The Duluth PD is No Match for Lorne Malvo

Fargo's Lester Nygaard is in jail, will probably need to have his hand amputated, and is being stalked by two henchmen who want to kill him. Things are not going well for Lester the murderer. I suppose even the most mild-mannered insurance agent’s life could be turned upside down by the tornado monster that is Lorne Malvo. Two things I've learned to accept: 1) Lorne is a tornado monster and 2) I can’t wait to see what he does next week. (I’m sure whatever happens with with his freshly-acquired police scanner will be a hoot and a half.)

During Tuesday night’s cricket-soaked ep, Officer Gus Grimly arrests Lorne and drives him to the station. We viewers know Lorne won’t go down without a fight. He will not be bested by sweet ol' Grimly. Not our Lorne. Not our tornado monster. When he tells Grimly he’ll be saying “you’re making a mistake” in a few hours, we know Lorne is right. Lorne set up that milk bottle and he will knock it down effortlessly. We hate it, but we sort of love it. Because as much as we want to see things work out for the good guys (namely Solverson and Grimly), we can't help but enjoy watching Lorne wreak havoc. He is a tornado monster and he is 15 steps ahead of Grimly.

The moment he arrives at the police station, Lorne Malvo is no longer Lorne Malvo. He is a minister. He adopts a "gee whiz” Midwestern affectation. He wears glasses. He talks about glaucoma and God. The superior officers buy it, but Grimly isn't having any of it. If only Deputy Molly Solverson was there to take the reins! (Though she isn't there for the interrogation, she's TCOB-ing: Thanks to the innkeeper's records, Solverson learns Lorne Malvo’s name. Get ‘em, Solverson!)

As expected, Lorne shimmies and shakes his way out of the police station. His minister alibi checks out. He’s free to go. "You're making a mistake," Grimly tells his superior officers. Lorne basks in the moment. 15 steps ahead. Grimly follows Lorne as he leaves the station. Grimly asks him how he can lie like that.

“Did you know that the human eye can see shades of green more than any other color?” Lorne asks. “Why?” He tells Grimly he will have the answer to his own question when he answers why to the green question. Grimly comes up empty.

Do you know who has the answer? DUH. Grimly’s crush, Solverson. She can solverson Lorne's riddle, no sweat. “Because of predators,” she says without hesitation. Hunt or be hunted. She seems tense. Is it because she's annoyed at Grimly for not knowing the answer? Frustrated she couldn't go to Duluth PD that day? Is she stressed out about the case? Or is she just irritable because Grimly was late to their diner meeting? At the diner, the two of them discuss the day's events and their next move: Lester.

Because of predators. Because of tornado monster predators with sloppy bowl cuts. Because of predators with horrendously infected hand wounds.

Solverson sees the shades of green and recognizes the not-green. She's got this.

Image: FX