The manhunt for Rye begins after fingerprints are pulled from the gun found at the Waffle Hut. At the same time, Milligan, Dodd, and his henchman Hanzee (Zahn McClarnon) each conduct an independent search for him. Hank encounters Betsy while hanging a wanted picture of Rye at the local beauty salon. She speculates that Rye is the victim of a potential hit and run. Peggy discounts Betsy's theory but quickly convinces Ed to crash her car a second time as an explanation of the damage caused by hitting Rye.
Meanwhile, Lou travels to Fargo to meet Detective Ben Schmidt (Keir O'Donnell). They visit the Gerhardt farm and have a tense encounter with the clan. Lou then visits Skip's typewriter store, where he encounters Milligan and the Kitchen brothers, also searching for clues, resulting in another standoff. Dodd's daughter Simone (Rachel Keller) tips off Hanzee about a lead on Rye, and they ambush Skip at Rye's apartment. He is brought to Dodd for interrogation. Dodd learns that Skip has no information on his brother's whereabouts. He and Hanzee force Skip into an open grave and bury him alive in hot asphalt. Dodd then tells Hanzee to do what is necessary to find Rye, beginning in Luverne.
Tropes:
- Abusive Parents: The first father-daughter interaction we see between Dodd and Simone is him slapping her in the face and violently throwing her into his truck. She also implies that he sexually abuses her.Simone: Are ya gonna hit me again? Does that get ya hard?
- Ain't Too Proud to Beg: Skip once again over-reaches when he tells Dodd he could cut a deal with Mike Milligan for Rye because he has "capital". Predictably, it doesn't work (in fairness he was out of his mind with fear at that point).
- Bullying a Dragon: Lou is openly hostile towards Dodd on his own property despite being outnumbered by Gerhardt men with weapons pointed directly at him. Later on, he proceeds to fire a Your Mom comment at Mike Milligan despite both the Kitchen brothers having their guns pointed at him.
- Buried Alive: How Skip Spring bites the dust, or should we say hot asphalt?
- Character Death: Skip Spring ends up buried underneath a pile of burning asphalt.
- Deadpan Snarker: Lou has a few notable moments demonstrating his impressive ability to snark in the face of evil.Goon: I'm gonna need your guns.Lou: I'll hold onto mine. It's got sentimental value.
- Debut Queue: Ben Schmidt makes his 70s debut here despite his bigger role further on in the actual Sioux Falls incident.
- Dirty Coward: Every comment Ben Schmidt makes about the Gerhardt family is outright pathetic. Upon entering their property, he surrenders his firearm with no qualms whatsoever.
- Distracted by the Sexy: While Lou tries talking to Ben Schmidt in the courthouse, Schmidt stares at a woman who walks by with little interest in whatever his fellow officer is saying.
- Dramatic Irony: Peggy chiming in to discredit Betsy's (correct) theory about Rye Gerhardt being hit by a car instead of fleeing the scene (if only because saying anything contrary to that might reveal her lies). Hank sides with Peggy.Hank: It’s not like you’re just gonna drive home with a Gerhardt in your windshield and start supper.
- The Dreaded: While Schmidt describes the Gerhardts' reputation to Lou, he states that he'd rather confess to their crimes and go to jail himself than take them on in an investigation.
- Establishing Character Moment: Ben Schmidt finds himself distracted by a woman walking by in the middle of his and Lou's conversation before moving on to describing how afraid he is of the Gerhardts.
- Evil Parents Want Good Kids: This episode establishes that Bear doesn't want his son Charlie to get involved in the family business, insisting that the boy go back to school before the situation gets worse.
- Fille Fatale: Simone falls back on her sexuality to manipulate her way out of trouble, and attempts to use it on Hanzee (which fails) and Skip (which succeeds as much as she needs it to).
- Foreshadowing: A man at the auto shop recounts to Lou the recent UFO activity that's been going on in the sky.
- Good Cannot Comprehend Evil: Hank doesn't understand why anyone would do what Rye did "for a little bit of money."
- Literary Allusion Title: the Myth of Sisyphus is a philosophical essay by Albert Camus.
- Meaningful Echo: While setting up Rye's poster in the salon, Hank utters a line similar to the "a little bit of money" speech from Marge in the original movie.
- Mexican Standoff: Lou gets into one of these with both Kitchen brothers after he walks in on them and Mike hanging around Skip's store during the day.
- Minnesota Nice: Discussed and Deconstructed by Mike Milligan in the page quote.
- Mythology Gag: See Meaningful Echo above.
- Noodle Incident: When he calls Lou on the radio, Hank appears to be responding to a road accident that has left a car upside-down in the middle of a field. Whatever happened, it was apparently unrelated to the story, since he doesn't even mention it to Lou.
- Oh, Crap!: Peggy's reaction when Hank comes into the beauty salon to put up wanted posters of Rye in the window, and Ed's reaction to the same when she pulls him out of work so they can go deal with damaging the car further.
- Police Are Useless: Schmidt makes it abundantly clear that he has no interest in investigating the Gerhardt's involvement with the Waffle Hut murders. Lou averts this trope by advancing his investigation despite numerous firearms being pointed in his face over the course of just one day.
- Post-Stress Overeating: Lou is offered a piece of cake when he comes home, then he recounts how many times a weapon was pointed at him throughout the course of the day.Hank: Maybe two pieces of cake, then.
- Your Mom: Lou uses one of these against Mike Milligan in Skip Spring's typewriter shop when the Kitchen brothers have him in a Mexican Standoff.Mike: Where’d you say you saw ol’ Skip?Lou: At your mother’s house, I think going in the back door.
