History Recap / FargoS03E02ThePrincipleOfRestrictedChoice

* WeHardlyKnewYe: Irv is introduced in this episode and offed almost immediately as a first glimpse of Varga's true operation.

* ThoseTwoBadGuys: Yuri and Meemo. They playfully hit each other after throwing Irv off of a parking garage.

* TemptingFate: When assuring Ray that the two of them are in the clear concerning their murder of Maurice, she tells him that nobody really investigates elderly murders as much as young ones and that there's no possible way to trace Ennis's murder back to them.

Concerned for his business, Emmit asks his lawyer to investigate Varga. An Internet search causes the lawyer's computer to crash and Varga's men to toss him off a parking garage. Varga then takes ownership of an unused wing of Emmit's offices.

* EntertaininglyWrong: When Nikki breaks into Emmit's house to steal the stamp and finds a framed picture of a donkey instead she concludes that he has anticipated her move and left her a cunning personal insult, while moving the stamp to a safety deposit. In reality, the stamp's frame got broken and Emmit just sent it out to get fixed.

* AreYouPonderingWhatImPondering: Sy suspects sex slaves in the truck while Emmit was thinking of drugs.

* EntertaininglyWrong: When Nikki breaks into Emmit's house to steal the stamp and finds a framed picture of a donkey instead she concludes that he has anticipated her move and left her a cunning personal insult, while moving the stamp to a safety deposit. In reality, the stamp's frame got broken and Emmit just sent to to get fixed.

* ThoseTwoBadGuys: Yuri and Meemor. They playfully hit each other after throwing Irv out of a parking garage.

'''Season 3, Episode 02:'''
!!The Principle of Restricted Choice:
!!!Written by Noah Hawley

->''"So, even if they wanted to solve it--the police--what possible solve is there, besides unfathomable pinheadery?"''
-->--'''Nikki Swango'''

Gloria lies awake, mulling over visions of her dead stepfather. In the morning, she looks through a box she found in Ennis’ house containing a collection of sci-fi novels, an old newspaper clipping, and a headshot of an actress. Donny drops in to inform her that the new chief wants them to report to the station. He helps himself to a cup of coffee, takes a casual look at the evidence she’s laid out, and Gloria deduces that Thaddeus Mobley, the writer of the sci-fi books Ennis had hidden away, was her stepfather before he had his name changed. They drop any further investigation into the case and head to the police station.

Emmit and Sy meet with their lawyer, Irv Blumkin, to discuss their situation with V.M. Varga. He chews them out for borrowing money from a man they don’t know, but they convince him to research Varga in order to help them cut ties with him. On the ride out, Emmit wonders if he was too harsh denying Ray money in the previous episode, but Sy insists that Emmit has always been reliable and doesn’t owe Ray a thing. Emmit thinks that maybe he should just give Ray the stamp, but Sy warns him that his brother’s envy wouldn’t leave him satisfied.

-->'''Sy:''' You’re the goddamn parking lot king of Minnesota. He doesn’t want the stamp, pal, he wants your life.

Irv types Varga’s name into Google, but the only search result turns out to be a link that takes a picture of him and immediately shuts off the computers in his office. Meanwhile, in a parking lot underneath a highway bridge somewhere, Varga and his two men park a tractor trailer against city ordinance guidelines. Sy receives word and tells Emmit, who’s in the middle of reading about Ennis Stussy’s death in the paper. Emmit suggests that they take a look at Varga’s operation, but Sy uses plausible deniability to steer him away. They decide to wait and see if Irv turns anything up on Varga.

At the police station, Gloria’s old-fashioned approach to police work clashes with Chief Moe Dammick. He warns her that things are going to start changing within the coming days, but lets her interview her witness to the murder case and take a few days off to grieve. At the gas station, Gloria’s witness swears that they guy who stopped by the night of the murder was a Russian. He tells her that he ripped a page out of his phone book, and Gloria finds that the page contained Ennis Stussy’s address, proving that the man was seeking Ennis out.

Over at the parole board, Ray checks his boss’s computer to find that the cause of Maurice’s death is listed as accidental. Relieved, he stops by Nikki’s apartment, where she tries telling him about the man who wants to sponsor them in Bridge, but he insists on dwelling on Maurice’s murder.

-->'''Ray:''' I never killed anybody before.
-->'''Nikki:''' Well, me either. Life’s a journey, ya know?
-->'''Ray:''' And I gotta be honest... I got some ''remorse''.

She is able to calm him by telling him that she gave the cops a fake I.D. and the apartment is rented under a fake name. She, on the other hand, is concerned that his blockage in chi could affect the way they play Bridge, and figures that they either need to steal the stamp themselves or Ray needs to make up with Emmit.

Emmit is surprised to find Ray ringing his doorbell at 10:30, but agrees to talk to him outside. While he’s out of the house, Nikki sneaks in the back door and makes her way into Emmit’s study. Ray tells his brother that he felt bad about the way they left things between them and wants to bury the hatchet. They make up and Ray drives away. Meanwhile, Nikki can’t find the stamp, but does find the receipt to a safety deposit box before she’s forced to change her tampon. When Emmit comes back inside, he finds the lights are left on in his study and a message is scribbled on a framed picture of a donkey on the wall, reading “Who’s the ass now?” In his desk drawer, there lies a used tampon.

Later that night, Irv walks out to his car in a parking garage to find Varga’s Ukrainian henchman, Yuri, waiting for him. Yuri talks to Irv about his heritage, to which Irv relates that his family was driven out from their original home by the Cossacks. Yuri shares with Irv that he’s a Cossack and Meemo sneaks up from behind to help throw Irv from the garage. Meanwhile, Nikki regroups with Ray, who’s feeling good about the talk he had with Emmit. Nikki, on the other hand, tells Ray that Emmit moved the stamp and hung up a picture of a donkey in its place. Emmit invites Sy in to have a look at what Nikki left behind, and Emmit shares that the frame containing the stamp was broken, so he had it taken in to be fixed.

-->'''Emmit:''' I shoulda seen it. All these years and suddenly he got a conscience? I don’t think so.
-->'''Sy:''' Why a tampon, though?

Sy volunteers to take care of Ray, but just then Emmit gets a call that Irv jumped off the deck of a parking garage and died. The next morning, Gloria and Nathan meet with the funeral director and Ray meets Sy at a local lounge. Sy tells Ray that he and Emmit will never speak again, amd backs into his car twice on the way out, accidentally losing control and hitting another car in the process.

Back at the office, Emmit finds Varga, Yuri, and Meemo waiting to see him in the lobby. Varga happily shows himself in and moves his boys into the new wing against Emmit’s wishes. Sy arrives and tries to pass everything off as normal, and Varga assures him and Emmit that he is now their business partner. They realize that they’ve been trapped in a business deal, and Varga offers his condolences for the loss of their lawyer.

-->'''Varga:''' What makes it so tragic is how avoidable it was. But as you understand, I can’t have people out there investigating things.
----

!!!Written by Michael Uppendahl

->Written by Michael Uppendahl