Fargo season 5's penultimate episode opens in a tiny ice fishing hut on a desolate frozen lake where Munch (Sam Spruell) and Gator (Joe Keery) are holed up. Gator begs for his life as Munch heats a knife in a wood stove, but he removes Gator's eyes with the knife as punishment for killing Irma.
Back at Roy's ranch, Dot (Juno Temple) continues trying to break loose of the handcuffs that bind her to the cot. She maneuvers the cot under a ceiling beam, trying to knock loose a nail so she can pick the cuffs, but instead her foot breaks through the floor. As Roy (Jon Hamm) walks toward the cabin, she desperately tries to break off more floorboards.
Before he gets there, Roy asks if Bowman (Conrad Coates) has seen Gator, but he hasn't. Roy tells Bowman to kill Dot and walks away. When Bowman enters the shed, he can't find Dot and assumes she escaped. Dot was hiding under the floor after successfully breaking off more floorboards. She also finds a nail and uses it to pick the handcuffs.
Lorraine's not f'ing around
Back in the city, Indira (Richa Moorjani) lets her new boss Lorraine (Jennifer Jason Leigh) know that Danish's phone went dark at the Tillman Ranch. Lorraine tells Indira to call "the orange idiot" because she's going to get something for her money. Lorraine's influence sends the FBI to the Tillman ranch.
Indira also calls Witt Farr (Lamorne Morris), who is parked under a Roy Tillman billboard near the ranch. She tells Witt the FBI is inbound to raid the ranch but that he needs to go save Dot.
Tillman is also not f'ing around. He puts out a video on social media telling all his followers to grab their guns and their trucks and join him at the ranch.
Dot risks it all
While the militia is assembling, Dot runs through the ranch unnoticed. She is carrying the long chain from the shackles she is still wearing. Ducking and weaving she runs from the shed to the house, searching for a phone.
There is a cordless phone in the primary bedroom and she manages to call Wayne (David Rysdahl), who is grocery shopping with Scotty (Sienna King). But before she can tell Wayne where she is, Karen (Rebecca Liddiard) comes in with a shotgun, blaming Dot for coming back.
Dot tries to get Karen on her side to stop Roy, but Karen isn't having it. Dot gets hold of the shotgun, knocks Karen out with its butt and flees with the gun. On her way out of the house she turns all the gas burners on. She also steals a hat and a coat so she can blend in among all the militia people who are swarming the ranch.
Roy goes into the house where men are hammering boards over the windows and instantly smells the gas. He turns off the stove and tells them to open all the windows. Then he starts searching the house for Dot. In Gator's room he finds the bag of cash Roy had given Munch and suspects Munch has Gator.
The scene cuts to a blinded Gator being led with a rope by Munch across the snowy frozen tundra to the ranch. As they cross a field, they see a line of police cars and SWAT vehicles bearing down on the ranch.
Using the cell phone she found in the coat's pocket, Dot calls Indira, but Lorraine quickly takes the phone. Dot tells her Roy killed Danish. Lorraine tells Dot she sent in an army and for her to get someplace safe and hide. Dot wants to know why Lorraine is helping her. She explains no daughter of hers is going down on the one-yard line, encouraging Dot to get in the fight.
Getting ready for a final showdown
As the FBI and local police converge at the gate of the ranch, Witt pulls up. Indira texts him the number of Dot's cell phone so he can track her location. The FBI and SWAT plan strategy, which includes Witt leading a team to go get Dot.
Roy rides up to the gate on his horse to confront the officers. Roy makes it clear he's taking a stand and he's ready to die just like everyone else on the ranch. He warns the FBI and police to leave and rides away from the gate. Back at the house, Roy and Bowman talk about Dot. Roy says she's probably hiding, so he tells Bowman to check the grave by the windmill while Roy checks a dugout house on the ranch.
Roy's instincts are good. Dot has gone to the grave to hide with the bodies of Danish, Linda and Roy's other victims. She waits anxiously as Bowman and two other men walk toward the windmill.
Roy checks the dugout and finds nothing. But as he's leaving, he sees two figures coming towards him half-hidden in blowing snow. It's Munch, bringing Gator to Roy. Gator is whimpering but Roy gives no comfort. He tells Gator whatever purpose he had is gone now. He leaves Gator wounded, cold and blind in the snow and goes back to the house.
As Bowman and his men approach the windmill grave, Dot freezes in fear. But when the lid slides off it's Munch looking down at her. He gives her a hand up and out of the grave. She sees the bodies of Bowman and other men. Munch tells her it's not a fair fight to fight a tiger in a cage. He gives her Bowman's shotgun and tells her now the tiger is free. He walks away.
Fargo season 5 airs new episodes on Tuesdays on FX. They are available to stream on-demand on Hulu in the US the next day. The season streams on Prime Video in the UK, with new episodes each Wednesday.
