History Headscratchers / FargoSeasonTwo

** The narrator of episode 9 actually acknowledges this, remarking that nobody is quite sure why Hanzee went after Peggy and Ed. The most plausible explanation the narrator gives is that Hanzee wanted to get rid of the two people that saw his 'true' colors when he asked Peggy to cut his hair after he killed Dodd. This was a moment of weakness for Hanzee, and he wanted to make sure nobody remained who could remember that brief moment he revealed his self-hatred.

** The Narrator in episode nine says that the Undertaker would have killed Mike had Mike not killed him first. We don't know whether Mike knew that his life was on the line or whether he just killed the Undertaker to maintain his position of authority. The Undertaker clearly didn't expect Mike to realize that he was going to be killed, since was taken totally by surprise when Mike attacked him.

** The Undertaker was there to take over the war with the Gerhardts. Mike was never intended to be leading it when he was sent as Bulo's assistant. He effectively gained a field promotion and assumed control after Bulo was killed. The head of the KC mob eventually decided that he wasn't worthy of his new authority and replaced him with a more high-ranking killer: the Undertaker. Mike would effectively be demoted back down to subordinate when the Undertaker takes over. When the Undertaker arrives, he says something to effect of asked where the man is who "shat the bed" in the mob war. He's there to clean up Mike's mess, not kill him, and isn't expecting Mike to attack him. He thinks Mike is just going to cede control to him and become his minion. Mike decides to kill him instead and keep his leadership role, hoping that by winning the war himself, he can earn a permanent promotion.

** The Undertaker was there to take over the war with the Gerhardts. Mike was never intended to be leading it when he was sent as Bulo's assistant. He effectively gained a field promotion and assumed control after Bulo was killed. The head of the KC mob eventually decided that he wasn't worthy of his new authority and replaced him with a more high-ranking killer: the Undertaker. Mike would effectively be demoted back down to subordinate when the Undertaker takes over. When the Undertaker arrives, he says something to effect of asked where the man is who "shat the bed" in the mob war. He's there to clean up Mike's mess, not kill him, and isn't expecting Mike to attack him. He thinks Mike is just going to cede control to him and become his minion. Mike decides to kill him instead and keep his leadership role, hoping that by winning the war himself, he can earn a permanent promotion.
* What would've happened had Dodd not hit Hanzee's emotional pressure points at the time he did? Would the Gerhardt family have won the war? It really does seem like Dodd is the reason his family fell from power by first ruining negotiations with Kansas City, and burning bridges with both Simone and with Bear.
** It wasn't only Dodd that pushed Hanzee. When he told the story of when he was in Vietnam and they made him go "I'm with just a knife", that was when his anger grew. Of course he'd been working with Gerhardts since he was a boy. But from what we see of his relationship with the family, he was more like a disposable henchman. So this anger has been growing for some time.
** The Gerhardts were winning the Kansas City war because they communicated with the cops. On the Hanzee front, it's unlikely the family ever treated him terribly (except for Dodd), but Hanzee was basically raised as their butler/slave who would do their bidding. That doesn't mean Bear had bad intentions or anything. Hanzee did everything they asked, including killing people. [[UsedToBeASweetKid It's possible he had a heart that was shaped into something darker]] because of The Gerhardts and the war in Vietnam. Hanzee decided to destroy the Gerhardts and Kansas City, and start something for himself. To leave this life as a slave to people's prejudices (like in the bar) and start anew. Of course all he knows is killing and crime, so becoming Moses Tripoli is his only option.
** The thing that caused the Gerhardt's downfall was their "family business" motto. If Dodd was punished correctly for his action at the donut shop in the middle of negotiations, Bulo (by his own admission) would've agreed to Floyd's counter-proposal. Of course, Floyd was in charge so if she made sure to bench Dodd so he wouldn't mess things up, things Would go differently. The theme of bigger companies taking over family businesses and having things become corpolized was something the writers were intending to portray. Including with Mike's anticlimactic ending where he expected some Genghis Khan shit like getting land for taking over territory but instead got a white collar job to improve revenue.

* What would've happened had Peggy (with a normal mental capacity) went immediately to the police after running over Rye?
** She would have been charged with hit and run. Her legal defense probably would have prevented Ed from buying the butcher shop. Rye would have survived. The war between the Gerhardts and the Kansas City mob would have gone on without that distraction.
*** Saying that, if Rye had survived, and thus ended up being arrested, Dodd and Hanzee wouldn't have been able to pin his death on Kansas City, thereby prompting Floyd and Bear to support full war. The Gerhardt-Kansas City war would probably have played out very differently. Based on what we see in the actual canon, it's likely there would be a Gerhardt family split between Floyd and Dodd, as evidenced by the exchange the two have in episode 2 after Bulo visits the compound with his buyout offer. Floyd is in favor of a buyout (and supported by Bear and Simone in that aspect), while Dodd wants to go to war. Then two episodes later, Dodd beats the shit out of some Kansas City guys he stumbles upon at the donut shop. This incident ends up ruining the negotiations, and Floyd's attempt to make a counteroffer of a partnership and the Gerhardts keeping their North Dakota holdings, because it demonstrates to Bulo that Floyd cannot be trusted to properly control her organization. As for what would happen with Rye, Floyd might be inclined to try springing him, and if he got out, he probably wouldn't have lasted long in the Gerhardt-Kansas City war.
*** Peggy probably wouldn't have been charged with any crime if she'd called the police upon arriving home, much less convicted. You're only required to stay at a scene of an accident if it's safe to do so. This incident happens on a very cold winter night in Minnesota, at a time without cell phones. If she were to simply wait by the side of the road for someone to come along, she'd have frozen to death. The right thing to do is to find the nearest phone - which would be the Waffle Hut right there, which is also the scene of a triple homicide - something that is again, entirely reasonable and legal to flee, something that the police sent to respond to the incident would note immediately. They might think it odd that Peggy didn't mention the murders but would probably chalk it up to trauma and shock, and if they didn't, a good lawyer like Karl would be able to convince a jury that's what it was. That's one of the ironies of the season: all of the Blumquist's troubles were set off by an attempt to cover up something that probably didn't even need to be covered up. Like Karl had suggested with his Watergate, it's not the hit-and-run, but the attempt to cover it up, that proved to be Ed and Peggy's undoing.

* How long will Peggy be in prison?
** It all depends on what the Rock County prosecutor can prove and what the judge is willing to dish out. But given how they can effectively prove that she and Ed kidnapped Dodd and that he died while under their imprisonment, she could be liable to up to 40 years in prison maximum, going by Minnesota law at the time. However, her defense attorney may be able to talk the sentence down or the judge may be more lenient on her, so she may get a reduced sentence. However, all signs point to her getting no less than 20 years in the slammer (parole possibilities notwithstanding).
*** Would the deal the Blumquists made with the South Dakota cops apply?

* Why Lou and Hank allowed [[spoiler:Ed to run away without giving some sort of an effort to chase him?]]

* How long will Peggy [[spoiler: be in prison?]]
** [[spoiler: It all depends on what the Rock County prosecutor can prove and what the judge is willing to dish out. But given how they can effectively prove that she and Ed kidnapped Dodd and that he died while under their imprisonment, she could be liable to up to 40 years in prison maximum, going by Minnesota law at the time. However, her defense attorney may be able to talk the sentence down or the judge may be more lenient on her, so she may get a reduced sentence. However, all signs point to her getting no less than 20 years in the slammer (parole possibilities notwithstanding)]].
*** [[spoiler: Would the deal the Blumquists made with the South Dakota cops apply?]]

** There's one big crime she committed that they can prove: Kidnapping [[spoiler: Dodd Gerhardt]]. While he did attack her in their house, immediately bounding and gagging said attacker and holding him for ransom/leverage is beyond illegal. It also doesn't help that [[spoiler: Dodd was killed]] while being held by the Blumquists; under Minnesota law, this allows the judge to sentence her for an even longer jail sentence because her and Ed's actions (albeit indirectly) led to the circumstances of [[spoiler: Dodd's death]]. Granted, she may get off easy if she's got a good defense attorney, who might try to convince the jury that Ed strong-armed her into doing the kidnapping or merely bring up how a dangerous mass-murdering criminal was the one who actually did the deed ([[spoiler: Hanzee]]). But given how the police will be able to prove that Peggy was stabbing [[spoiler: Dodd]] in the chest before he died (they likely have the knife used as evidence, with both his blood and Peggy's fingerprints on it) and her suspicious behavior before the kidnapping, she's likely to get some form of jail time even if it's not the maximum sentence.

* After the Gerhardts were officially wiped out thanks to him, why didn't ([[spoiler: Hanzee]]) let Peggy and Ed live and go about their business while he went about his?
** The narrator of episode 9 actually acknowledges this, remarking that nobody is quite sure why [[spoiler: Hanzee]] went after Peggy and Ed. The most plausible explanation the narrator gives is that [[spoiler: Hanzee]] wanted to get rid of the two people that saw his 'true' colors when he asked Peggy to [[spoiler: cut his hair after he killed Dodd]]. This was a moment of weakness for [[spoiler: Hanzee]], and he wanted to make sure nobody remained who could remember that brief moment he revealed his self-hatred.
* What would've happened had Peggy (with a normal mental capacity) went immediately to the police after [[spoiler: running over Rye?]]

*** Saying that, if Rye had survived, and thus ended up being arrested, Dodd and Hanzee wouldn't have been able to pin his death on Kansas City, thereby prompting Floyd and Bear to support full war. The Gerhardt-Kansas City war would probably have played out very differently. Based on what we see in the actual canon, it's likely there would be a Gerhardt family split between Floyd and Dodd, as evidenced by the exchange the two have in episode 2 after Bulo visits the compound with his buyout offer. Floyd is in favor of a buyout (and supported by Bear and Simone in that aspect), while Dodd wants to go to war. Then two episodes later, Dodd beats the shit out of some Kansas City guys he stumbles upon at the donut shop. This incident ends up ruining the negotiations, and Floyd's attempt to make a counteroffer of a partnership and the Gerhardts keeping their North Dakota holdings, because it demonstrates to Bulo that Floyd cannot be trusted to properly control her organization.

* So how is Hanzee Dent going to be able to go from being a side contract killer and enforcer of the Gerhardts to Moses Tripoli head of the Fargo syndicate?

* So what were Kansas City intending when sending the Undertaker? Was the Undertaker going to just take over the job, and Mike would be fired or demoted? Or was he there to kill Mike? The somber music as the Undertaker approaches the suite implies the latter, but the former is just as possible, and Mike was so ambitious that he killed him just to keep the job.

** Either Hanzee will kill enough Kansas City representatives to take back control of the Gerhardt's old territory, or else he'll simply side with Kansas City. Probably the latter, since Tripoli in 2006 is dealing with accountants and other irritations that smack of what Mike Milligan was being told to deal with when he got his own Kansas City promotion.

* Why wasn't Hanzee sent to [[spoiler: kill Ed at the butcher shop?]]

** [[spoiler: It all depends on what the Minnesota prosecutor can prove and what the judge is willing to dish out. But given how they can effectively prove that she and Ed kidnapped Dodd and that he died while under their imprisonment, she could be liable to up to 40 years in prison maximum, going by Minnesota law at the time. However, her defense attorney may be able to talk the sentence down or the judge may be more lenient on her, so she may get a reduced sentence. However, all signs point to her getting no less than 20 years in the slammer (parole possibilities notwithstanding)]].

** The narrator of episode 9 actually acknowledges this, remarking that nobody is quite sure why [[spoiler: Hanzee]] went after Peggy and Ed. However, the most plausible explanation the narrator gives is that [[spoiler: Hanzee]] wanted to get rid of the two people that saw his 'true' self when he asked Peggy to [[spoiler: cut his hair after he killed Dodd]]. This was a moment of weakness for [[spoiler: Hanzee]], and he wanted to make sure nobody remained who could remember that brief moment he revealed his self-hatred.

*** Saying that, if Rye had survived, and thus ended up being arrested, Dodd and Hanzee wouldn't have been able to pin his death on Kansas City, thereby prompting Floyd and Bear to support full war. The Gerhardt-Kansas City war would probably have played out very differently, with a probable Gerhardt family split between Floyd and Dodd. The war was inevitable, but the details would've differed.
*** She probably wouldn't have been charged with any crime if she'd called the police upon arriving home, much less convicted. You're only required to stay at a scene of an accident if it's safe to do so. This incident happens on a very cold winter night in Minnesota, at a time without cell phones. If she were to simply wait by the side of the road for someone to come along, she'd have frozen to death. The right thing to do is to find the nearest phone - which would be the Waffle Hut right there, which is also the scene of a triple homicide - something that is again, entirely reasonable and legal to flee, something that the police sent to respond to the incident would note immediately. They might think it odd that Peggy didn't mention the murders but would probably chalk it up to trauma and shock, and if they didn't, a good lawyer like Karl would be able to convince a jury that's what it was. That's one of the ironies of the season: all of the Blumquist's troubles were set off by an attempt to cover up something that probably didn't even need to be covered up. Like Karl had suggested with his Watergate, it's not the hit-and-run, but the attempt to cover it up, that proved to be Ed and Peggy's undoing.

** A couple reasons: 1) Someone had to send the message to Mike Milligan that the Gerhardts won't roll over without a fight. 2) [[FateWorseThanDeath It's also crueler than killing both]]: kill one twin and let the other live out the rest of his days without his other half. [[HistoryRepeats Just like happens later on]] with Mr. Wrench and Mr. Numbers.

** Either he killed enough Kansas City representatives to take back control of the Gerhardt's old territory, or else he simply joined up with Kansas City. It's probably the latter, since Tripoli in 2006 is dealing with accountants and other irritations that smack of what Mike Milligan was being told to deal with when he got his own Kansas City promotion.

** A couple reasons: 1) Someone had to send the message and deliver Bulo's head in a box to show Kansas City and Mike Milligan that the Gerhardts won't roll over without a fight. 2) [[FateWorseThanDeath It's crueler than killing both]]: kill one twin and let the other live out the rest of his days without his other half. [[HistoryRepeats Just like happens later on]] with Mr. Wrench and Mr. Numbers.

*** She probably wouldn't have been charged with any crime if she'd called the police upon arriving home, much less convicted. You're only required to stay at a scene of an accident if it's safe to do so. This incident happens on a very col winter night in Minnesota, at a time without cell phones. If she were to simply wait by the side of the road for someone to come along, she'd have frozen to death. The right thing to do is to find the nearest phone - which would be the Waffle Hut right there, which is also the scene of a triple homicide - something that is again, entirely reasonable and legal to flee, something that the police sent to respond to the incident would note immediately. They might think it odd that Peggy didn't mention the murders but would probably chalk it up to trauma and shock, and if they didn't, a good lawyer like Karl would be able to convince a jury that's what it was. That's one of the ironies of the season: all of the Blumquist's troubles were set off by an attempt to cover up something that probably didn't even need to be covered up. Like Karl had suggested with his Watergate, it's not the hit-and-run, but the attempt to cover it up, that proved to be Ed and Peggy's undoing.

* What would've happened had Peggy (with a normal mental capacity) went immediately to the police after [[spoiler: running over Rye?!]]

*** Saying that, if Rye had survived, Dodd and Hanzee wouldn't have been able to pin his death on Kansas City, thereby prompting Floyd and Bear to support full war; the conflict between the two groups would probably have played out very differently, with a probable Gerhardt family split between Floyd and Dodd. A war between the Gerhardts and Kansas City would still have happened, but the details would've differed.
*** I actually very much doubt that she'd have been charged with any crime if she'd called the police upon arriving home, much less convicted. You're only required to stay at a scene of an accident if it's safe to do so. This is Minnesota, in the middle of the night, in the middle of the winter, in a time without cell phones. If she were to simply wait by the side of the road for someone to come along, she'd have frozen to death. The right thing to do is to find the nearest phone - which would be the Waffle Hut, which is also the scene of a triple homicide - something that is again, entirely reasonable and legal to flee, something that officers sent to respond to the accident would note immediately. They might think it odd that Peggy didn't mention the murders but would probably chalk it up to trauma and shock, and if they didn't, a good lawyer like Karl would be able to convince a jury that's what it was. That's one of the ironies that I enjoy about the show - that all of the Blumquist's troubles were set off by an attempt to cover up something that probably didn't even need to be covered up. Like Karl had suggested with his Watergate, it's not the hit-and-run, but the attempt to cover it up, that proved to be Ed and Peggy's undoing.

** He wants her to unfreeze the assets of his business partner, the guy with the electric typewriters and gambling debts.

*** Saying that, if Rye had survived, Dodd and Hanzee wouldn't have been able to pin his death on the KCM, thereby prompting Floyd and Bear to support full war; the conflict between the two groups would probably have played out very differently, with a probable Gerhardt family split between Floyd and Dodd.
*** I actually very much doubt that she'd have been charged with any crime if she'd called the police upon arriving home, much less convicted. You're only required to stay at a scene of an accident if it's safe to do so. This is Minnesota, in the middle of the night, in the middle of the winter, in a time without cell phones. If she were to simply wait by the side of the road for someone to come along, she'd have frozen to death. The right thing to do is to find the nearest phone - which would be the Waffle Hut, which is also the scene of a triple homicide - something that is again, entirely reasonable and legal to flee, something that officers sent to respond to the accident would note immediately. They might think it odd that Peggy didn't mention the murders but would probably chalk it up to trauma and shock, and if they didn't, a good lawyer like Karl would be able to convince a jury that's what it was. That's one of the ironies that I enjoy about the show - that all of the Blumquist's troubles were set off by an attempt to cover up something that probably didn't even need to be covered up.

* What happened to the other Gerhardt children? Dodd said that he has 4 daughters, and some of the earlier scenes had younger children running around the house. They aren't much after, but they were there.