Contains spoilers for this episode and earlier episodes.
Otto Gerhardt suffers a stroke while his family controls the criminal business around Fargo. His youngest son, Rye, pursues a scheme of his own, following Judge Irma Mundt to the Waffle Hut in Luverne. He wants her to release the frozen accounts of typewriter salesman Skip Sprang. Mundt refuses to be intimidated and sprays Rye with bug spray. He shoots her, then kills the cook and waitress. Outside, an apparent flying saucer draws his attention before a passing car hits him. The driver continues home with Rye lodged in the windshield.
State trooper Lou Solverson and Sheriff Hank Larsson investigate the diner killings. Skid marks, an abandoned car and a shoe caught in a tree suggest that someone else left the scene. Lou returns to Betsy, who is living with cancer, and their young daughter Molly. Across town, butcher's assistant Ed Blumquist discovers the damaged car in his garage. Rye is still alive and attacks him, and Ed kills him with a gardening tool. Peggy admits she hit Rye but persuades her husband that reporting the accident would destroy their lives. They hide his body in their freezer. In Kansas City, Joe Bulo receives approval to move against the Gerhardt business after learning about Otto's stroke.