Joe Bulo (Brad Garrett), Mike Milligan (Bokeem Woodbine), and two Kitchen brothers of the Kansas City syndicate arrive at the Gerhardt residence. Bulo offers Floyd Gerhardt (Jean Smart) a buyout of her family's operation but would allow them to run it. Afterward, Floyd tells her sons about the meeting. Dodd bristles at his mother running the business but acquiesces when she expresses her intent for him to take over once the current situation settles. She then demands Rye be found. Milligan and the Kitchens also begin searching for Rye.
In Luverne, Peggy resumes work at the beauty salon while Ed stays home to clean up the garage and bundle up Rye's corpse to take to the butcher shop. While driving his family into town, Lou stops by the crime scene where Betsy finds Rye's gun in some weeds.
Later that night, Lou sees a light on inside the closed butcher shop and finds Ed there. Lou asks to buy some bacon, while Ed does his best to distract Lou from seeing Rye's remains in a meat grinder. Lou eventually leaves unaware of what was really happening, and Ed finishes grinding Rye's body while strange flashing lights illuminate the exterior of the butcher shop.
Tropes:
- Black Comedy: Plentiful, but Dodd's interrogation of the guy whose ears he had cut off stands out.Hanzee: He's dead, I think.
- Dad the Veteran: Hank and Lou share war stories outside the Waffle Hut, the former having served in WWII and the latter in Vietnam.
- Flipping the Bird: How the Kitchen brothers answer Hank asking them for their shoe size.
- Lipstick Lesbian: Constance, who checks out Peggy's ass while her back is turned and expresses explicit interest in her later at her house.
- Literary Allusion Title: "Before the Law" is a parable by Franz Kafka.
- Luck-Based Search Technique: In searching for some sticks for her snowman, Molly finds a balloon and shows it to her mom. Betsy walks over to have a look, only to discover the murder weapon hidden in the snow as well.
- Second Episode Introduction: Simone, Charlie, and Constance are all introduced here instead of in the season premiere.
