After nine weeks of playing cat-and-mouse, FX’s homespun true-crime series “Fargo” is about to reveal its endgame.
And with a season full of shocking deaths, it seems no one is safe in Tuesday night’s 90-minute finale (10 p.m.).
The episode, entitled “Morton’s Fork,” finds Malvo (Billy Bob Thornton) hot on Lester’s (Martin Freeman) trail after killing his wife at the end of last week’s episode. Meanwhile the noose could be tightening on Malvo as well, since the police — led by Deputy Molly Solverson (Allison Tolman) — renewed their focus on the sinister hitman.
“It’s the kind of show where you can’t even tease at all,” Thornton said of the finale on a recent conference call with reporters. “In terms of the arc of not only my character but everyone’s, I think people will be very satisfied … It’s very well-thought-out.”
Molly finally drew the attention of FBI agents Pepper and Budge (played by Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele) last week for her investigative work on the Malvo case, a breakthrough the actress calls “cathartic” for “Fargo” fans. But she will face hard choices in pursuing her bad guy now that she’s a wife and mother-to-be.
“Molly’s extreme pregnancy is a huge hurdle for her … Gus, … her dad, there are a lot of people who are really worried about her involvement and … her determination to sort of see this thing through to the end,” Tolman said.
Meanwhile Gus, now a mailman after his mistakes in the field ended his police career, pursues a hunch after spotting Malvo driving by in Bemidji. Will he get a chance to redeem himself in the finale?
“Possibly” is all star Colin Hanks will say. “That’s me trying to be as coy as possible.”
With “Fargo’s” status as a limited series — creator Noah Hawley has said a potential second season would focus on a new true-crime story — there is an endgame in store for all the characters caught in Malvo’s web.
“Malvo’s almost like God and the devil wrapped into one,” Thornton said of his character. “I think these things were just going to happen. I think a lot of this is about fate.
“Malvo is kind of the spirit that makes all those things happen. He lines up people’s fates for them.”
Tolman, for her part, agrees with the characters’ outcomes, and says the “Fargo” finale grew on her as she and the cast got deeper into filming the episode.
“I hope that fans will feel like the ending is satisfying and makes sense but also that they didn’t see it coming,” she said.
“I think that all the ends are tied up properly and everything is where it should be.”