Spoilers are ahead for Fargo season 5, episode 9, “The Useless Hand.”
“Now the tiger is free” is a phrase Fargo season 5 viewers will be thinking about for some time — specifically in relation to Ole Munch’s (Sam Spruell) surprising decision in episode 9, “The Useless Hand.” In the anthology series’ fifth outing, Juno Temple stars as Dot Lyon, a Minnesota homemaker whose life is upended when her troubling past comes back to haunt her. Part of that past is Jon Hamm’s corrupt North Dakota Sheriff Roy Tillman, though Spruell’s Ole Munch, a strange and dangerous criminal who holds vendettas against Dot and Tillman, isn’t far behind. Fargo season 5, episode 9, however, takes some surprising turns for Dot.
There’s no doubt that Ole Munch is one of Fargo season 5’s most intriguing personalities. For starters, Ole Munch’s a 500-year-old sin-eater — a being who consumes a ritual meal in order to take on the sins of the deceased. While Ole Munch spends most of episode 9 torturing Gator (Joe Keery), Tillman’s brash son, the sin-eater does cross paths with Dot. However, the penultimate episode opens with Dot still trapped at Roy Tillman’s ranch as he primes his militia for a battle with the feds. Meanwhile, State Trooper Witt Farr (Lamorne Morris) is determined to rescue Dot as a “thank you” for saving his life.
Ole Munch Helps Save Dot In Fargo Season 5, Episode 9
Early on in the episode, Dot escapes through the barn’s floor. Thankfully, there’s enough chaos afoot to act as a smokescreen for the first stage of her escape. Roy Tillman, who knows he’ll be facing the feds soon, calls upon his fellow “patriots” to join his militia and help him defend the ranch. While Dot manages to call her husband, Wayne (David Rysdahl), Roy’s second wife, Karen (Rebecca Liddiard), tries to thwart her getaway. After Dot overpowers Karen, she calls her influential-yet-cold mother-in-law, Lorraine “Queen of Debt” Lyon (Jennifer Jason Leigh), who assures Dot that well-armed help is on its way to Tillman’s ranch.
Fargo Season 5 Soundtrack Guide – Every Song & When It Plays
The Fargo season 5 soundtrack is full of great needle-drops. The fifth season of the FX crime drama features songs by Yes, Rush, and Marilyn Manson.
While Munch leaves a blindfolded Gator off at Roy’s feet, Dot seeks refuge in the ranch’s well — the very same hole in the ground where Roy previously dumped the body of Lorraine’s attorney, Danish Graves (Dave Foley). Unfortunately, the well isn’t much of a hiding spot: three of Roy’s deputies swarm the makeshift grave. Seemingly cornered with no means of escape, Dot is saved by the very person who dragged her into the whole mess: Ole Munch. Before helping her out of the well, Dot’s would-be kidnapper explains that fighting a caged tiger isn’t really a fight at all. Undoubtedly, Ole Munch’s decision sets up an intriguing finale.
How Ole Munch’s Decision To Set Dot Free Connects To His Feud With Roy Tillman
Quite possibly Fargo‘s best installment in 8 years, season 5 sets up what’s sure to be a thrilling finale. Given Ole Munch’s decision to free Dot, the two might just team up to exact vengeance against their common enemy: Roy Tillman. Ole Munch’s actor, Sam Spruell, believes his character’s decision stems from his deep-seated recognition of a fellow victim. “He’s trapped in sin, not of his own making,” Spruell told TVInsider, “and she is trapped in this cycle of violence, also not of her own making.” Shackled to their pasts, Ole Munch and Dot have the chance to lay things to rest in Fargo season 5’s finale.
