Fargo: Linda
December 28, 2023 9:11 AM - Season 5, Episode 7 - Subscribe
Dot takes a fantastic journey. (CW for this episode for graphic depictions of domestic & child abuse.)
I didn't even think about it until later, but probably without knowing it, Wayne defied pretty much everything his mother built her empire on ... unless the idea of doing the deal with that family involved a very predatory lending situation ...
posted by destructive cactus at 12:25 PM on December 28, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by destructive cactus at 12:25 PM on December 28, 2023 [2 favorites]
Very tense episode, this one. I must say that for all the work done in Camp Utopia, having it all sort of waved away instantly was deeply unsatisfying. Also, I feel pretty certain that Gator is done for now.
Very keen to know what was in the box that Dot had hidden, or was that also part of the fantastic journey bit?
posted by jquinby at 2:49 PM on December 28, 2023 [1 favorite]
Very keen to know what was in the box that Dot had hidden, or was that also part of the fantastic journey bit?
posted by jquinby at 2:49 PM on December 28, 2023 [1 favorite]
Very keen to know what was in the box that Dot had hidden, or was that also part of the fantastic journey bit?
It looked to me like a postcard with a photo of Camp Utopia, signed Linda, and I think it said "I'm Sorry".
posted by QuakerMel at 2:52 PM on December 28, 2023 [2 favorites]
It looked to me like a postcard with a photo of Camp Utopia, signed Linda, and I think it said "I'm Sorry".
posted by QuakerMel at 2:52 PM on December 28, 2023 [2 favorites]
Yes, that's what she found but I'm not sure that's what she was expecting. Or maybe it was, I dunno. The standard trope for 'in trouble and digging up a hidden box' is to find the money, the gun, etc.
posted by jquinby at 3:06 PM on December 28, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by jquinby at 3:06 PM on December 28, 2023 [1 favorite]
It was indeed an "I'm sorry" Camp Utopia postcard signed by Linda, and it was a part of the dream sequence (as it happened after she left the diner but before she woke up back in the the diner).
posted by Parasite Unseen at 3:07 PM on December 28, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by Parasite Unseen at 3:07 PM on December 28, 2023 [1 favorite]
I should have caught on when the early-dream-sequence postcard was the same one we’d seen earlier, but i didn’t catch the unreality until it was chicken piccata for dinner (matching the recipe in the diner).
THAT is how (and why) you do a “it was all a dream” episode/sequence.
posted by supercres at 4:31 PM on December 28, 2023 [3 favorites]
THAT is how (and why) you do a “it was all a dream” episode/sequence.
posted by supercres at 4:31 PM on December 28, 2023 [3 favorites]
(btw i assume that in reality Linda is dead.)
posted by supercres at 4:32 PM on December 28, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by supercres at 4:32 PM on December 28, 2023 [4 favorites]
Emotionally, this is the equivalent of the B&W, halfway, East/West house episode of the last season, which I think is the most radical departure from the Coen Brothers template - although their films can contain a lot of dread, sometimes unheimlich or uncanny, there's little as openly supernatural. That said, I've enjoyed the supernatural elements of Hawley's work, and sometimes wonder what Hawley qua Hawley would be like.
posted by Grangousier at 5:22 PM on December 28, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by Grangousier at 5:22 PM on December 28, 2023 [1 favorite]
THAT is how (and why) you do a “it was all a dream” episode/sequence.
I was grateful for the AV and Vulture recaps above, because I hadn't caught on that the whole Camp Utopia episode was a fantasy sequence at all. I'd been thinking it was Dot's flashback instead, which of course makes the episode's wider timeline impossible to make sense of. This was clearly down to me rather than any fault in the programme, as everyone else seems to have understood it fine.
I suppose I must have assumed the chicken picatta recipe on the diner's noticeboard had triggered Dot's memory rather than inspired her fantasy from scratch. Now that I've understood it correctly, it strikes me that this is the same technique used in The Usual Suspects' final reveal, when we discover that every element of Kevin Spacey's story was inspired by something in the interrogation room where he was sitting.
posted by Paul Slade at 12:05 AM on December 29, 2023 [1 favorite]
I was grateful for the AV and Vulture recaps above, because I hadn't caught on that the whole Camp Utopia episode was a fantasy sequence at all. I'd been thinking it was Dot's flashback instead, which of course makes the episode's wider timeline impossible to make sense of. This was clearly down to me rather than any fault in the programme, as everyone else seems to have understood it fine.
I suppose I must have assumed the chicken picatta recipe on the diner's noticeboard had triggered Dot's memory rather than inspired her fantasy from scratch. Now that I've understood it correctly, it strikes me that this is the same technique used in The Usual Suspects' final reveal, when we discover that every element of Kevin Spacey's story was inspired by something in the interrogation room where he was sitting.
posted by Paul Slade at 12:05 AM on December 29, 2023 [1 favorite]
It was indeed an "I'm sorry" Camp Utopia postcard signed by Linda, and it was a part of the dream sequence (as it happened after she left the diner but before she woke up back in the the diner).
I've seen theories that the box under the windmill symbolises where Linda's body is buried (having been killed by Roy), though I don't know how/why Dot would know that. But it makes sense as a terrible bit of foreshadowing.
Other things to note:
More Wizard of Oz references -- the Lindas are all wearing (emerald) green. Also Linda + another letter (they're all gaining letters) is also "Glinda", the good witch who sets Dorothy off on her journey. The dream sequence itself is also reminiscent of Dorothy falling asleep in the field of poppies.
The painting on the wall of the bedroom where Dot wakes up is of Jean Lundegaard from the original Fargo movie, another woman murdered due to the actions of her husband, whose untold story Noah Hawley has been telling through Dot in this season.
posted by fight or flight at 2:21 AM on December 29, 2023 [1 favorite]
I've seen theories that the box under the windmill symbolises where Linda's body is buried (having been killed by Roy), though I don't know how/why Dot would know that. But it makes sense as a terrible bit of foreshadowing.
Other things to note:
More Wizard of Oz references -- the Lindas are all wearing (emerald) green. Also Linda + another letter (they're all gaining letters) is also "Glinda", the good witch who sets Dorothy off on her journey. The dream sequence itself is also reminiscent of Dorothy falling asleep in the field of poppies.
The painting on the wall of the bedroom where Dot wakes up is of Jean Lundegaard from the original Fargo movie, another woman murdered due to the actions of her husband, whose untold story Noah Hawley has been telling through Dot in this season.
posted by fight or flight at 2:21 AM on December 29, 2023 [1 favorite]
Dot's Puppet Dream In Fargo Season 5 Explained By Writers
posted by ShooBoo at 10:53 AM on December 29, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by ShooBoo at 10:53 AM on December 29, 2023 [2 favorites]
Even knowing that it would be Roy coming into Dot’s hospital room, after the puppet show version, Roy’s form was so sinister. I feel like we’re seeing Roy as Dot sees him, as a genuine monster.
Wayne does seem truly loving and sweet, his bedtime story about Dot is lovely.
posted by gladly at 11:05 AM on December 29, 2023 [3 favorites]
Wayne does seem truly loving and sweet, his bedtime story about Dot is lovely.
posted by gladly at 11:05 AM on December 29, 2023 [3 favorites]
Wayne does seem truly loving and sweet
The more i see of nu-Wayne, the more i think the zap removed any sense of obligation he has to what he’s “supposed” to do (eg turn a profit at the dealership), and all that’s left is his innate charity and goodness.
posted by supercres at 3:19 PM on December 29, 2023 [4 favorites]
The more i see of nu-Wayne, the more i think the zap removed any sense of obligation he has to what he’s “supposed” to do (eg turn a profit at the dealership), and all that’s left is his innate charity and goodness.
posted by supercres at 3:19 PM on December 29, 2023 [4 favorites]
I’m putting five bucks on Gator finding out Roy killed his mother Linda, leading to him finally doing a good thing by freeing Dot. I do want Dot to go full avenging angel on Roy, but don’t think it fits her character.
Roy shoved into a woodchipper sounds delightful.
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 11:16 PM on December 31, 2023
Roy shoved into a woodchipper sounds delightful.
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 11:16 PM on December 31, 2023
Villains in Fargo get their just fate, but it is usually from someone that was not expected (Billy Bob in S1). I am thinking Roy is going to get killed by someone he's not going to expect. As for Gator, well Munch will indeed grind him up.
posted by Ber at 6:54 AM on January 1
posted by Ber at 6:54 AM on January 1
Hi Bob
posted by billsaysthis at 9:04 PM on January 4
posted by billsaysthis at 9:04 PM on January 4
The WTF-ness of the dream sequence was off the charts from the start: she drives on the wrong side of the road to the windmill, and then the sign to Camp Utopia pointing through the woods with no road to actually get there. By the time the chicken piccata showed up there was no other possibility.
posted by stopgap at 10:45 PM on January 5
posted by stopgap at 10:45 PM on January 5
There's a doll fair poster on the diner bulletin board, too, and before the pancakes are plopped down, the song on the radio is -- I'm pretty sure -- "I'm your puppet" by James and Bobby Purify. (I googled the lyrics to find it.)
Plus there's no way she could pull off the opening puppet move, with the marionette picking up the apple (but shortly after that the whole thing becomes a puppet movie, with puppet sets, and puppet cinematography, so that's kind of moot even if it weren't all a fantasy from well before that point).
posted by nobody at 7:50 PM on January 15
Plus there's no way she could pull off the opening puppet move, with the marionette picking up the apple (but shortly after that the whole thing becomes a puppet movie, with puppet sets, and puppet cinematography, so that's kind of moot even if it weren't all a fantasy from well before that point).
posted by nobody at 7:50 PM on January 15
«Нет марионетки, нет марионетки. Ты марионетка».
posted by kirkaracha at 3:59 PM on February 7
posted by kirkaracha at 3:59 PM on February 7
The puppet show, doing what only a puppet show could do in a dream could do, was incredible. British traditional Punch and Judy shows - featuring considerable levels of domestic violence between Mr Punch and his wife - have long been a staple of children's sea-side entertainment here in the British Isles (you the, the place that brought you Sin Eating)
posted by rongorongo at 5:03 AM on February 19
posted by rongorongo at 5:03 AM on February 19
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So many nooses tightening. I'm so grateful that we were given Wayne, stripped down to his core essence, bringing some light into an otherwise pitch black episode.
posted by Parasite Unseen at 11:08 AM on December 28, 2023 [9 favorites]