‘Fargo’ Season 4 Episode 5: Fans mourn Doctor Senator but love that Odis has been given a good backstory
Spoilers for ‘Fargo’ Season 4 Episode 5, ‘The Birthplace of Civilization’
Obviously, the biggest thing to happen in episode 5 of ‘Fargo’ Season 4 is the death of Doctor Senator, one of the show’s best, most compelling characters. At the cafe where he meets Ebal regularly to discuss the philosophies of their individual criminal organizations, Doctor is surprised to see Constant sitting in his usual seat. As Gaetano silently eats a sundae in a corner booth, Constant threatens him. Doctor reminds him while putting sugar in his coffee, that “respect is earned” and that “you’re just boys making a mess that one day I’m going to have to clean up.” As Doctor walks out, Constant guns him down.
Fans were devastated. Of course, they could all see it coming. One could already feel it in their guts in the previous episode that this was about to happen when he and his men attacked Constant. But this did not take anything away from the blow of his death. One fan wrote on Reddit, “Goddamn. I knew Doc was going to die as soon as he walked in that diner. Still it was tense and made his death all the sadder. This was Chris Rock's best episode. That ending too, you could see on his face how much it affected him but he had to bury it cause he has to prepare for war.”
Another fan said, “With it being a few episodes without any significant character death, I went into this one expecting some blood. I won’t lie, though, it being Doctor Senator hurts. Lovely character, great addition to the Fargo pantheon.” Another fan on Reddit noted, “Damnit. I knew that was going to happen too but when he made it halfway to his car I had hope. RIP Doc.”
But what got fans talking about today’s episode was Odis Weff and the fact that we finally got to know a little more about the policeman with a nervous tick.
When cops, led by Weff, raid his warehouse, Loy says he knows Weff earned his nickname “Twitchy” during his World War II tour of duty as a mine-sweeper. Loys says that one day, Weff apparently couldn’t take the pressure anymore and simply laid down in the grass, leaving his colonel to get blown up while relieving himself in a minefield.
But we later see how there is a lot more to that story. When Defy visits Weff at his apartment, Weff tells him that his wife was raped and murdered while he was overseas during the war. He says that when he received news of this atrocity, he laid down in a field rather than clear mines, staring at the clouds.
Fans loved this reveal, feeling that this added the much-needed depth to his character. “I liked Odis’ development tonight, good stuff. I like how, much like season 2, the war(or the ghost of the war) that many of the characters fought in is like a character, itself,” wrote a fan on Reddit. Another fan said, “Odis's backstory was very humanizing and sympathetic. He might be the most morally sound character involved in the gang war other than Rabbi? Not sure how that look of the two most rooted for being white guys will play out in the season focusing on race relations though, lol.”
This made them wonder about the character’s future arc. One fan wrote on Reddit, “Things are starting to come together with Doc’s death and Loy recruiting Zelmare and Swanee. I’m interested to see who Odis allies himself with and how Defy plays into it all.”
‘Fargo’ Season 4 airs every Sunday at 9 pm ET, only on FX.