Warning: This article contains spoilers for Fargo season 5 (up to episode 6).
With Lorraine’s purchase of a bank getting complicated by the meddling sheriff and Gator secretly keeping tabs on the Tillmans’ vengeful hired goon, Fargo season 5, episode 6 has delivered plenty of big reveals. The episode is titled “The Tender Trap,” named after the strip club frequented by the banker that Lorraine is trying to shake down for an easy sale. “The Tender Trap” was directed by Dana Gonzales, who also helmed last week’s episode, from a script co-written by series creator Noah Hawley and Umbrella Academy writer Bob DeLaurentis.
This is the first episode of the season not to feature Juno Temple’s lead character, Dot Lyon, leaving her whereabouts a mystery after last week’s cliffhanger. But that allowed this episode to shed more of a spotlight on supporting characters like Lorraine, Ole Munch, and Sheriff Roy Tillman. “The Tender Trap” has more bombshell revelations about these characters and their storylines than any previous installment. From Deputy Olmstead digging deeper into the latest kidnapping to Agents Meyer and Joaquin finally telling Wayne the truth about his wife, “The Tender Trap” is full of unexpected twists and turns that will have massive ramifications for the rest of the season.
12 Sheriff Tillman Prevents Lorraine’s Purchase Of The Bank
He Intimidates Vivian Dugger By Stripping Him At A Strip Club
In the opening scene of Fargo season 5, episode 6, Sheriff Tillman pays a visit to Vivian Dugger, the banker who reluctantly agreed to sell his bank to Lorraine in last week’s episode. Tillman meets Vivian on his way out of a strip club called The Tender Trap – the namesake of the episode – and intimidates him into backing out of the deal to get back at Lorraine for her lack of cooperation. To send the right message, Tillman leaves the banker’s shirt and a note that reads, “Not on my watch,” at the reception in Lorraine’s corporate headquarters.
11 Tillman Realizes Gator Kidnapped The Wrong Guy (& Kills The Wrong Guy)
When He Sees Wayne’s TV Commercial, He Realizes Gator’s Crew Is Roughing Up The Wrong Man
At the end of last week’s episode, Sheriff Tillman sent Gator and his crew to kidnap Dot’s new husband Wayne from his hospital bed. However, Dot switched the names on the doors just in time for Gator’s crew to abduct the wrong guy. Instead of kidnapping Wayne, they kidnapped a cancer patient named Jordan Seymore. After seeing one of Wayne’s commercials on TV, Tillman realizes the man that Gator kidnapped isn’t Dot’s husband. Tillman can’t let Jordan go, because he could identify them, so he kills him instead.
10 Deputy Olmstead Is Investigating The Kidnapping
She’s Taken On Two Kidnapping Cases Back-To-Back
After investigating Dot’s kidnapping, Deputy Olmstead is now investigating Jordan’s kidnapping. When she notices that the names on the doors have been switched, she realizes Jordan’s kidnappers were looking for Wayne. She finds Wayne being questioned by Agents Meyer and Joaquin, which bothers her because they’re encroaching on her case.
9 Agents Meyer & Joaquin Tell Wayne About Dot’s True Identity
Now Wayne Knows Dot Isn’t Her Real Name
When Agents Meyer and Joaquin try to question Wayne for any information he might have about Dot’s whereabouts, it becomes clear that they have more information than he does. Wayne has been suspicious of his wife for a while now, but Meyer and Joaquin finally tell him about Dot’s true identity: Nadine. Wayne is shocked to learn that his wife isn’t who he thought she was.
8 Olmstead Lies To Wayne About Dot’s Whereabouts
She Tells Wayne She Hasn’t Heard From Dot
When Olmstead catches up with Wayne and the FBI agents, Wayne asks if Olmstead has heard from Dot. At the end of last week’s episode, Dot arrived at Olmstead’s house to drop off her daughter Scotty. She told Olmstead the whole truth about her marriage to Tillman and the failed kidnapping, and headed off into the night to fix everything. But Olmstead doesn’t tell Wayne about any of this; she says she hasn’t heard from Dot but assures him that she and Scotty are probably fine.
7 Gator Puts A Tracking Device On Ole Munch’s Car
Their Business Isn’t Done After All
Ole Munch reconvenes with the Tillmans in episode 6 to hopefully put an end to the revenge business. Sheriff Tillman pays off Ole Munch with his original fee plus a little extra and sends him on his way. But before Ole Munch drives away, Gator plants a tracking device on his car so he can follow him to his new home.
6 Olmstead Recognizes Tillman From Lorraine’s House
She Spots Him In Meyer & Joaquin’s Files
All the connections between the characters are starting to fall into place in episode 6. When Olmstead sees a picture of Sheriff Tillman in the FBI agents’ files, she recognizes him from when he visited Lorraine’s house. Now, when she sees him again, she’ll know who he is.
5 Lorraine Also Lies To Wayne About Dot’s Whereabouts
She Tells Wayne That Dot Has Gone Sightseeing
Olmstead isn’t the only one who lies to Wayne about where Dot is; his own mother, Lorraine, tells a similar lie. Lorraine tells Wayne that Dot and Scotty have gone out of town on a sightseeing trip and they’ll be back soon. While Scotty is at the Olmsteads’ house, what Lorraine said about Dot is technically true; she has gone out of town, but not to sightsee.
4 Olmstead Brings Scotty Back To Lorraine’s House
Olmstead’s Husband Lars Is Less Mature Than Scotty
When Olmstead goes out to work for the day, she leaves Scotty under the care of her husband, Lars, the wannabe pro golfer that she’s growing increasingly frustrated with. As it turns out, Scotty is actually more mature than Lars. After learning that Lars left Scotty alone in the house all day while he went to physical therapy, Olmstead realizes Scotty can’t stay with her, so she takes her back to Lorraine’s house, where she reunites with her father.
3 Lorraine Offers Olmstead A Job
As Her Head Of Security
While Olmstead is at Lorraine’s house, she finally stands up to Lorraine and calls out her superiority complex. Lorraine is impressed by Olmstead’s courage and offers her a job as her head of security. Olmstead is reluctant to take the job, but she doesn’t turn it down; she just tells Lorraine she needs time to think about it.
2 Lorraine Financially Ruins The Banker Who Backed Out Of The Deal
Don’t Cross Lorraine Lyon
When she finds out that Tillman has intimidated Vivian into backing out of the bank deal, Lorraine calls Vivian to inform him that, as an act of vengeance, she’s going to financially ruin him. She tells him that she’s frozen all his bank accounts and he’ll spend the rest of his days in squalor. Vivian’s son is in his first semester at Notre Dame and he’s just been expelled because the tuition check bounced. Maybe Lorraine’s bank deal isn’t completely dead after all.
1 Lorraine Is Finally Starting To Feel Sympathy For Dot
After Seeing Crime Scene Photos Of Tillman’s Abuse
When Olmstead visits Lorraine, she drops off a case file detailing Dot’s backstory. As Lorraine flicks through the file that Olmstead gave her in the final scene of Fargo’s latest episode, she sees photos of the horrific injuries inflicted on Dot by Tillman’s physical abuse. For once, Lorraine actually feels sympathy for her daughter-in-law.
