Review: Fargo, “The Tiger” | Year 5, Episode 5
In which Dot’s need to micromanage her world only makes matters worse
There was some good discussion in the comments of last week’s Fargo review about Dot’s whole deal. Is her unwillingness to be honest about her past a colossally selfish act, or a natural extension of her having escaped an abusive relationship? Myself, I’m inclined to cut Dot some slack because of what we know about her past. But I also wouldn’t say that her stubborn commitment to her preferred delusion has been all that effective… even if she is, for real, a tiger.
“The Tiger” holds to this Fargo season’s general approach: propulsive storytelling anchored by memorable set-pieces and a couple of quirky interludes. Here, much of the episode has to with Dot trying to put some space between herself and anyone who wants to do her harm—or even to ask her uncomfortable questions—until she can make a plan to fix everything.
A fresh obstacle gets thrown in Dot’s way right at the top of the hour, when a couple of hospital orderlies come to Lorraine’s house and haul her away to the…