Fargo Recap: Season 3, episode 3, ‘The Law of Non-Contradiction’

In the third episode of Fargo, ‘The Law of Non-Contradiction,’ the first thing we see is the past. That is, the 1970’s.

This is a harrowed time in Fargo history (the entire second season took place in the 70’s) and now we’ve returned to witness the story of Thaddeus Mobley, a science fiction writer. We believe that Thaddeus is actually Ennis Stussy, but more on that later. Fargo, however, doesn’t want to linger in the past – most of what we see is actually done through montage.

Thaddeus spends a ton of money trying to get a movie deal off the ground, grows a terrible mustache, and does some cocaine. It’s to Fargo’s credit that all of this can happen before the ten-minute mark and it somehow not feel rushed.

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We later see a story of Thaddeus’ told to us through animation, in a rather shocking turn of creativity. Fargo never does cease to surprise. It isn’t until we see Gloria land in California that the now familiar opening concerning a “true story” pops up.

And so Gloria reaches out in search of Ennis’ past as a science fiction writer in Los Angeles. It’s strange to see the tendrils of Fargo reach out into warmer climates, but it’s not any less wonderfully strange. Cue It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’s Rob McElhenney as an LA cop, making him the second member of the Sunny cast to appear in Fargo. He later brags about how many friends he has on Facebook, which is over 300, in case you were curious.

Gloria successfully tracks down Thaddeus’ actress friend, who is now a waitress at a diner. Turns out that she doesn’t remember the 70’s all too clearly. Before we go any further, let’s get this out of the way: this is a strange one.

This is the strangest episode of the season so far and perhaps counts as one of the strangest episodes of them all. Watching Gloria traverse a Santa-infested California (it’s Santacon) is surreal, and we mean that in the best way. Gloria in her, let’s call it what it is, horrible blouse, is not made for California.

Image Credit: FX

This eventually leads her to Howard Zimmerman, the producer of Thaddeus’ movie. Gloria isn’t out here to solve a murder, not exactly. She wants to get to understand Thaddeus and how he ended up as Ennis Stussy. In another flashback, Thaddeus is confronted by Howard and told that all the money that he spent is gone now, and so, backed into a corner, he ends up beating him with his own cane.

‘The Law of Non-Contradiction’ takes it slow – we’re not going to tell you that there is a ton of plot development here. The episode is chiefly concerned with the past, and we spend no time with the Stussy brothers or Varga (outside of David Thewlis voicing a character in the animated story about a robot boy just trying to do good.)

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But through sheer chance, we learn that the name Stussy comes from a toilet manufacturer. It’s something that Thaddeus saw right before he ostensibly left town, and so we can fit in some of the missing pieces from there.

Back in Minnesota, nobody comes to Ennis’ wake. The third season of Fargo is about identity and how changing it can radically alter a life. ‘The Law of Non-Contradiction’ is something of a stop-gap episode, function to fill in some backstory. If nothing else, it sure works as an enjoyable yarn.