This article contains spoilers for Fargo season 5 (up to episode 9).
With action-packed storylines bringing all the characters together for a climactic standoff, the penultimate episode of Fargo’s latest season – season 5, episode 9, “The Useless Hand” – is building towards an explosive finale next week. “The Useless Hand” was directed by Thomas Bezucha from a script by series creator Noah Hawley. Hawley has sole screenwriting credit on this episode after sharing credit with co-writers on the past three installments. Bezucha has also directed next week’s finale, which makes sense, because this episode feels like part one of the grand finale, setting the stage for a riveting conclusion to the season.
Dot is still trapped at Sheriff Roy Tillman’s ranch, Roy is still priming his heavily armed militia for a battle with the federal government, and State Trooper Witt Farr is still determined to return the favor to Dot after she saved his life. “The Useless Hand” follows on from cliffhangers left up in the air from last week’s episode, like Ole Munch hiding in the back of Gator’s patrol car, waiting to pounce, and picks up story threads from a few episodes back, like the job offer that Lorraine extended to Olmstead. With just one Fargo season 5 episode left to go, there were plenty of big reveals this week.
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10 Ole Munch Has Captured Gator
Gator messed with the wrong 500-year-old sin eater
In last week’s episode, Ole Munch was seen hiding in the back of Gator’s patrol car, waiting to pounce. This week’s episode opens with the aftermath of the pounce as Ole Munch has Gator tied to a chair in a tiny cabin in the middle of nowhere. As Gator tries to bargain with Ole Munch, Ole Munch holds a knife in the flames of the fireplace. When the burning blade is glowing orange, he turns it on a terrified Gator. Ole Munch is later seen dragging Gator through the snow by a rope tied around his neck. He doesn’t want to kill Gator, but he does want to hurt him.
9 Dot Escapes From The Barn
A captive Dot never stays captive for very long
Throughout Fargo season 5, Dot has been captured by various kidnappers and hospital orderlies, and she never stays captive for very long. Shortly after being left chained to a barn in last week’s episode, Dot manages to break out in this week’s episode. She kicks her way through a floorboard in the barn she’s being kept in, then finds a nail she can use to pick the lock on her handcuffs. Roy’s new wife, Karen, catches Dot and holds her at gunpoint. But Dot manages to keep Karen talking long enough to grab the rifle from her.
8 Olmstead Becomes Lorraine’s New Head Of Security
Olmstead finally accepted Lorraine’s job offer
A couple of episodes ago, after Deputy Olmstead stood up to Lorraine, Lorraine was so impressed that she offered her a high-paying private-sector job as her head of security. This week’s episode reveals that, with a mountain of debts to pay off, Olmstead has accepted the job. Her first order of business is to track down the missing Danish Graves. This proves to be a short investigation, because as soon as Dot calls from Roy’s ranch, she reveals his grim fate.
7 Lorraine Calls In The Cavalry
Lorraine seems to get more and more well-connected every week
After Graves’ attempt at blackmail has failed to free Dot from Roy’s ranch, Lorraine takes it a step further in this week’s episode and sends a full military convoy to the ranch. This convoy, led by Agents Meyer and Joaquin – the FBI agents determined to bring Roy to justice – closely follows Roy’s own convoy, comprised of his militia. The presence of this militia explains what happened to all the missing firearms that Meyer and Joaquin were concerned about; as they suspected Roy took them to arm his own private army.
6 Roy Finds Ole Munch’s Bag Of Money In Gator’s Bedroom
This is Roy’s first clue as to where his son might be
At the beginning of the episode, Roy is confused about the whereabouts of Gator. None of his henchmen have heard from Gator and he’s nowhere to be found. While searching the house for an escaped Dot, Roy stumbles across Ole Munch’s bag of money in Gator’s bedroom closet. When he realizes Gator must have gone after Ole Munch and stolen back the money, Roy grows concerned about what his missing son might have gotten himself into (but not because he really cares about Gator’s well-being; he just doesn’t want the hassle).
5 Lorraine Calls Dot Her Daughter
“No daughter of mine is going down on the one-yard line.”
When Fargo season 5 started, Lorraine was convinced that her son’s wife was a wolf in sheep’s clothing conspiring to usurp the family fortune. However, as she’s learned more about Dot’s past, she’s come to really respect her and care about her. In episode 9, when Dot calls Lorraine’s office from Roy’s compound, Lorraine actually accepts her as her own daughter. She says, “No daughter of mine is going down on the one-yard line.” Lorraine triumphantly tells Dot to fight her way out of Roy’s compound before the more level-headed Olmstead steps in to implore her not to join in any fights.
4 Roy’s Henchmen Are Starting To Question His Authority
Roy’s men’s loyalty is starting to waver
Throughout Fargo season 5, Roy has been able to depend on his diehard followers, who have always been willing to put their lives on the line for him. However, after being outwitted by Dot so many times, Roy’s cult-like followers are beginning to question his leadership. Roy’s father-in-law, the leader of the militia, says that Roy was a “conqueror” when he first met him, but that he now seems scared and vulnerable, like he’s running out of options. Roy’s father-in-law asks if Roy is Hitler leading the Third Reich or Hitler cowering in a bunker (and Roy doesn’t seem to mind being compared to Hitler).
3 Ole Munch Returns Gator To Roy
Ole Munch is more about fearmongering than killing
There’s a classic western-style showdown towards the end of Fargo season 5, episode 9, as Roy finds Ole Munch with a rope tied to his son’s neck. Ole Munch monologues for a little while before pushing Gator into his father’s arms and disappearing into the mist. Deeply disappointed in his son (even more so than usual), Roy tells Gator, “If there ever was a point to you, it’s gone now.” Then, to hammer home the cruelty, Roy leaves Gator out in the snow with his hands tied, his eyes blindfolded, and a rope wrapped around his neck.
2 Witt Farr Leads Dot’s Rescue Team
Witt will pay back his life debt to Dot if it kills him
Ever since Dot saved his life at the gas station way back in episode 1, State Trooper Witt Farr has been determined to return the favor. After Dot calls Olmstead to tell her where she is, Olmstead calls Witt. Since Olmstead has no jurisdiction now that she’s quit the police force to take a security job in the private sector, she needs Witt to save Dot. Witt catches up with the military forces about to invade Roy’s ranch and talks them into letting him lead the rescue team to find Dot.
1 Ole Munch Saves Dot
Dot’s own kidnapper saves her from Roy’s corpse pit
Despite his best efforts, Witt is not the one who saves Dot. She’s actually saved by her old nemesis, Ole Munch, who dragged her into this whole mess in the first place when he tried to kidnap her for a fee. Ole Munch finds Dot hiding out in the pit where Roy dumps his murder victims. He tells her that fighting a caged tiger is no fight at all before helping her out of the corpse pit and arming her with a rifle. Now, in the Fargo season 5 finale, Dot and Ole Munch are on a level playing field to exact vengeance against Roy.
