing, it ain't April. Looks like March, based on personal experience.

My prediction IRS guy will be channeling Lois Lerner, and go after those he is instructed to persecute.

What kind of idiot is Gloria if she doesn't know the copycat murderer got information from the police about the deaths of Ennis and Ray? And that the bus accident was caused by people looking for Nikki, therefore pointing to the police, who are the only ones who knew Nikki was on the bus? And that a guy in uniform was able to sneak into the locked cells to try to kill Nikki?

And how have Nikki and Wrench, on the lam from the law, not only able to survive, but flourish? There would be a manhunt for them, yet they show up with weapons, new gun moll clothing and makeup three months after their escape? Did Yahweh/Yeshua leave tens of thousands of dollars in that VW bug? Why didn't Wrench kill Meemo? Why another blood-in-the-dairy-product scene? Can we stop with Varga's teeth already?

A man named Varga was Stalin's economist. I'm guessing Varga is the "economist" for Mrs Goldberg.

Two terrific scenes in this episode that stood out last night...Gloria Burgle's interrogation of Emmit at the start of the show, and the VERY intense scene in the hotel lobby with Nikki and Varga verbally sparring over the silver briefcase while a sniper watched over them and the lobby filled up with men in raincoats. Exquisite writing and impeccable acting. Well done!

Nikki and Mr. Wrench's truck-jacking was brilliant but all too much so. I hope the writers explain how they managed to show up with an automatic weapon and such a plan. How did they even know about Varga's operation and that the truck would be on the move? How did they happen to be at that red stop light at the time and how did they get there with a car waiting at the junk yard? The last we saw them before they were driving away bruised and bleeding in the VW. Somebody must have helped them. I guess Mr. Wrench still had his underworld contacts. I forget who he was working for in season 1.

Very inside baseball.

A film reference NOT from the Coen universe: "The biggest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he doesn't exist." That's a Kevin Spacey line in THE USUAL SUSPECTS. Of course, there, Spacey's character turned out to be the devil. Here the line is delivered by Emmit whose guilt over the fate of his brother makes him think of himself as the devil. But he's really just a poor schlub who made a deal with him.

Here's wishing they'll order a 4th season , one that somehow at least resumes , if not pivoting outright on , the UFO backbeat . Permanently marking that as stranded narrative asset would be dispiriting .

" Eating Rocky Road ice cream in a bathroom stall. We’ve all been there, Varga."
If you are a teenage bulimic. I do that with pride on my sofa!

Finally a "Normal" episode without excessive weirdness. This episode actually moves the story forward. Gloria and Nikki are finally more than window dressing.

Quick question. Why would a man with millions of dollars not fix his teeth? Or get new ones. I know he's British but I feel like rich British people would get dental work. Someone please explain this.

WTF sprinklers working in Minnesota in winter??? If they are not turned off and blown out prior to winter they are toast. Southern California Writers = Fail in sprinkler department.

The widow Golfarb is the ultimate boss. She is pulling all the evil strings.

So, Mary Winstead wins the Emmy for this year as does Kyle McLachlan. What great performances by the two of them.

Finally, a good episode.

You nailed it .