Fargo – Season 5 Episode 5 “The Tiger” Recap & Review

The Tiger

We saw in the last episode how Wayne regained consciousness after the incident with the electrified windowsill. It seemed that he might become normal after treatment. But Episode 5’s beginning reveals that he has some “neurological mishap” that won’t be easy to reverse. And now, Lorraine wants to get rid of Dorothy from her path. She doesn’t want her son coming back to his wife in this state. She connives with Danish to incapacitate Dot by admitting her to a mental hospital. 

Two hunky male nurses are tasked with taking Dot to the Walter Mondale Care Center. They manage to do so but not without Dot getting her claws deep into their faces. Dot remains calm for now, maintaining her chirpy demeanour. This is because she is quietly plotting an escape. Dot neutralizes one of the nurses and dons her uniform. Meanwhile, Lorraine has other important business to attend to. She is meeting with representatives of a small bank that her company, Redemption Services, is interested in.

Lorraine expresses her wish to get into the credit business to complement her pioneering position in the debt market. The reps act very prejudicially but she is not deterred. She knows the ball is in her court since the bank is in violation of federal regulations concerning liquidity. It looks like Lorraine will get what she wants…again.

As Dot tries to sneak out, one of the nurses raises an alarm. This forces Dot to use another ruse – a woman in a wheelchair – to navigate security forces. Dot has no idea what’s coming for her, though.

Roy meets Lorraine at her residence. He tells her the truth about Dot’s past and their wedding. Lorraine is surprised to hear Roy’s description but even more so by his attitude. He certainly expected her to be of help. But Lorraine sends Roy back in the direction he came from. Although she wants to get rid of Dot, her ties to Wayne and Scotty mean Lorraine will have to stick with her. Roy is startled and insulted, frankly, by Lorraine’s cash deal. 

Indira also drops by the house just as Roy is leaving to inform Danish that Dot has escaped. Roy sends Bowman and the other men to apprehend Wayne. But Gator is asked to stay in the car outside. He obeys but as soon as he sees Agents Joaquin and Meyers, Gator rushes into the hospital. Dot also spots Bowman and the others. She jumps into action and replaces the patient’s name slip from Wayne’s room with another belonging to Jordan Seymour. 

Dot smothers his face to knock him unconscious. And her plan is a success. Dot runs into the agents, who try to calm her down and tell her that they want to help. Dot realizes that the male nurse she knocked out is looking for her and goes into the washroom. She escapes through one of the windows and goes out to meet Scotty, surreptitiously at Lorraine’s house.

Lorraine’s defiance and humiliation of law enforcement continue as she berates Indira for being lax in her search. Indira is revealed to be owing almost two thousand grand in money to Redemption. Since she is the only one who works, it will be a lifetime sentence for Indira to pay off the debt. Her stupid husband, Lars, still thinks that he can be a pro golfer if he changes his equipment enough times. However, Indira expects him to realize that his dreams are folly soon. When she comes back home, she notices Dot and Scotty in her kitchen. Dot requests Indira to keep Scotty for a couple of days as she “fixes things.” 

The officer invites her to tell the truth about her past, which Dot does, reluctantly. She was married off at 15 into an abusive house, as we have already seen with Roy. As Lars comes back into the house after his golfing practice, Indira has a decision to make. She introduces Dot as a friend of hers and accepts her request to keep Soctty.

The Episode Review

In all the previous seasons, the original theme song has only played once each time. And Season 5 gets its moment in the dying minutes of episode 5. It is usually a moment of reckoning – of settling unpaid debts that may come at a dear cost. Given Dot’s positioning in the crosshairs, she needs to pounce and get her life back…at least whatever’s left of it anyway. Now that Wayne is incapacitated, her job is even more difficult. 

Episode 5 is arguably the least eventful instalment this season. This quiet seems intentional as a setup for an explosive episode next week.

Richa Moorjani and Jennifer Leigh got a lot of screen time in this episode. However, the development of their characters’ arcs will need to be more encouraged in the episodes to come.

“The Tiger” is lukewarm, stale tea compared to the hot sizzling delicacies we have been served thus far. But even then, it makes for better television viewing than the best most shows today have to offer.