‘Fargo’s Rabbi Milligan Was This Season’s Moral Compass

There’s been a lot of debate about who’s the loser and who’s the victor in this season of Fargo. But amidst every betrayal and monologue there’s been one character who has unquestionably helped alleviate the darkness: Ben Whishaw’s Rabbi Milligan. And as of this week’s episode, it seems his quiet selflessness has come to an end. Spoilers ahead for Fargo Season 4. 

This season started with the Kansas City son swap, an exchange of children between two competing crime families in order to acquire respect and power. With each drama-packed episode the value of the son swap has diminished. For Loy Cannon (Chris Rock) and Josto Fadda (Jason Schwartzman) it’s just another cost of doing business. It’s easy to forget the full horrors of this setup and buy into their points of view. In these moments Rabbi Milligan has been there with his ward Satchel Cannon (Rodney L. Jones II), quietly lurking in the corners and reminding us how warped this trade truly is.

Throughout Season 4, Rabbi has become a sort of surrogate father to Satchel. He has protected the kid from the more violent members of the Fadda family, kept him away from any incriminating conversations, and made sure he received an education. When the stakes changed and it became clear the Fadda family was going to renege on its promise to keep Satchel safe, Rabbi changed his alliance. He abandoned the very family he once murdered for so that he could continue to protect his enemy’s kid. In a crime world where everyone including Satchel’s own father is determined to use him as a bargaining chip, Rabbi has treated him as an individual to be respected. He has shown Satchel the basic human decency this entire season has craved.

Part of Rabbi’s compassion can be traced to his own demons. Rabbi was originally part of the Milligan family and was traded by his father during two son swaps. After the first trade Rabbi acted as expected and betrayed the Moskowitz Syndicate. But after his father traded him a second time Rabbi altered the course of history, siding with the Fadda family and murdering his own father.

That’s the life Rabbi has known, one in which he has always been a pawn in a war he never started. And that’s the fate Rabbi has worked tirelessly to spare Satchel. If it wasn’t for Rabbi Milligan it would be easy for Satchel to end up just like all the other sons who have been traded over the years, spiteful soldiers picking battles they can never fully understand. The moment Rabbi saved this kid from his inevitable death by the Fadda family and took him on the run, he freed Satchel from this cycle of familial violence. He gave this child back his life at the cost of his own.

Most of this season of Fargo has revolved around discriminated people taking what’s theirs. In the midst of all these self-serving battles, this brief moment of compassion from one outsider to another has felt so lovely and pure. So of course it could never last.

Filmed almost entirely in black and white, “East/West” follows Rabbi and Satchel as they’re on the run. They find themselves trapped in a bizarre bed and breakfast run by two old sisters who are adamant about separating their guests by race, political affiliation, and dozen other nonsensical criteria. Most of the episode studies Rabbi and Satchel’s new dynamic. As has been the case this entire season, there’s a distinct Raising Arizona vibe to their interactions. Rabbi has no idea how to raise a son, and Satchel doesn’t know how to treat his former guardian turned friend. They both fumble around each other, but even their most tense moments are characterized by a surprising sense of respect and love.

That’s what ends up killing Rabbi — love. In the episode’s final moments Rabbi leaves the inn to get a cupcake for Satchel’s birthday. While he’s out things quickly go south. Rabbi is confronted by the Fadda family’s favorite hitman Calamita (Gaetano Bruno). But before either man can kill each other, nature intervenes. A tornado comes out of nowhere, delivering on the black and white motif and killing Calamita and Rabbi in its wake.

It’s a death that feels reminiscent of another Coen brothers movie, A Serious Man. The black comedy-drama follows Larry Gopnik (Michael Stuhlbarg), a Jewish professor who starts to question his faith. The resulting film is a reflection of the randomness of life interpreted as a morality play. No matter what Larry does, good or bad, the world around him seems to get worse in a new and freakish way. If he’s faithful to his wife, she still leaves him and drains his bank account. If he accepts a bribe to change a student’s grade, he’s met with a concerning test result from a doctor. The film ends with a massive tornado approaching the school where Larry works as one of his colleagues struggles to open the emergency shelter.

This examination of randomness and morality is a fitting nod for Rabbi’s death. Rabbi’s life was defined by seemingly evil decisions that led to complicated results. Murdering his father was indisputably wrong, but it’s impossible to say whether leaving the Milligan family or the Fadda family in charge would have led to the greater good. In the midst of all this moral complexity it feels right that the one truly good thing Rabbi did, caring for Satchel, would lead to his death. It’s hard to say if Rabbi Milligan was a good or bad man. Either way Fargo won’t be the same without him.

New episodes of Fargo premiere on FX Sundays at 10/9c p.m. and on FX on Hulu the following day.

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