‘Fargo’ season four episode seven recap: will Gaetano seek revenge on his brother Josto?

**Spoilers for 'Lay Away' below**

In the long history of Italian-American crime families in TV and film, the Faddas might go down as the dumbest. Completely unable to get their house in order, they’ve forced their rivals, The Cannon Limited, to sink to their level – to abandon what shreds of honour had been handed down through the generations of organised crime families in Kansas City.

Fargo tread water a little bit this week, airing not the most eventful of episodes, but the tête-à-têtes between rivals were as immensely enjoyable as ever, with razor sharp dialogue and gorgeously lit sets. Let’s trace the key moments from Fargo season 4 episode 7, ‘Law Away’:

Line of the week: “You know you girls are wanted, right?” “Silly boy, that’s what girls are.”

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Zelmare Roulette and Swanee Capps have been fun, if slightly superfluous additions this season, but tonight we saw the back of them. After goading Odis Weff, they were dispatched to Philadelphia by Loy Cannon, no longer being of use to him as foot soldiers. The girls didn’t fancy Philly, but Loy threatened to harm Zelmare’s sister, Dibrell Smutny, if they didn’t skip town. This seemed to do the trick, but the outlaw duo have a history of listening to no one but each other, and I wouldn’t rule out them bursting through a door, shotguns firing before the season is out, especially if Ethelrida ends up in jeopardy.

Classic ‘Fargo’ moment: the poisoned macaron

Oraetta Mayflower was clearly rattled by last week’s anonymous letter revealing her crimes. Even though Dr. Harvard seemed to buy her denial, she shut him up for good measure in ‘Lay Away’, cooking him up a batch of macarons with medical gauze hidden inside that caused him to choke to death.

And that was it for Oraetta this week, whose story is being parcelled out bafflingly slowly. Her nascent romance with Josto seems to have gone on the back burner (they haven’t shared a screen since episode four), and we’re no closer to understanding how she figures into the main plot. There’s still time, and next week will no doubt see her confront Ethelrida about the letter, but if Oraetta is involved in the bloodshed that closes this season, it may be that she stumbles upon it (which, in fairness, is pretty Fargo – one minute you’re out buying groceries, then BAM!)

Jessie Buckley
Jessie Buckley as Nurse Oraetta Mayflower. Credit: FX

The most ‘Fargo’ character name: Ebal Violante

The long-suffering consigliere needs a new job. He tried to build bridges with the Cannons this week, only for Josto to jump in with the lie that Satchel Cannon is dead, hoping that Loy would kill his meddlesome brother Gaetano in revenge. Except a) that’s not exactly an eye for an eye and b) Loy of course saw right through Josto’s little scheme.

Loy wasn’t about to be tricked into doing Josto’s dirty work for him, so instead of killing Gaetano he set him free. Loy will be relieved that Satchel’s not dead, but still, lying about the child’s death and using it like a chess piece is pretty sick. This set up a race to find Satchel next episode, and the Fadda’s attack dog Constant Calamita has a headstart, after finding a newspaper cutting in Satchel’s bible that appeared to show the hideout Rabbi planned for the boy (‘Uncle Jack’s Feed & Seed’).

Zombie watch: the haunting of Lemuel Cannon

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Our unidentified festering object is back, and he’s haunting new characters. I previously wondered if the zombie represented a ghost or curse afflicting the Smutny family, but in episode seven he peaked out of a coffin while Lemuel Cannon was in the room. Still no explanation as to this random zombie; still doubtful whether we’ll ever get one.

Fargo season 4 episode 5
Salvatore Esposito as Gaetano Fadda and Jason Schwartzman as his brother, Josto. Credit: FX

This week’s biggest question: will Gaetano try to kill Josto?

It’s hard to imagine the answer to this won’t be a firm ‘yes’, given that Loy informed the Fadda while in captivity that Josto wanted him dead. And given there was no love lost between the two brothers anyway, it’s not like Josto can argue that Loy was lying with much of a chance of success. Gaetano will surely go after Josto, but with Calamita – the only person loyal to him – away, it’s hard to see how he’ll carry out an assassination. Violante vowed to ship Gaetano off to Italy, but more likely is Josto finally sucking it up and killing Gaetano himself.

Will Josto be able to sell this to the New York families in a way that leads to them sending him support? This season of Fargo is enjoyable in its messiness, but these vague allusions to New York and Italy are an example of an area that could have used a little more precision, it never being quite clear what the lay of the land is in this impending mob war.

Fargo season 4 episode 7 airs Sunday night (November 1) on FX in the US, with a UK broadcast on Channel 4 expected sometime in 2021

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