Lester couldn't leave well enough alone.

I was when he did that. Simply an awesome episode and season.

Exactly. Lester had it dicked. But then new, improved Lester just had to go and assert himself one time too many.

The one thing that kind of threw me was that Malvo would put in all of that work over six months for a mere $100K. Just seems a bit much for that size bounty. He probably made more during that time on his dentist's salary. This especially stands out in light of his apparently giving up so easily on the $1 million from the groceries guy. I assume he never got the money because that money buried in the snow with a red handled ice scraper marker seems like the leading candidate for a connection between the seasons (and movie).

Watching the scene between Billy Bob and Keith, all I could think of was "What if they had switched roles?"

You betcha'! I think I would let this show put its whole in my ... Never mind.

The whole dentist thing may have been the biggest credibility leap yet ...

I'm really digging the main story, but the side story with the grocery king? Not so much. It really has been a throw-away tie to the movie (I did like that part).

As far as the $100,000 bounty, was that for Stephen Root (the other dentist) or was it actually for the guy in the witness protection program? I thought he had been working the dentist to get to the other guy (why would you throw that in there otherwise?).

Wow, Lester has hit depths I never expected.

So good. I really hope Malvo survives the season.

Yeah, he was just using the brother to get to the witsec guy. If his mission had been to kill the dentist he probably would have done that five months and 30 days ago.

It was for the brother in the witness protection program. He mentioned to Lester how he threw away $100K after he killed the three in the elevator.

Favorite moment was Lou's terse standoff with Malvo.

"I'd call it animal except animals only kill for food."

That pretty well sums up Lorne Malvo. He's like some malevolent force out of a Stephen King novel...no conscience at all.

Loved the file room guys sitting on the floor musing over the old riddle. Wondered how many viewers remembered the solution.

Agree that the dentist setup thing was pretty hinky. Aside from the fact that not just anybody can just hang out their shingle & call themselves a dentist (unless I missed the part where Malvo had a DDS degree) & have the skills to practice, six months is a long time to work at something like that just for $100K. Of course, I suppose he could pocket the money earned from the practice.

I'm pretty sure that Lou's case specifically was Malvo's handy work.

I'm guessing Malvo was doing the dentist case for the challenge/fun/reputation aspect more than the money. I doubt he has any trouble getting money when he wants it.

I don't get why Lester would even approach Malvo. The only thing they have in common is a double-murder so was he expecting to reminisce about that or something? He really should have walked away even before Malvo told him to.

This episode was Aces!

I think Lester feels that Malvo empowered him, and is somewhat to thank for his current success. His confidence is a result of that, and (stupidly) allowed him to push it too far in the encounter.

Billy Bob as Malvo is such a subtly intimidating character. He's awesome.

Yup, just incredible. Lester is beyond despicable. So he gets to kill his wife, get away with it, get a new wife (Asian with a great Minnesota accent--gonna miss that), but he sees Malvo & says, "No, you don't get to..." And he's willing to sacrifice said new wife's life ("Be sure to put your hood up..."). On the one hand I really hope he gets what he deserves, but on the other hand I REALLY hope this show comes back (yet even if it's w/out Lester I have supreme confidence as long as Malvo is back--BB just plain incredible).

It's the second Martin Freeman show to feature that riddle. It played a part on the team-building episode of the UK version of The Office. Unless it's also been on Sherlock, I haven't watched that.

I don't understand why Lester set his wife up like that. She might have been able to get into the office, get the documents, and then leave. If she was confronted by Malvo, she may have caught on and simply said she worked for Lester and not even gotten killed. She was able to cover for Lester, without prompting, when he was being questioned by Molly. I understand not putting himself in harm's way by making her go. That seems in character. But to actually set it up so Malvo would mistakenly shoot her seemed very odd.

Also, I think Malvo wouldn't have shot Lester without him knowing he was doing it. He would have talked to "Lester" before shooting him in the head. Those were my only annoyances with this episode.

If Malvo and Lester have another conversation, then that scene will seem weird. As far as setting her up like that, I think he may have hoped for the best but planned for the worst. She was baggage to him at that point and even though she covered for him, she could also bring the whole thing down.

I think, despite his paranoia, Lester wanted to see exactly what Malvo would do. Malvo hadn't killed him to that point (he killed everyone else and had a few opportunities to include Lester in the bath of blood), so he wanted to see what Malvo's reaction was when he saw him. Now Lester knows 100% for sure...

My guess is after Lester helped Malvo get the bodies to the dumpster, Lester would have been joining them. Malvo probably figured it would be easier and less time consuming to have someone help him.

That's a good point.

I think if Malvo was going to kill Lester he'd have done it a year ago when he had just as much reason. Lester can connect him to a lot of stuff and it seemed obvious he was planning to kill Malvo with that loaded shotgun and frame him for the wife #1 murder. I think he actually likes Lester for some reason and won't kill him. Malvo didn't have to kill the sheriff to save Lester from arrest. He didn't even try to screw with his life before like he does everyone else and even got rid of Sam Hess for him.

I'm still not as much of a fan of the show as the rest of you, but admit the episodes have been getting better and better and last night's was the best so far. I liked that it was the first time that somebody else besides Molly and Malvo acted in a semi-intelligent way. The Lou-Malvo scene was great and intense, though I also was confused as to why Lou didn't recognize him from Molly's board. The elevator scene was awesome "Those are on you, Lester". The undercover-as-a-dentist stuff was beyond preposterous and yet I didn't even care. Music and cinematography were both great. I also appreciate that they've made Lester so despicable -- no mixed loyalty anymore. He's a scumbag who deserves whatever's coming for him. Looking forward to seeing how it ends.

I just like to think of Malvo as a modern-day (and more sociopathic) Doc Holiday .

Not preposterous if you consider he may instead be undercover as a hitman and is actually a dentist. It would be very much in line with the Coen brothers. Not 100% sure that Dad didn't know who he was. Remember he really does not want his daughter to be a police officer.

Well, I must admit it never occured to me that he might actually be a dentist. If that's a reveal next week, I'd be impressed.

One other thing I liked was the way both Molly and Key & Peele entered the diner in such a way that they just missed Malvo. Especially funny considering Key & Peele's near-miss two weeks ago. Well staged scene.

For the record, if Malvo tells me to walk away, I'm walking away. Far away.