Fargo (2014–…): Season 2, Episode 10 - Palindrome - full transcript

This is a true story.

The events depicted
took place in Minnesota,

North and South Dakota in 1979.

At the request of the survivors,

the names have been changed.

Out of respect for the dead...

The rest has been told
exactly as it occurred.

Feeling better then?

Mmm.

Doc says you had a reaction
to those pills they gave you.

I told him they were
supposed to kill the cancer,



but he says the pills
may kill you first.

Hmm?

Is Lou back?

No, and no word either.

Something to eat?

Oh, God, no.

My dad?

Same. No word.

And Molly?

Tried to put her in her own
bed, but she wouldn't go.

Stubborn. Yeah.

She gets that from her dad.

If you're not gonna eat,
Doc says sleep.

Get your strength back.



Hmm.

So, you stay lying down, you.

And it's okay,
I'll be right here.

That night, I had a dream.

Next week, we'll discuss
economic concepts...

it felt so real,

even though I knew
it couldn't be,

or wasn't yet.

Yes, Molly.

I dreamt of a magical future,
filled with wondrous devices.

Where everything
you could ever want

would be available
in one amazing place.

All right.

Hey. Mmm-hmm. Daddy.

Just one more. BETSY: And
there was happiness there.

But then I saw farther still.

Years, decades into the future.

I saw a handsome older man,
his back still straight.

Visited by his children
and grandchildren.

People of accomplishment,
of contentment.

But then,

I saw chaos.

The fracture of peace
and enlightenment.

And I worried,
that the future I had seen,

magical and filled with light...

Yeah.
...might never come to pass.

Go.

I can make it.

Dinner Sunday?

I'll be there.
In a suit of armor.

Hey!

Hey, hey! Hey, hey, mister!

What's the trouble, young fella?

Mister, we need a ride.

Come on.

People of Earth.

I'm home.

Come on, Ed.

Come on. Come on.

Come on, you're gonna be okay.

Just a little further. Look.

Come on.

Get outta here.

Sweet Christmas.

Get outta here! Go on, get outta here!
There's a bad man coming!

Okay, I'm gonna use the phone.
I'm gonna call...

Hon, come on. Let's go, come on.

Come on.

Oh! Don't! Don't!

You were supposed to watch
them, Ed and Peggy.

Come on.

Yeah. Okay.

I don't know, Ed.

It's okay.

We can lock it from the inside.

Hide out till they're...
Till we're rescued.

World War III out there
in case you didn't notice.

You okay there? Don't start.

She blindsided me, okay?
A pack of wolves at the door.

I didn't think the bitch...

Didn't think she'd be
dumb enough to sucker me.

Only one way he could
have gone, Hanzee. Huh?

And your feeling is we go the
same way, instead of home to bed.

Yeah. In a hurry.

FUBAR, yeah? FUBAR.

We got to lock it.

Here.

Come on, come on.

Here.

Sit down. You can do it.
Come on. You sit here.

Come here.

Sorry. I gotta...

It's bad.

Hold on. Let me just see
how bad it is.

Okay.

You're gonna be okay.

Peggy, I don't think
we're gonna make it.

Don't you say that,
Ed Blumquist.

We've come this far.
We're gonna go all the way.

No, I'm saying even
if we get out of this,

I don't think we're gonna
make it, you and me.

What are you saying?
We're just too different.

Don't say that.
This, what we been through...

Adversity, that's what
seals the bond.

Makes us stronger.

Like how a bone heals. Peg...

Peg...

No. No, I know I had my doubts.
I know, but I'm sure now.

Peg. Will you just let me talk?
I'm sure.

You're always trying
to fix everything,

but sometimes nothing's broken.

Everything's working just fine.

If you can't see that,
if you don't know that...

Ed.

I love you.

I do.

All I'm ever gonna want
is to get back to what we had.

Hello.

Gale, be reasonable.

From this moment forward,

I decree, no more
schnitzel or strudel.

Let's get some
American food up in...

Everyone's dead.

Forget something?

Well, you caught me.

I thought nobody was home.

We're here.

Remind me which one
you are again?

The kid Otto had with the maid?

You see the shotgun, right?

What, you couldn't
afford a real one?

Times are tough, friend-o.

Hey, why do you think
I'm stealing the silver?

Hey, maybe

in the spirit of human struggle,

we say bygones.

You let me get back in my car
and drive away.

Do you know what the definition
of the word "sovereignty" is?

What am I,

Professor from Gilligan's island?

Sovereignty is absolute
power and authority.

Like a king? Exactly.

Which is who I am.

Your king.

Uh...

It's America, brother.

We don't do kings.

Oh, we do.

We do.

We just call them
something else.

See, today is my coronation day.

And on coronation day,
I've always believed,

a new king should start his
reign with an act of kindness.

Right on.

And an act of cruelty.

That way, your subjects know
that you're capable of both.

God and monster.

Shit.

Sign me up for the first one.

Problem is,
Wilma works in the kitchen.

Oh, the Injun?

Right.

She has already
received my kindness,

to wit, a brand new car,

and all the money that was in
that cabinet you were searching.

Damn.

Which means you...
Don't tell me.

...are shit out of luck.

Story of my life, brother.

Hey, you ever been to Baltimore?

An act of cruelty, remember?

Well, I'm bushed, think
I'm gonna go take a nap.

You should get some rest, too.

For in the morning, we journey home
to bathe in that warm champagne

that is corporate praise.

Who knows?

Maybe they'll even
throw us a parade.

I love a parade.

Ed, save your strength, huh?

You're gonna be fine and
we'll figure this all out.

And I know I've been
nothing but trouble to you.

I know.

Maybe he just walks away.

He's trying to smoke us out!

Help me, Ed.

They'll see... Somebody...
They'll see and they'll...

They'll call someone.

They'll see.

Oh, my God, Ed.

It's just like the movie.

The movie I was
watching this morning.

With the guy all tied up.

The Gerhardt, on the TV.

There was this...
There was this couple.

This French...
And they were on the run.

From the Nazi...

And the husband,
or whatever he was,

he got shot, just like you.

But then they hid out in this...

Well, it wasn't a supermarket,
it was a farmhouse,

but they hid out,

and the Nazi tried to smoke 'em out.
Just like this.

But they got out!

Ed, they got out.

They were saved!

Ed.

Ed? Ed!

No! Ed?

Ed!

No.

Peggy! It's okay. It's okay.

It's me. It's me. Where is he?

Where is he? It's okay.

I'll kill him!
No, no, no. He's gone.

No, you're lying to me!
He's gone.

Put this down!
No, no! You stay back!

Where is he?
Where is the Indian?

Where is he? He tried
to smoke us out! Stop.

Just like in the movie!
Peggy, there's no smoke!

No! No. There's no smoke.

We need to check on Ed.
He's shot. He's shot!

He's shot and the Indian,
where is he?

He tried to light a fire,
just like in the movie!

Just like in the movie!

Where is he?

Peggy. Where's the Indian?

Just look at me. Okay...

He lit a fire. No, the
Indian got away, okay?

We followed Ed's
blood trail, okay?

Kicked in the door. Us.

No, he's here. The Indian
was never in the building.

No. He was. No.

Ed'll tell you. Ed.

Ed! Ed!

Come on, Ed, we're saved.

Ed, they're here!

We're rescued. Ed!

Ed? Ed!

Come on, Ed.

There's a manhunt
underway for our man.

He won't get far.

Local PD says your
father-in-law's in the ICU.

"Cautiously optimistic"
is the report.

What about your boss?

I don't even know
how to write this thing up.

Where to begin.

Well, like anything, I guess.

You know, start at the start
and work your way to the end.

Okay, then.

You're gonna be okay.

I'm gonna take Peggy Blumquist
back to Minnesota.

Anyone's got a problem
with that...

Well, after the week I've had,
they can keep it to themselves.

Mmm.

Morning.

Is Lou back? No.

So...

Is it...

Do you feel it?

Feel what?

My aunt lost her
bosom to cancer.

Said it felt like somebody took a hot
poker and put it through her heart.

No. Not like that.

Not yet.

You know how sometimes you get a
peach from the bowl and one side is

ripe and yellow, and the
other is black and moldy?

That's the only way
I can think to describe it.

Camus says knowing we're
gonna die makes life absurd.

Well, I don't know who that is,

but I'm guessing he doesn't
have a six-year-old girl.

He's French.

I don't care if he's from Mars.

Nobody with any sense would
say something that foolish.

We're put on this Earth
to do a job,

and each of us gets
the time we get to do it.

And when this life is over

and you stand
in front of the Lord...

Well, you try telling Him it
was all some Frenchman's joke.

Do you think...

Is there any chance
I could be tried federal?

Why?

I thought, well, maybe I could
serve my time in California.

There was this news
report on the TV

about how there's
this penitentiary

just north of San Francisco
that looks out on the bay?

Doesn't that sound nice?

Maybe see a pelican.

We'll see what we can do.

I was there at the end,
you know.

After the war, when Saigon fell.

On the USS Kirk,
patrolling the coast.

And when the country went,
it went fast.

And we had, like, you know,
24 hours to get everybody out.

But not just Americans, but our
allies, the South Vietnamese.

All packed onto
boats and helicopters.

We stood on the deck
and waved them in.

One by one, they'd land, unload,

and then we'd push
the whirlybirds into the sea.

Damnedest thing.

But then this Chinook comes,
and those things...

Well, you just can't land one
on a ship this size.

So we wave him off.

But the pilot's got
his whole family inside,

and he's running out of fuel,
so it's now or never.

So he hovers over the deck.

People start jumping,

scared or not, onto the ship.

There was a baby.

Literally, a tiny baby.

And the mother just...

Just drops him.

And one of my boys...

Like catching a ball...

He just sticks out his hands...

So, now, everybody's out,

and I'm thinking how the heck is this
pilot, right, how's he gonna get out?

But he maneuvers
off the port bow

and he hovers there
for the longest time doing,

you know, what we learn later,

uh, taking off his flight suit.

And somehow he rolls
the bird on its side,

and just before it
hits the water, he jumps.

Six thousand pounds,

angry helicopter parts
flying all around him.

And somehow he makes it.

How'd he do that?

What are you saying?

Your husband.

He said he was gonna protect
his family no matter what,

and I acted like
I didn't understand,

but I do.

It's the rock we all push, men.

We call it our burden, but...

It's really our privilege.

I never meant for
any of this to happen.

You know?

Not to Ed.

Not to anybody.

I just wanted to be someone.

Well, you're somebody now.

No. See,

I wanted to choose.

Be my own me.

Not be defined by
someone else's expectations...

And then that guy...
That stupid guy!

Walked out into the...

Why did he have to do that?

You mean the victim?

No. That's not fair.

'Cause I'm a victim, too.

Was a victim first.

Before him. Victim of what?

Well, it's...

You wouldn't understand,
you're a man.

It's a lie, okay?

That you can do it all.

Be a wife, and a mother, and
this self-made career woman...

Like there's 37 hours in a day.

And then, when you can't,
they say it's you.

You're faulty.

Like...

Like...

Like you are inferior somehow.

And then, like, if you could
just get your act together

until you're half-mad with...

People are dead, Peggy.

Stay put.

Solverson residence.

Oh, thank God.

Who is this? Noreen?

Is that you, Mr. Solverson?
Yeah.

We've been trying to...

I mean, all night
we've been calling,

and the operator didn't
know where you were...

What happened? Well, it's...

She's fine...

Just had a...

Well, she fell, is all.

Something about
the pills they gave her.

What do you mean, she fell?

Where's Molly?
She's here. At home.

We all are.

Your missus is sleeping and the
girl right there with her.

She's stubborn all right,
your daughter.

Your wife says she
gets that from you.

But the doctor...
He says your missus is fine.

Just needs rest and then to come
in next week for some more tests.

She's sleeping currently.

I told her I'd sit up with
Molly until you got home.

Okay, well, uh,

I got a suspect in custody.

On my way back from
Sioux Falls, so, uh...

Tell Betsy I'll be home soon as I can.
Okeydoke.

And, Noreen?

Thank you. You betcha.

And so, great empires fall
and are forgotten.

You're thinking, why Tripoli?

Well, Tripoli, not to be
confused with Levantine Tripoli

in the country of Lebanon,

was founded in Libya in the seventh
century by the Phoenicians.

Then was conquered
by the Romans.

And then by the Spanish
and then by the Turks.

You see where I'm going.

I need a face man.

His details are inside.

I'm assuming you want
more than just a skin peel.

Something structural...

A whole new man.

Like the phoenix,
rising from the ashes.

What'll you do then, I wonder.

Join a new empire?

Maybe start one of my own.

So that it, too,

may one day collapse
and fall into the sea.

Do I take it you'll try to
get revenge on Kansas City?

Apprehend those responsible?

'Cause you can bet Kansas City
will be heavily guarded.

Not apprehend.

Dead.

Don't care "heavily guarded."

Don't care "into the sea."

Kill and be killed.

Head in a bag.

Drop 'em down.

Put 'em down.

Dummy!

Look, you did good.

I had my doubts, but, uh, you
really brought this thing home.

I had a few breaks.
Don't do that.

Take praise and turn it
into something else.

You're right. I'm sorry.

And don't apologize.

You still got a few
rungs left to climb.

You're not gonna get there
saying you're sorry.

Got it. Thank you, sir.

I did.

I worked hard night and day
to get this done,

I don't mind telling you.

Which is why I was thinking,
for this setup in Fargo,

I'd like to handpick
a few men...

No, no, no.
That's the day-to-day stuff.

We got a team for that.

Asset managers, mid-level and below.
Drones, really.

They've already been deployed.

The real oversight of the new
northern territories...

Well, that happens right here,
in this building.

Which is where you want me.

Assuming you don't wanna be
a grunt your entire life.

No. Of course not.

Good. Then pay attention.

It's 9:00 to 5:00 mostly, but
management rewards initiative,

so, nights, weekends,
whatever gets the job done.

You'll be working closely with
the, uh, accounting department,

looking for ways to
optimize revenue.

Shorter shipping routes, less palms
to grease, that kind of thing.

The accounting department.

Yeah, and this whole, uh, Western thing.
That's gotta go.

Get something gray or pinstriped with
a white shirt, a real tie.

And cut your hair, okay?

The '70s are over, for Christ's sake.

See, I thought, well...

In the old days, when a
guy conquered a place...

You want the old days?

Go work in a coal mine.

This is the future.

Look, you and I got off
on the wrong foot,

but you seem like a good kid,
so let me give you a tip.

The sooner you realize there's only
one business left in the world...

The money business,
just ones and zeros,

the better off you're gonna be.

Sir, believe me, I'm an earner.

Yeah, yeah, but listen to me,

I'm not talking about
busting heads for collections.

I'm talking about
profit and loss...

Infrastructure.

See,

last year, Donahue in
the western branch...

He rejiggered the mail room,

ended up saving a million
a quarter in postage.

Now, management was so impressed

they gave him California.

The mail room? Yeah.

Why didn't I think
of that, right?

Uh, anyway, settle in.

Dale from HR's gonna come by with
a few forms for you to fill out,

health insurance, 401 k...

And then, uh, get to work.

Quarterly projections and revenue
statements are due on the 13th.

We're expecting
big things from you.

Oh, uh...

You play golf?

Golf?

It's a great game.
You should learn.

That's where all the deals
are being done these days.

Look who I found.

Poppa!

Ow! Careful, careful now.

Give your poppa some room.

No, no. Okay.

This is just
the medicine I need.

Well, you okay then?

You need to lie down? Nah.

No. No?

I'll take a beer though,
if you got one.

Lou? Hell, yes.

I mean, "heck." Heck.

I think we earned one or 10.

Hey, Sheriff.

Noreen.

Heard you're, uh, running
the place now. Oh...

It's mostly just
babysitting and laundry.

She's been a real lifesaver.

Come on, squirt.

Let's get your party dress on.

See you in the funny papers.

Well...

More pie, Dad?

Not unless you want me
to burst my stitches.

So...

You gonna put that
in your report then?

What? Gunfight interrupted
by a spacecraft?

Yeah, maybe leave that subtext.

And this Hanzee fella?

Uh...

Made the FBI's Most Wanted.

First one of those I worked,
but so far, nothing.

Probably fled the border
to Winnipeg or Points North.

Yeah. He'll
show up again, I'm sure...

Like it or not.

You okay, hon? Yeah, sure.

It's just a cramp.

We're a sad bunch, huh?

Next thing, Lou will be
grouching about his sciatica.

Yeah.

Well, we're sitting
here together.

That's what matters.

A man once said,

"You'll know the angels
when they come,

"'cause they'll have
the faces of your children."

Anyway. Um...

Just happy to
see you is all, Bet.

So, Dad, I fed your cats while
you were in the hospital.

And they're grateful, I'm sure.
Yeah.

And when I went over there
the first time...

I went in your office.

Ah...

So, uh...

Well, okay.

So...

After your mother died,
I got to feeling pretty low.

We all did.

And I took... Well, you
remember, I took some time off.

And I started thinking...

Which I know is dangerous...

But, you know,

the things I've seen...

In the war,

and at home, on the job...

So much senselessness.

Violence, you know?
And I got to thinking about...

About miscommunication.

Like how, isn't that
the root of it?

Conflict, war... Doesn't it
all come down to language?

Right? The words we say
and the words we hear,

which aren't always
the same thing.

So, I thought, you know, what
if there was one language?

A universal language of
symbols, 'cause pictures,

to my mind,
are clearer than words.

So, that's what that is?

In your office.

You're making your own language.

Well, it sounds crazy when
you say it out loud, I know.

But...

You know, when we see
a box with a roof on it,

well, everyone knows
that means home.

You know, and my six-year-old
granddaughter, she draws a heart.

It means love. No question.

Anyway.

That's where I started,
you know, with simple ideas,

and the more I worked on it,

the more it became
all I could think about.

You're a good man.

Well, I don't know about that,

but I like to think
I got good intentions.

What do you say
tomorrow we go fishing?

Okay.

Get some sleep, you.

Good night, Mr. Solverson.

Good night, Mrs. Solverson.

And all the ships at sea.