When a man digs a grave, he has to fill it. Otherwise, it’s just a hole.

The episode begins at the aptly named strip joint, called The Tender Trap. Roll credits. Three guys, including Vivian Dugger, stumble out and find Roy Tillman waiting for them. He knows at least one of the women has a restraining order against Vivian, and he’s violated it.

Vivian points out that Candy, the woman in question, moved to Sioux Falls to take care of her mother. Poor decision to point out that you’re keeping tabs on the girls, Vivian. The judge won’t like that. Vivian’s two pals leave, leaving him to talk with Roy, who indeed got Vivian’s check for Roy’s re-election campaign.

Roy relieves Vivian of his coat and shirt, saying that in moments of life and death, everything comes into focus. Vivian won’t sell his bank to Lorraine Lyon and he won’t negotiate. Hell, he won’t even return her calls. He’ll have to find some other way to get rich, like foreclose on homes or sell raffle tickets. Doesn’t matter that Vivian knows the governor. Roy jokes about wanting Vivian to dance, but nobody wants to see that.

As the sun rises, Indira gets another call from a debt collector as she gets ready for the day- now with her new houseguest. She opens the garage door as Lars awakens- in front of a school bus full of kids. Don’t you hate when that happens?

There won’t be school for Scotty today. It’s not a holiday. Lars enters and tells Indira that the school bus full of kids saw him in his drawers. Plus, it’s freezing out. Indira asks Lars to watch Scotty for awhile, but Scotty is interested in a wife- one that keeps the house clean and cook- cooks well, anyway. Also to take care of him when he’s sick and asks how his day is going.

Lars also wants emotional support since the world revolves around him. What Indira does is important, but Lars has his own needs. Basically, he wants a cheerleader who doesn’t talk about felonies, but trades recipes with the other wives. Oh, and the wife has to take care of his man needs.

He also wants a wife who’s on the pill, but that gives Indira blood clots. Lars supports Indira all of the time, but she reminds Lars that they’re in debt. Again, Lars hates the negativity and how Indira is stuck in a sand trap. Indira leaves for work, saying they can talk about who needs a wife later. As for Lars, he’s got physical therapy, but he’ll figure out what to do about Scotty. Somehow.

On the Tillman ranch, Bowman and the others interrogate Jordan Seymore who, of course, has no idea who Wayne Lyon is or what they’re talking about.

Inside, Karen works on Roy’s hair, as he’s getting ready for an upcoming debate. As the two watch a speech by President Trump on TV, Karen laments the people hounding him. The girls don’t agree, as they just want to watch cartoons. Hey, no talking back to your mother.

As if by coincidence, a TV ad for Wayne Lyon Kia Motors pops up and Roy sees Wayne Lyon. Karen nicks Roy’s ear, which gets her a backhand from Roy when Karen tries to clean up the blood with a napkin that belongs to Roy’s mother. Karen then excuses the girls for their lessons.

Gator enters and tells his father that the car salesman who is Nadine’s husband is ready. The boys have given him a bit of a light thrashing, but the husband’s put up quite a fight and called Gator a few names that he hasn’t heard since his school days. Surprising, since Gator said the husband was supposed to be soft.

Roy finds Jordan Seymore beaten to a pulp and ranting about having friends in high places as he swears revenge. Roy puts a bullet through Jordan’s head and tells the others that they grabbed the wrong guy. Gator claims that it’s Bowman’s fuck-up, since Gator was ‘in the car.’ At the same time, this guy was in the hospital room marked with Wayne Lyon’s name.

But Gator did say he got a good look at the car salesman since he was in Nadine’s home on Halloween, right? But then…it was dark and the house was on fire. Alright, so what now? Roy says that Gator has bad luck- there’s an upside-down horseshoe with his name on it. As for now, the two head off to pay the boogeyman.

Does the boogeyman exist in the Upside-Down?

Whatever. At the hospital, Indira interviews an employee about Jordan Seymore, who was taken out by two men claiming to be family. That happens, but also, his wife is hysterical and no one’s seen her since. On the same day, two FBI agents showed up looking for the runaway female mental patient. They haven’t gone far- they’re in the cafeteria, talking with Wayne Lyon.

Indeed they are, as Agents Joaquin and Meyer speak with Wayne and Wink. Dot gave them the slip, but they believe she’s running from someone else. Wayne’s still a bit out of it, but he at least remembers that his house burned down. Some neighbors told the agents that they saw a couple of trick-or-treaters fleeing the house as it went up in flames.

Wayne asks if the agents have seen The Nightmare Before Christmas, but the two come clean and inform Wayne that Dot isn’t who she says she is: Dorothy Lyon is just an alias, but her real name is Nadine Bump. Out of nowhere, Wink tells the agents that when Wayne was young, he wanted to be a ballerina. Wink told Wayne that a male ballerina is called a ‘ballerino,’ but he couldn’t be persuaded.

Also, I don’t think that’s true.

See, Dot was previously married, and under the law may still be, to another man- a bad man. She escaped and ran to Wayne, posing as Dorothy. Classic scan. The agents think that that the original, also simultaneous husband found and came after Dot and burned her home in the process. Now she’s fled, so the agents hope that Wayne has some idea of where Dot is now.

As if on cue, Indira shows up to break up the interview, saying the agents will want to hear what she has to say on the matter. Wayne asks if Indira has seen Dot, as she was supposed to visit him. Indira claims that she hasn’t seen her or Scotty who, Wayne points out, plays the drums. That’ll be important in a second. The agents leave, saying they’ll circle back with Wayne.

Time to meet the boogeyman. Roy and Gator arrive at an outdoor arena where men are labeling cattle. Gator doesn’t really trust Ole Munch and doesn’t think they should pay him, but they’ve tried killing him and failed. The election is a week away and they’re still righting old wrongs with Nadine. It’s time to take luck out of the equation.

After getting searched by Gator for weapons, Munch meets Roy, who tells the boogeyman that he’s in the market for a bull. There’s a science to it, but Roy wants to go on instinct, as his father and grandfather did. To Munch, meat is meat. Roy admits he likes that Munch is a man of few words, but to Munch, a man only has so many words in this lifetime. For them, there are very few left.

Roy gives Munch his money, plus interest since things went sideways before. Roy didn’t make Munch’s deal, but he makes that Nadine is like a tick. You can’t crush her, but suffocation or fire might do it. Roy never had a problem breaking a woman before or since, but Nadine truly is a tiger. You think you’re hunting her, but you’re just the mouse and she’s playing with her supper.

Briefly, Roy contemplates just letting Nadine be, but stops short. Munch looks through the bag of money and tells Roy that when a man digs a grave, he has to fill it. Otherwise, it’s just a hole.

Which it is.

As Munch leaves with the money, he finds Gator standing by his car. Gator asks if Munch is happy now that he has his money. After all, good men are dead while Munch is wandering the Earth, breathing the air that they should be breathing. Munch, though? He says that a boy complains because he thinks the world is unfair. He cries to his mother when his toy breaks, but Gator says Munch is the one who will be crying.

A man knows better: the things that happen, happen, and who lives and who dies. You don’t yell at the boulder for being a rock. Gator gets the last word, though: he’ll see Munch soon.

As a very familiar piece of music plays, Gator activates the tracker on Munch’s vehicle that Munch is seemingly unaware of.

Did he borrow it from Anton Chigurh, I wonder?

Agents Meyer and Joaquin tell Indira all about Roy, the sheriff of Stark County, North Dakota. Dorothy Lyon was his wife, but she vanished 11 years ago and was presumed dead, until now. Indira tells the agents that she saw Lyon a day ago at the Lyon estate, probably looking for his wife.

The agents explain Roy has spent millions of dollars on tactical gear and weapons on the taxpayer’s dollar, and then gifting them to a militia run by Roy’s father-in-law. What’s Dorothy got to do with this? After all, she hasn’t been Mrs. Tillman in 10 years. But Nadine knows the top players and might even know where the bodies are buried. The agents want to use Dot to flip Gator or the ranch foreman.

Indira denies knowing where Dot is and instead focuses on the past beatings Dot endured, as well as the attempted kidnapping. Not to mention conspiracy to kill a North Dakota state trooper. Indira says they should get a warrant and go to Roy’s ranch now, but the agents aren’t in that much of a hurry. If Roy’s not there, then a warrant will have tipped the feds’ hands, so Roy would close ranks and just kill Mr. Seymore.

Yeah, about that…

Agent Joaquin gives Indira a business card, just in case she sees Dorothy, though Indira is more focused on helping Dorothy above all else since she’s, you know, the victim.

Scotty tells Lars that she’s bored. She asks about his drum set, which says ‘play the drums,’ but Lars doesn’t want anyone playing them. Lars gets ready to leave and see his physical therapist- which requires putting on cologne for some reason- while Indira will probably bring Scotty something home for dinner.

Yeah, responsible Lars leaves Scotty alone to jam out on the drum set. Probably not his tempo.

Danish informs Lorraine that Vivian Dugger is not returning his calls. It’s possible that he’s playing hard-to-get, but then there’s also a pink dress shirt that was dropped off for Lorraine. It’s even monogrammed: V.D.

There’s also a note, that simply reads ‘Not on my watch,’ and a sheriff’s emblem on it. Security is working on tracing the author, but Lorraine knows that this means the deal is off due to Dorothy’s first husband playing tit-for-tat with them.

Jerome wheels in Wayne, who wants to go home- his own home. He was supposed to go home, but he needed to see Mom first. Dot burned the house down, Lorraine says, but Wayne wants to see Dot. Lorraine says that Dot and Scotty went sightseeing for a few days.

They told Wayne to rest, so Jerome will take him to his old room. As Wayne is wheeled off for some food, Lorraine tells Danish to get Vivian’s cell phone number and gas up the Porsche. Danish is off to go steal an election.

Indira arrives home to the sound of drums being played. She opens the garage door and finds Scotty playing on her very own tempo. This drum set was Lars’ last dream. Scotty informs the deputy that her day was super boring, and Lars left an hour ago for physical therapy. As for the last thing Scotty ate? Some crackers before lunch. The two decide to pack up Scotty’s stuff and take her to Lorraine’s.

Indeed, the two arrive at the Lyon mansion. Jerome lets the two inside, and Scotty is quick to hug her father. Lorraine beckons Indira into her quarters, saying that women who apologize for things that aren’t their fault might as well have “Welcome Mat” on their foreheads.

Indira presents the folder of documents that the agents showed her: the history of Dot, written in punches and chokeholds. Lorraine has no need for this, as people who claim they’re victims are the downfall of the country. But Indira asks Lorraine if Dot ever claimed to be a victim. Sometimes, crimes are committed against people and it’s not their fault.

Lorraine again laments Wayne marrying Dot in the first place, but heaven forbid that she get a fresh start after everything she endured, instead of living in the woods to fend for herself. Honestly, I think Dot’s odds would have been good either way. Lorraine doesn’t like Indira’s tone, but tough shit.

Indira says that Lorraine’s problem is that she thinks she’s rich because she’s better than her. In Indira’s eyes, they’re the same: up before dawn and making their mark on the world. But Indira says that Lorraine is more in sync with Dorothy than she wants to admit.

Dot outsmarted two kidnappers, killed one of them and nearly killed the other one. Indira sees a woman who won’t quit and won’t be silenced. Unlike Lorraine, Dot doesn’t complain, even when she’s committed to a mental hospital. So Indira brought Dot’s file so Lorraine can be an educated asshole.

Lorraine’s takeaway? She wants Indira to lead her security team. Indira does need the money, and Lorraine can both help consolidate Indira’s debt and get the jackals off of her back. She just needs a price is all. Indira has a job, but Lorraine is presenting a white collar job with a white collar salary.

She’d work with a team of agents and travel the world. Probably nothing like any episode of Archer. Indira can’t seriously turn that down. Otherwise, she and Lorraine are nothing alike. This isn’t Lorraine being kind, but smart. Lorraine doesn’t want Indira to ask for permission, but Indira will think it over. Well, think fast, because she only has 24 hours. Otherwise, the offer goes poof.

In the meantime, Indira wants Lorraine to think about Dorothy, who isn’t asking for help, but needs it. With that, Indira leaves.

Back at The Tender Bar, Vivian gets himself a lap dance and an unexpected visit from Danish Graves- and he’s got Lorraine Lyon on the phone. A nervous Danish takes the calls, and Lorraine tells Vivian that she’s pulling the offer. Her money is going to Mesa Prudential out in Flagstaff. What Vivian gets instead is the full might of the federal government raining down on his ass. She called the SEC chairman personally.

Two dozen agents are in his office, seizing his books. They’ve also frozen his accounts. Also, Vivian’s son is starting his freshman year at Notre Dame, but Vivian is late on tuition. So the son has now been expelled, which is why he’s calling Vivian. See, death isn’t the worst thing that could happen to Vivian. Roy won’t kill Vivian, but instead, Vivian will live in squalor and look at the dead-eyed stares of his future-less children.

As Lorraine completes her victory and has a drink, she takes the time to go through Dot’s file.

She’s greeted with images of a beaten and bruised Dot as the episode comes to a close.

Well, what an ending that was. With Dot absent, everyone else gets time to shine as alliances and allegiances are made. Not all of them, anyway, since Indira hasn’t signed on the dotted line for Lorraine, but we’ll get to that.

Once again, a constant of this season has been debt and owing someone else. The ones who owe the debt are powerless to their debtors. It’s why Lorraine wants to give dignity to someone like Indira, who is saddled with a mountain of growing debt in addition to an unhappy home life.

Richa Moorjani, like Allison Tolman before her in the first season, shines as our main cop with a moral compass. While everyone else sees Dot as leverage or someone to barter with, she sees the human underneath. True, she hasn’t witnessed Dot’s abilities firsthand, like Deputy Farr has. But Olmstead is one of the few people that Dot opened up to last time.

She sees Dot’s strength, but also her hidden fear of possibly returning to the hellhole she left when she escaped from Roy. However, Indira knows that Dot isn’t weak. Same goes with Lorraine, but Dot has no reason to boast about her abilities. They speak for themselves when the opportunity arises. While Lorraine flaunts her power, money, and influence, Dot conceals it, making her a more subtle, but equally powerful threat.

But Dot isn’t a machine. She’s a person in need of help. Agents Joaquin and Meyer- who are at least somewhat more competent than Agents Budge and Pepper from Season 1- want to use Dot to bust Roy’s operation, Roy sees Nadine as still being his wife, and up until now, Lorraine just saw Dot as someone trying to take advantage of her wealth.

Dot might be able to fend for herself, but she’s going to need help. She’s never claimed to be a victim. Hell, she isn’t one, but she can’t win this war with Roy on her own.

Now that Lorraine has seen the true horrors that Dot faced, I think she’ll be more inclined to help her. I don’t think Lorraine will ever like Dot as a person, but again, she values family. Plus, Wayne loves Dot. Lorraine might see her own son as a distraction, more so in his current condition, but she’s proven that she’ll go out of her way to help someone if she sees potential in them. Or someone who just needs a leg up.

It could explain why she was so quick to offer Indira a job. Not only does it get Indira out of her crippling debt, but she’d have, as Lorraine put it, a white collar job with a white collar salary. But if Indira accepted and had her debt wiped, she’d still be indebted to Lorraine, who is by no means a good person. Not that Lorraine would send Indira on missions to execute her enemies, but Indira wouldn’t just accept it, either.

True, she might not have an option. Her reputation is already in jeopardy due to her harboring Dot and Scotty. Yeah, Dot is gone, but she lied to federal agents and Dot’s husband. When the dust settles, she might have to work for Lorraine has her one option. She could always reject it as a matter of principle. Indira wouldn’t want to sully her integrity by working for someone like Lorraine.

She could always reject it and solve the debt issue on her own, no matter how long it took, but that would mean potentially enduring more headaches from Lars. Credit to Lukas Gage for doing a great job playing a character you want to hate, but I have to ask: dear goodness, why? Why and how are these two together in the first place?

Look. You know why Lars sucks. I know why Lars sucks. But what did Indira see in this man to begin with that she decided to spend the rest of her life with him? He has no jobs, and his aspirations are either abandoned or money pits. I hate to use this word, but he comes off as more than just ‘entitled.’ He’s the epitome of the baby that Lorraine described Roy as last time.

It would be one thing if both brought something to the table, but as far as we can tell, Indira is the breadwinner and one making sacrifices. All Lars wants is for a meek housewife to be humble, attend to his man needs, always be positive, and get back in the kitchen to make him a sandwich. In exchange? Lars will work on his golf swing. As far as we can tell, he doesn’t have a job, so he’s in no position to make demands.

You know, when Lester’s wife pissed him off, he did something about it. It wasn’t right, but he acted. You have to imagine that it’s taking every fiber of Indira’s being to not put a bullet in Lars’ good golf hand. She could walk away at any moment and be better off for it. Hell, you’d probably applaud if she did. I know I would.

Not to mention he just abandoned Scotty. Sure, he didn’t ask for this random child to stay with him, but he has to be the responsible…I’m not gonna call him adult, but person to look over her. It’s nice to know that Scotty has talent for the drums, but I don’t think Lars is long for this world. If anything, I could see him going the route of Jordan Seymore. It can’t come fast enough.

Perhaps Indira could have Lorraine take care of it. We’ve seen the speed at which she can ruin a person’s life. Jennifer Jason Leigh continues to impress me with how ruthless, yet effective Lorraine is. For all of her bravado, she backs it up when she dismantles Vivian’s life in a matter of minutes.

It’s funny how at the start of the episode, Roy told Vivian that in moments of life and death, everything comes into focus. But things came into clear focus for Vivian without him meeting death’s door. It’s a more satisfying victory for Lorraine to ruin Vivian than just outright kill him. He has to live with the failure of his decisions, and Lorraine is the architect of his destruction.

She likes people who stand up for themselves, like Indira, but not those who act like they can stand up for themselves. Vivian underestimated Lorraine, believing that siding with Roy would get him off the hook. Nay, I say. Lorraine wants fighters because she respects those who fend for themselves. She never saw Dot that way because she never knew the real woman and what she endured. Until now.

Credit to Hawley and director Dana Gonzeles for ending the episode just on Lorraine’s reaction. Similar to the Game of Thrones episode “The Rains of Castamere,” ending without music allows for a more stark finish. We don’t need a swelling musical score accompanying Lorraine’s reaction to the abuse photos. We can read it all through Leigh’s performance.

For possibly the first time, Lorraine might have a feeling of empathy for her daughter-in-law. I maintain that, in many ways, Lorraine and Roy are two sides of the same coin. Though Lorraine detested Roy already, she no doubt has even more hatred for him now that she’s seen what he did to Dot in a past life.

Sure, Dot might get to Roy first, but Lorraine already has a plan to steal an election, so I’m sure she’s just getting started. Also, does anyone get the feeling that Lorraine and Danish are more than just acquaintances? Danish just follows orders, but from how close the two were this episode, it makes Wink even more of a non-factor in Lorraine’s life.

Talking about not thinking much of people close to you, why does Roy even send Gator on missions? Is he just proud to have his flesh and blood out there doing work? His success rate is, well, zero. Perhaps it’s pride. Roy’s definitely full of that. We know he’s got power and influence, but like Lars in a way, he feels he’s entitled to what he thinks is his.

He still refers to Dot as “Nadine,” and he constantly points out that he is her husband, much to Gator’s annoyance, I’m sure. I’m glad he spelled out quickly that his minions grabbed the wrong husband. I thought he wouldn’t have paid much attention to the convenient commercial, but good on him for not being an idiot.

Side-note, Jordan mentions that he’s got friends in high places. Could be a throwaway line, but it’s something that stuck out to me. Wouldn’t be surprised if those friends wonder what happened to him and pay Roy a visit.

Anyway, I think Roy admires how much spunk Nadine has. He briefly considers letting her be, thus abandoning the chase. But I think he’s all about the thrill of the conquest. Nadine is his wife, he says over and over. She’s the one that got away. She’s the one he couldn’t tame. It’s a blot on what he otherwise considers a perfect record. He certainly has Karen tamed, that’s for sure.

I mean, sure, Fargo is known for its sudden bursts of violence, but the surprise backhand was as unexpected as the photos of Dot, if just for how casual Roy was about it. Karen didn’t react much, and the kids didn’t raise a fuss, making me wonder just how many blows Karen has taken.

Roy going back to Ole Much could prove problematic because, money aside, Munch has no reason to work for Roy unless he owes him a debt. He has his money. He could take it and run, though Gator’s now on his track. Munch could prove to be the antihero. He has no allegiance to Roy, and while Dot did try to kill him, he doesn’t have any personal qualm with her. Plus, she makes pancakes, which Munch wants. Me too.

So could Munch be a wild card in this in the same way that Mr. Wrench was in Season 3? Very possibly, but that would be repetitive. We’ll see. Ole Munch is as much a force of nature as Dot is, so it will be great to see these two clash.

Dot may not have been around this episode, but her presence was felt throughout in a very good episode with a strong ending. Indira and Lorraine got big moments to shine with their power plays, and now that Lorraine has seen what Dot endured in her past, perhaps her tune on her daughter-in-law may change. Only time will tell.