Gloria and Winnie find Ray dead at his apartment. Nikki is arrested at her motel room, as Meemo watches from a distance. At St. Cloud's police headquarters, Nikki is questioned by Chief Dammik, who suspects that she killed Ray in retaliation for his abuse. Nikki requests a lawyer. Winnie's supervisor orders her to return to traffic duty and asks Gloria, who is out of her jurisdiction, to leave. Gloria presents her facts before asking Winnie to tell Emmit about his brother and gauge his reaction.
Obviously distracted, Emmit arrives late for a dinner meeting with Ruby Goldfarb and Sy. Winnie finds Emmit and, although she doesn't mention how Ray died, Emmit suggests Nikki killed Ray. He and Sy leave, and a suspicious Winnie approaches Ruby. Emmit later asks Sy if he was working with Ray. Sy refutes this, dispelling Emmit's suspicions. As he leaves, he sees Varga inside Emmit's home; when he reaches home he sobs in his wife's arms. Varga asks Emmit how he feels; Emmit responds, "Free", but begins to cry.
An attempt is made on Nikki's life in her jail cell, but Gloria saves her. The uniformed assassin, Golem (DJ Qualls), makes a clean getaway. Nikki, thankful for Gloria's saving her life, tells her and Chief Dammik to follow the money. Having violated parole, Nikki is put on a state prison bus and is seated next to a disheveled-looking Mr. Wrench (Russell Harvard). Yuri plants a ramp, causing the bus to overturn, and he and two accomplices enter it.
Tropes:
- Ambiguous Situation: It's unlikely that the bus crash killed Nikki, as Yuri is still trying to get to her when the episode ends. The fate of its passengers, however, is still up in the air, particularly Mr. Wrench.
- Bathroom Breakout: Nikki tries to escape the police by going through a window in the motel's bathroom.
- Big Damn Heroes: Gloria saves Nikki in the nick of time from getting syringed.
- The Bus Came Back: After Mr. Wrench escaped custody halfway through the first season, he ends up on the same bus as Nikki four years later In-Universe.
- Captain Obvious: Moe Dammick has an odd moment while he's trying to explain Nikki's situation to her.Moe: Mash a potato, know what you get? Mashed potatoes.
- Flat "What":
- Donny gives one of these when Yuri tells him that he's left the police station.
- Sy gives one of these when he's accused by Emmit of partnering with Ray behind his back. When Emmit tries going on, Sy delivers a spite-fueled rant that puts their argument to bed.
- Heroic BSoD: Sy has one of these when he returns home to his wife.
- I Never Said It Was Poison: Upon being told that Ray is dead, Emmit claims that Nikki killed him. When Winnie begins to point out she never said it was a murder, Emmit clumsily backtracks and claims she told him it was a heart attack.
- Impersonating an Officer: The syringe killer was dressed as a police officer.
- Insecurity Camera: There is no camera footage of the syringe attack presumably because the system was hacked from the outside.
- Lonely Piano Piece: Plays when Nikki is put on the bus.
- Pet the Dog: The ruthless Yuri who has delighted in killing elders and beating women in previous episodes allows Donny to leave the police station with his life. This might have something to do with not wanting to make a mess at the police station of all places, but even so, viewers who were holding their breath sighed with relief when he walked to his car and drove away.
- Put Down Your Gun and Step Away: Gloria wants the syringe killer to do this but he knows some moves to get away.
- Room Disservice: The police are using the service lady to get Nikki to open the motel room door. She smells the rat but her escape is foiled by her injuries.
- Shell-Shock Silence: In the restaurant scene when the police officer calls Emmit over to deliver a Death Notification about Ray.
- Shout-Out: Nikki getting stopped from climbing out the window is portrayed in almost the exact same way Jerry is stopped in the original Fargo movie.
- Nikki tells Gloria and Dammik to "follow the money," a reference to All the President's Men.
- Soundtrack Dissonance: The episode opens with a cheerful rendition of "The First Noel" played over Varga opening and inspecting Emmit's Christmas presents. It continues playing as the scene fades away to Ray's apartment, where his cold body is still lying on the floor in a pool of blood.
- Vast Bureaucracy: Bureaucratic obstacles hinder Gloria from getting to talk to Nikki. In the end, she gets to have the talk anyway.
