Fargo season 5 episode 4, "Insolubilia," has the creepiest opening to date. It picks up immediately where episode 3 left off. Dot (Juno Temple) has gone into the house, with Gator (Joe Keery) and his team have all donned horrifying Nightmare Before Christmas character masks surrounding it.
Gator, wearing a Jack Skellington mask, peers through the back window and sees Dot putting something in the oven. Gator and his team enter and the hunt is on. But what awaits him inside?
Read on for our full Fargo season 5 episode 4 recap.
Halloween Home Alone
Gator and his team fan out through the house but they don't find any trace of Dot, Wayne (David Rysdahl) or Scotty (Sienna King). But they soon find Dot's impressive set of traps around the house.
As the pan Dot put in the oven smokes and sets off the smoke alarm, a flashing light appears under the basement door. Just opposite that in a closet, Dot is waiting. One of the team opens the basement door and sees a blinking light inside a pumpkin. He turns around and sees Dot for a second before she pepper sprays him directly in the eyes and pushes him down the basement steps.
The sounds of the scuffle bring Gator and the others downstairs. As they head towards the basement door, Dot sneaks up behind them and deploys the sledgehammer over the front door. It takes out one of the team, then Dot slips out the front door. She runs around to the back and grabs the nail-studded bat. She takes a swing at Gator, but misses and gets the bat stuck in the wall. Gator takes off his mask and very calmly tells her to get in the van. She says she won't go back, but Gator tells her they both know she's going back.
Dot slips by Gator and gets into the basement, locking the door. Gator sends the remaining members of his team to get Wayne, then starts breaking through the basement door. Dot manages to climb up the laundry chute to the second floor, but Gator's men have found Scotty and Wayne hiding in the attic.
When trying to get away, Wayne gets electrocuted by the booby trap Dot set up along the window, which also sets the curtains on fire. Scotty and Dot escape through the window and have to slide an unconscious Wayne off the roof. He falls with a thud as the bedroom bursts into flame. There are sirens in the distance because neighbors have called the fire department. Gator and his injured team take off before the authorities get there. EMS takes Wayne to the hospital.
While Gator is trying to snatch Dot, Roy Tillman (Jon Hamm) is sitting in a plain chapel on the ranch. When he finishes praying he rides his horse back to the main house, but finds the door open and muddy footprints running through the house up to his daughters' room. He bursts in and sees a strange symbol written in blood on the wall. Ole Munch has cursed him and his children.
Getting the story straight
Dot comforts Scotty as they wait in the hospital for news about Wayne. Dot also gently steers Scotty to say Wayne accidentally electrocuted himself plugging in a light and the spark started the fire. Dot is anxious, mostly to make sure she gets Wayne to tell her version of the story.
Witt Farr (Lamorne Morris) comes down to the Scandia Police station to show some recovered video from the Gas N Go to Olmstead (Richa Moorjani). While they're talking about the footage the Scandia police chief tells Olmstead about the fire and that Wayne is in the hospital. Farr and Olmstead rush over.
Lorraine (Jennifer Jason Leigh) is giving an interview talking about her debt collection business when she is informed of the incident and heads to the hospital with Danish (David Foley). When Lorraine asks Dot what happened, Dot tells the story she and Scotty agreed to. Lorraine brushes her off.
Then Olmstead and Farr show up at the hospital, wanting to talk to Dot. Farr tells Dot it's good to see her again, but Dot claims she doesn't know him. Farr gently tells her they have the footage from the Gas N Go and it's just reality that it happened. Danish tells Farr they have their own reality. Farr presses the issue. But before Dot can answer a nurse comes out and says Wayne is awake and she rushes to see him.
Wayne is glassy-eyed and confused. He doesn't remember Dot or what happened. Dot tells him her version hoping he can remember that.
Taking care of business
In North Dakota, Roy goes to see the couple from the diner in episode 1 to make sure the husband isn't beating his wife again. Roy sees fresh bruises on the wife and after a tense conversation the husband draws on Roy, who pulls his own gun and kills the husband.
Gator arrives, gun drawn, as he was looking for Roy after getting back from Minnesota. Roy tells Gator they can blame the death of his partner that Ole Munch killed on the now-dead husband, while Roy can claim he killed him in self-defense. That nicely ties up the crime and gets the spotlight off Roy right before the election. The wife agrees to go along with the story and Roy promises her money and protection. Gator drives off in his squad car, and Roy rides his horse through the cold sunset back to his house.
New episodes of Fargo season 5 premiere Tuesdays on FX, then are available to stream on-demand on Hulu the next day.
