Fargo Page #9

VERN:

Lester. Listen to me very

carefully. I need ya to get down

on the ground.

LESTER NYGAARD:

No. Wait. Just -- listen to me --

it’s not what it --

VERN:

Lester. On the ground. Now.

Gun on Lester, Vern backs into the kitchen.

LESTER NYGAARD:

No. Now hold on. Hold on. Don’t -

- there’s nothin’ down there --

Vern glances down the basement stairs.

ANGLE ON PEARL’S FEET

Visible at the bottom of the stairs.

LESTER NYGAARD (CONT’D)

-- That’s not -- I didn’t do

nothin’ -- I just got home. I just

got home and --

CLOSE UP ON VERN

Trying to catch up to events. He keeps the gun on Lester,

reenters the front hall. With his free hand, he keys his

radio handset

VERN:

This is Chief Thurman. I’m at six

one three Willow Creek Drive.

Requesting --

A SHOTGUN BLAST catches VERN in the BACK, spins him around.

REVEAL:
LORNE MALVO holds LESTER’S SHOTGUN. It’s 8 PM, and

Malvo has come in through the back door. He FIRES AGAIN, the

spray catching Vern in the chest and throat. Vern falls.

57.

TV Calling - For educational purposes only

MALVO:

Any more?

Lester is in shock, white as a sheet.

MALVO (CONT’D)

Lester. Are there any more cops?

Lester shakes his head. Malvo kicks Vern’s gun away, looks

down.

ANGLE ON VERN:

Eyes wild, like the deer in the opening. He is mortally

wounded, blood bubbles coming out of his mouth as he

struggles for air.

CLOSE UP ON MALVO

Struck by the synchronicity of this. He studies the dying

man’s eyes.

MALVO (CONT’D)

What did you tell him?

LESTER NYGAARD:

Nothing -- I, uh -- he asked about

Sam.

MALVO:

You got any more shells for this?

Lester shakes his head. Malvo lays the shotgun on the table.

MALVO (CONT’D)

Where’s the basement?

Lester points. Malvo enters the kitchen, goes down the

stairs.

ANGLE ON LESTER:

He pulls two shotgun shells out of his pocket, eyes the

shotgun. How long to grab it and reload?

He reaches out his other hand, then realizes it’s bleeding.

There’s a shotgun pellet buried in the meat of his thumb.

Then Lester becomes aware that his injured hand is now lit by

flashing red and blue lights. Another police car has just

pulled up outside.

CUT TO:

58.

TV Calling - For educational purposes only

INT. MOLLY’S SQUAD CAR - SAME TIME

Pulling up to Nygaard’s house, Molly sees Vern’s prowler.

She CLIMBS OUT of the car, approaches the door.

CUT TO:

INT. KITCHEN. NYGAARD HOUSE. SAINT CLOUD, MINNESOTA - SAME

TIME:

Lester hurries over to the basement door.

LESTER NYGAARD:

They’re here. The police.

No response. Lester starts down the stairs into ...

THE BASEMENT:

LESTER NYGAARD:

I said the police are here. What

do we ...

But Malvo is gone. Vanished like a ghost. Pearl lays alone

on the floor, a bloody mess. The hammer next to her.

Off Lester:
trapped.

CUT TO:

EXT. NYGAARD HOUSE. SAINT CLOUD, MINNESOTA - SAME TIME

Molly pounds on the door.

MOLLY:

Saint Cloud Police. Open up.

Nothing. She looks in the nearest window, sees Vern laying

dead on the hall floor.

MOLLY (CONT’D)

(upset)

Oh. Oh.

She keys her handset.

MOLLY (CONT’D)

Officer -- officer down! Send help.

She pulls her weapon, starts kicking the front door.

CUT TO:

59.

TV Calling - For educational purposes only

INT. BASEMENT. NYGAARD HOUSE - SAME TIME

Nygaard hears the front door CRASH OPEN upstairs. He is

trapped. He looks around. No exit. Can he hide? No. They’ll

find him. Then his eyes hit the inspirational poster on the

wall. There’s only one way out. Lester, knowing he will be

found at any moment, RUNS towards the wall, his head down.

Crack. He knocks himself out.

CUT TO:

INT. FRONT HALLWAY. NYGAARD HOUSE - SAME TIME

Molly kneels next to Vern, checks his pulse. But her mentor

and friend is dead. Struggling to stay professional, she

straightens, her gun up.

MOLLY:

Saint Cloud Police! If there’s

someone in the house, come out with

yer hands up.

Nothing. Cautiously, Molly goes room to room, searching. We

know Malvo could still be in the house. Each blind corner

and dark space offers certain death. We can tell Molly is

afraid, out of her league, but she keeps her wits.

CUT TO:

INT. BASEMENT. NYGAARD HOUSE - NIGHT

Slowly, Molly comes down the stairs, gun drawn. She sees

Pearl and Lester, laying face down. The basement looks like

the scene of a massacre. From upstairs she hears ...

BILL (O.S.)

Molly?

MOLLY:

Down here!

Molly assesses the situation. Pearl is clearly dead. Molly

holsters her weapon, kneels next to Lester, takes his pulse.

MOLLY (CONT’D)

Husband’s alive!

She looks up. There on the poster she sees A BLOODY HUMAN

FACE PRINT with what appears to be a HALO over it.

There’s always one. Be the one.

60.

TV Calling - For educational purposes only

Off Molly:
what does it mean?

CUT TO:

EXT. TWO LANE HIGHWAY. RURAL, MINNESOTA - NIGHT

A state police car is parked on the blind side of an

overpass. Nearby a sign reads Duluth 10 miles.

CUT TO:

INT. STATE POLICE CAR - NIGHT

Patrolman GUS GRIMLY (30s) sits behind the wheel, sipping a

cup of coffee. His walkie talkie crackles.

KURT GRIMLY (O.S.)

Dad. Come in, dad. Over.

Gus picks up the walkie talkie.

GUS GRIMLY:

Dad here. Come back.

KURT GRIMLY:

Vikings up by thirteen. Over.

GUS GRIMLY:

What happened? Over.

KURT GRIMLY:

Walsh kicked another field gold.

Over.

GUS GRIMLY:

Sweet. Did you brush your teeth?

Over.

KURT GRIMLY:

Yes. Over.

GUS GRIMLY:

Homework? Over.

KURT GRIMLY:

Did my math and science. Still

have to do English. Over.

GUS GRIMLY:

Okay, well. As soon as the game’s

over. Over.

A CAR SPEEDS PAST.

61.

TV Calling - For educational purposes only

Gus hits his siren, pulls out onto the road. We stay with

him as he follows the speeding car, it’s tail lights visible

through the front windshield.

The car in front of him pulls over. Gus pulls in behind it.

Beat. He writes down the license plate number, notes the

time. Then climbs out of the car.

EXT. TWO LANE HIGHWAY. RURAL MINNESOTA - CONTINUOUS

Gus approaches the driver’s side, flashlight out. The inside

of the car is dark, ominous. We can’t see the driver.

Then the driver’s side window rolls down. Now we see the

driver is Lorne Malvo.

MALVO:

Evening, officer.

GUS GRIMLY:

License and registration please.

MALVO:

Well, we could do it that way. You

ask me for my papers and I tell you

it’s not my car. That I borrowed

it. And see where things go from

there. We could do that. Or, you

could just get back in your car and

drive away.

GUS GRIMLY:

Why would I do that?

MALVO:

Because some roads you shouldn’t go

down. Because maps used to say

there be dragons here. And now

they don’t. But that don’t mean

the dragons aren’t there.

From the prowler, we hear Kurt’s walkie talkie.

KURT GRIMLY (O.S.)

Dad. Come in, dad. Over.

GUS GRIMLY:

Step out of the car, please.

MALVO:

How old is your son?

Gus puts his hand on his revolver.

62.

TV Calling - For educational purposes only

GUS GRIMLY:

I said step out of the car.

KURT GRIMLY (O.S.)

Dad. Come in, dad. Over.

MALVO:

Let me tell you what’s going to

happen, Officer Grimly. I’m gonna

roll up my window. And then I’m

gonna drive away. And you’re gonna

go home to your son. And every few

years you’re gonna look at his face

and know that you’re alive because

you chose not to go down a certain

road on a certain night. Because

you chose to walk into the light,

instead of into darkness. Do you

understand?

GUS GRIMLY:

Sir.

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