Eating the Blame
"Eating the Blame" is the fourth episode of the first season of the FX anthology series Fargo. The episode aired on May 6, 2014 in the United States on FX. It was written by series creator and showrunner Noah Hawley and directed by Randall Einhorn. The title refers to the Zen Buddhist kōan of the same name.
In the episode, Lorne Malvo continues to torment his employer Stavros Milos, making him go through biblical plague-like events. Meanwhile, Lester Nygaard desperately tries to escape the hitmen Mr. Wrench and Mr. Numbers. It establishes a direct link between the series and the 1996 film of the same name on which it is based.
"Eating the Blame" received critical acclaim, and was seen by 1.70 million viewers.
Plot
In a flashback to 1987, the Milos family runs out of gas along a deserted highway in winter. Stranded and heavily in debt, Stavros Milos prays for help. Stepping outside the car, he finds a briefcase of money buried in the snow and takes it as a sign from God. The suitcase was actually buried by Carl Showalter who was later murdered without having revealed its location to anyone else.Nineteen years later, Chumph, disguised as a plumber, tells Stavros that everything appears normal in his pipes, and suggests the shower of blood is similar to a biblical plague. Stavros grabs Chumph by the scruff of the neck and tells him off. Chumph tells him he is crazy and leaves, while Stavros worries about what Chumph said. Outside, Lorne Malvo was watching from a distance. Gus Grimly spots Malvo by Stavros' house and arrests him. He informs Molly Solverson, and when she requests to go to Duluth, Oswalt refuses her and goes instead. Malvo produces identification as "Frank Peterson," a Lutheran minister from Baudette, and has an alibi. Molly learns Malvo's name and calls Grimly, but Malvo has already been released.
Malvo and Chumph release hundreds of crickets into Stavros's supermarket, simulating a plague of locusts, to further entice Stavros into paying the blackmail money. Meanwhile, Lester Nygaard is abducted by Numbers and Wrench who intend to kill him, but he escapes. Fleeing, he finds a police officer issuing a ticket for a car parked on the side of the road. Nygaard punches him to get arrested. Mr. Wrench and Mr. Numbers witness this and later stage a bar fight to get arrested, and end up in the same cell with Lester.