I think the new police chief is on the take and agree he'll die. I think Sy and Emmit won't make it to the end either. I'm guessing Vargas will die in the end, but not before he becomes "I can help" from the cartoon. After all he's seen and taken part in I think he may look to make some kind of amends before his death. I know that's reaching, but I think he may be the guy (school teacher?) from the Soviet interrogation in the first episode who peed himself. He was pushed into this and doesn't handle stress very well, remember the bulimia. Also he seems to be a prick only in certain company and at certain times, strange.

@Thebridge said:

, but I think he may be the guy (school teacher?) from the Soviet interrogation in the first episode who peed himself.

Yes, he very well could be.

Also he seems to be a prick only in certain company and at certain times, strange.

I missed it, when was he not a prick? He was only nice to Emmits wife because he had invited himself to dinner and was eating her food ( and of course because he is doing business with Emmit). Nice to the waitress because he was being served food...

I cannot believe Sy drank his p iss , ugh! He would have had to me.

Kathy- what do you make of Gloria's problem? (machines/computers not working for her)

I was thinking how Varga seemed genuinely complementary to Emmit about the dinner he dropped in on and her pork chops when he got into Emmits car in the parking lot. He was almost sweet. I thought I saw Emmit reacting to it with a kind of shocked look on his face. Is it my imagination or is it only around Yuri and Meeko, or whatever his name is, that Varga plays himself as sick and manipulative?

Damn Scorpion, I don't have a clue why tech doesn't work for Gloria. Can I ask if we know her real name? Isn't Burgle her married name and she's divorced right? Maybe she's somebody's daughter and it would help explain. There was some UFO nonsense afoot in season 2 IIRC.

@Thebridge said:

Is it my imagination or is it only around Yuri and Meeko, or whatever his name is, that Varga plays himself as sick and manipulative?

I just refer to them as the 2 goons, and right now I can't recall Varga being around anyone else other than them, Emmit , Sy or a food server.

Damn Scorpion, I don't have a clue why tech doesn't work for Gloria. Can I ask if we know her real name? Isn't Burgle her married name and she's divorced right? Maybe she's somebody's daughter and it would help explain. There was some UFO nonsense afoot in season 2 IIRC.

smacks forehead ! I had forgotten that! I would not be surprised if that's it -may be revealed that Gloria was abducted or something?

Do you watch The Leftovers ? Carrie C oon also plays a character on that show where tech doesn't work for her either. I was thinking the Fargo writers/producers was just making her character on their show have the same issue just as a homage to her The Leftovers character, or even just a plain old mind phuck for the viewers- but I didn't figure in the UFO angle.

No I don't see The Leftovers, don't get HBO. Yeah, it may be an homage to CC's character that they pull the technology angle.

What I'm getting at with Varga is that he is very different in his interactions with Emmit when Yuri and Meeko and even Sy aren't around. Somehow he seems like a genuinely nice schlump. That's the vibe I get from the actor, David Thewliss. Varga doesn't need to prove to them what a badass he's being when they're not around. Maybe he's being watched by them? I don't think Varga is at the head of the pecking order here. For that matter, I think Yuri and Meeko are in the same position of having to do this for someone else who holds something over their heads. I liked the way Yuri waxed poetic about the desperate economic situation in Siberia before he beat you-know-who. Vargas has been as eloquent when trying to explain to Emmit the situation he has gotten himself into and it seemed to include world politics.

And what's with Meeko's ear buds? We don't know what he listens to constantly. They inferred it was classical music by playing it for us in the ep, but we don't know what it is that he hears . I think he's constantly connected to the guy at the top, the guy who's really running things, the guy who taught Varga about extortion, to look for a weakness to exploit, as Varga himself was exploited - mister big. And I bet mister big had some connections to Ennis Stussy.

@ Kathy:

Wow- I hadn't thought of any of that- you may be right.

I liked the way Yuri waxed poetic about the desperate economic situation in Siberia ...

Yes, I liked that too, wasn't expecting such a deep and heartfelt monologue from him. Has Meeko ever said anything ? I don't remember him ever talking.

...before he beat you-know-who.

Those awful punching/kicking sound effects that seemed to go on forever - I thought for sure she was dead.

Those awful punching/kicking sound effects that seemed to go on forever - I thought for sure she was dead.

Yes me too. And she didn't looked that bad. They made it sound like she got smashed to pieces. Glad we still have her. She is awful but entertaining.

@Master_YODA said:

Yes me too. And she didn't looked that bad.

No she really didn't, and after all that managed to get up and drive all the way home.

They made it sound like she got smashed to pieces.

I expected a bloody dead pulp. It sounded like work boots stomping on meat parts.

Maybe you're onto something. They were supposed to kill her, but didn't they let her off the hook. They had to make it sound good for Meeko's transmission (whatever he's really carrying-a phone, bug). Somebody was listening that their instructions were carried out on the other end, but really has no way of knowing?

Who said they were supposed to kill her? Since they didn't, it was just meant as a warning -or after all that beating maybe they thought that she was dead. I think that if the boss told those goons to kill someone, they would definitely do it.

Like I said you may be right, but I believe Meeko is just listening to music- if anything.

That was my point, we don't know who might have told them to kill her. I think there's someone else, who's not present, running things. Yuri and Meeko seemed like killers to me. Then they make a really big show of harming her, making sure it sounds like they're killing her, but they stayed toward her center and tried not to harm her face. We all noticed that it sounded as if she would've been dead from that. I'm just saying that I think something's up. Ah, Geez.

I don't think you get my point.

Who said they were supposed to kill her?

I say no one told them to kill her- because they did not kill her.

I just think they used some over the top sound effects-It's Fargo , the show is known for comical/comedic situations.

Yes I understand everything and exactly what you've been saying Kathy, -"I think there's someone else, who's not present, running things."

• that's why I said you may be right- I just don't agree.

What if Mike Milligan (Season 2, set in 1979) was not killed by Lorne Malvo in Season 1 (set in 2006)? He could be running that empire now, and possibly controlling all these people in Season 3. King Mike could have become tech-savvy in his new office job, learning how to use Facebook to enhance a criminal empire. Taking over a rich parking lot business could bolster his own books.

Ha! Who knows who it could be. Could be anybody, but those are two Fargo-like guesses for sure. I just think that because the audience seems to have picked up on how it was an especially aural event, the creators of Fargo constructed the scene that way. There's a reason for it, alls I'm sayin'. But Yeah, I'm guessing.

Oh Ray! Dammit. I didn't see that coming, but I guess it's Fargo.