Ah, the brilliance that is the randomness and pointlessness that is Fargo. And I mean that in the best possible way. Was there any point to see Gloria take off from Minnesota and head to Hollywood investigate her step-father's death? No, not at all, because we all know his death was an accidental murder somehow related to the Stussy brothers. But leave it to Noah Hawley and crew to create an hour long one-off story that somehow feels like it's completely necessary to viewers. If for nothing else, this episode provided us with a wonderful place to just watch Carrie Coon do her thing waltzing through an unsolvable crime. That's exactly what we got. It's not usual that we get an episode focused on one main character, but perhaps that's just what we need to keep this story moving forward in a unique direction. It also gave us a chance to go back to the 70's era, where last season took place, and see Ennis Stussy's life when he wrote screenplays that seemed to be heavily inspired by Star Wars (albeit a year or two before its release). Heck, if we are talking inspirations, this episode as a whole could be seen as an homage to Twin Peaks, with a cop investigating the murder with strange circumstances and even an appearance from Ray Wise himself. This version of Stussy was played by up and coming actor Thomas Mann, from Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, and also most recently Kong: Skull Island. That whole thing played out interesting as it was revealed that he changed his last name to Stussy via a name seen on the rim of a toilet. Could that feel any more like a Coen Brothers plot point? So in all, this episode didn't necessarily trudge the plot forward like I thought it might, but it may have been just the off-shoot we needed.
8.7/10
