A Fox, a Rabbit, and a Cabbage

"A Fox, a Rabbit, and a Cabbage" is the ninth episode of the FX anthology series Fargo. It was written by series creator and showrunner Noah Hawley and directed by Matt Shakman. The episode title refers to a variation of the fox, goose and bag of beans puzzle.^[1]

The episode is set after the one-year ellipsis featured in the previous episode: Lorne Malvo (Billy Bob Thornton) now has a completely new life as a dentist known as "Dr. Michael". However, his plans are compromised when Lester Nygaard (Martin Freeman) incidentally runs into him. Meanwhile, Gus Grimly (Colin Hanks), now a mailman, is happily married to Molly Solverson (Allison Tolman), whose theory that Lester was involved in the murders finds new supporters in FBI agents Pepper (Keegan-Michael Key) and Budge (Jordan Peele).

"A Fox, a Rabbit, and a Cabbage" received critical acclaim, and was seen by 1.90 million viewers.

Plot

Lorne Malvo is now posing as a dentist named "Dr. Michael" in Kansas City, Missouri. One night, Malvo, along with his fiancée, Jemma Stalone, throw a dinner party at his place, which is attended by his co-worker Dr. Burt and his wife, Louise. While Malvo and Burt have a chat over wine, Burt brings up his estranged brother, who he remains in contact with him, even though he isn't allowed to as the brother is currently under witness protection. Burt drunkenly suggests they go to Las Vegas to visit him and Malvo agrees. Later that night, Malvo sits alone in his room listening to one of his phone recordings on his cassette tapes, involving a man committing suicide after confessing to Malvo that Malvo ruined his life.

In a Las Vegas casino bar, Malvo sits at a table talking to Burt, Louise, and Jemma as Lester Nygaard watches from the bar. Burt tells Mike they will meet his brother tomorrow, but they can't bring phones. Before Malvo can ask who is after his brother, Lester walks up to him and taps him on the shoulder. Malvo pretends not to recognize him, despite Lester's attempts to explain what happened in Minnesota last year. Malvo tells Burt that he has never met this man and suggests that they leave. As they get up from the table, Malvo quietly tells Lester, "Walk away."

As they get onto the elevator, Lester stops the elevator door at the last second and enters. He demands that Malvo recognize him, saying the "new Lester" will not let things slide as easily. Malvo tells him to stop talking, and he stares Lester down and asks if this is what he wants. Lester is confused and Malvo repeats the question, asking "Yes or no?". Lester says yes, and Malvo shoots Burt, Louise, and Jemma in the head. He tells Lester that their deaths are on him. As they continue to ride the elevator, Malvo explains that he had been working Burt for six months in order to get to his brother, who apparently has a $100,000 bounty which has now gone to waste. The elevator arrives at a service floor and Malvo asks Lester to help move the bodies to the dumpster. Instead, Lester hits Malvo with his award and runs away. Malvo, smiling, watches Lester run away and says that he'll see him soon.

Lester reaches his hotel room and makes Linda, his wife, get up and pack. He quickly leads her out of the hotel and they catch a late-night plane back to Minnesota. Meanwhile, in Fargo, North Dakota, an FBI agent asks Budge and Pepper to pull the file for the Fargo syndicate massacre. This immediately sparks their interest, and they ask why he needs the file. He tells them a deputy from Bemidji has been calling them, and they decide to pay the deputy a visit.

At Lou's Coffee Shop, Lou serves breakfast to Molly, Gus, and Greta. They discuss the time when Bill Oswalt posed for a newspaper article, and mention he is currently in Saint Paul for a law enforcement conference, and Molly is in charge until he returns. Gus leaves to take Greta to school and Molly gets a call from the Nevada Police Department. They ask her to follow up on a case about three people being murdered on an elevator at a casino by interviewing a witness that called it in: Lester Nygaard.

As Lester and Linda are driving home, Linda asks if leaving early was her fault. He assures her it has nothing to do with her, and decides they should go to Mexico for a vacation right away to make it up to her. After pulling into the driveway of their house (which has changed in the past year to a much larger house with surrounding woods), Lester tells Linda to go inside and pack for their trip, saying to himself they will probably never come back. As she goes upstairs, Lester checks everywhere to be sure Malvo isn't waiting for him. He goes into the basement and pulls out Chaz's old hunting gear from a pile of boxes. In it is a bear trap, as well as a pistol with magazines, which he puts in his back pocket.

Before Lester can leave for his office, Molly arrives at the front door to ask about the murders in Vegas. Lester tries to send her off, but Linda lets her come in due to needing to use the restroom. Meanwhile, Gus is on his mail route when he sees a red car pass by. He gets a quick glimpse of the driver, and believes him to be Lorne Malvo. Malvo drives to Lester's old house with plans to kill Lester, only to find out that he has moved and a new family is now living there. Malvo deviously tells them that there were multiple murders in the house at one point, and it could be haunted. He leaves and goes to Lester's workplace, where he now has his own insurance company. He finds it to be closed.

Meanwhile, Molly talks with Lester and Linda about the events of the murder. Lester makes up a story, saying he never met anyone on his way back to the hotel room. Molly asks why they tried to board a plane at the last minute, Linda backs up Lester's story by saying she was homesick. Molly finishes up and leaves, but before she does she tells them the Vegas PD will be sending over some security footage, so they shouldn't leave town for a while. Linda is about to bring up their trip, but Lester assures Molly they will stay put.

Returning to her car, Molly gets a call from the Bemidji PD, saying two FBI agents were at the department looking for her, and were sent to Lou's to find her, and suggests she go over there. Before she goes, she sees Lester watching her from his window. At the diner, Malvo arrives and orders a coffee and a slice of apple pie. Malvo deduces Lou was a cop at one point, Lou tells him he was one for eighteen years. The two of them exchange stories of their previous affiliations with the police, though Malvo doesn't mention his very specifically. Malvo tries to change the subject by asking where he can find Lester's new residence, which Lou doesn't know. Lou becomes suspicious, and brings up the Sioux Falls case, and tells him what happened there, which gets Malvo's attention. Molly pulls into the back parking lot of the shop, and enters through the back door as Malvo exits through the front. Bill and Webb arrive shortly after to ask Molly about the Fargo case. Molly decides to show them her conspiracy board.

At the Bemidji PD, Bill and Webb are amazed at Molly's work on the case. Suddenly Bill Oswalt returns from the conference, and is frustrated to see Molly's board out again. The two FBI agents calm him down, and decide they will be spending the night to further investigate, hoping to contact Lester. Back at home, Gus enters his room and looks at the more elaborate version of Molly's board. He studies the pictures of Malvo and tries to confirm whether or not he really saw Malvo drive past him.

That night, Lester buys two online plane tickets out of Minneapolis while still constantly looking over his shoulder for Malvo. He tells Linda they're leaving soon. She reminds him they need to stay in town, Lester lies and says he talked with Molly and they are free to go. Before leaving town, Lester says they need to stop by the office to pick up some cash and their passports from the safe. In the parking lot, Lester notices a light on that he didn't turn on. Suspicious, he sends Linda into the office wearing his coat to get what they came for. Malvo appears inside the office and shoots Linda in the back of her head, thinking her to be Lester. Realizing his mistake, Malvo exits the building and scans the parking lot for Lester. Seeing no one, he lights a cigarette and walks away as Lester nervously watches from a distance.

Reception

Ratings

The episode was first aired in the US on FX on June 10, 2014 and obtained 1.90 million viewers.^[2]

Critical reception

The episode was very well received among critics. It currently holds a perfect 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.^[3]

The A.V. Club writers Zack Handlen and Todd VanDerWerff gave the episode an A rating.^[4]

Another positive review came from IGN writer Roth Cornet, who gave the episode a 9.0/10 "amazing" rating.^[5]

References

External links

• "A Fox, a Rabbit, and a Cabbage" on IMDb
• "A Fox, a Rabbit, and a Cabbage" at TV.com