So far in FX’s season 5 of Fargo (I’ve currently caught up to episode six, although this season is
shortly coming to a close as I’m writing this), I’d have to say that the most terrifying member
amongst a plethora of intimidating characters has to be Jon Hamm’s Roy Tillman.
Roy Tillman thinks he’s the American every man, a man that possesses the true and traditional
American masculinity – he even dresses the part, cowboy hat and all, if only to reinforce his status
as Sheriff. He’s a gun-toting, God-fearing, wife-beating, true-blooded American.
This is a man who thinks he’s the voice of truth, the voice of God, and he acts as such – walking
around with a swagger in his step, handgun by his side, patrolling his territory on his horse,
returning to his property: his ranch home alongside wife and two daughters. Women are not
people, they are property. This ‘fact’ is the main catalyst for season 5’s narrative, that is,
Tillman’s deep desire to get back what was once his: his former wife Nadine, or, how she’s known
now, Dorothy Lyon, a married woman of ten years to another man, with a nine-year-old child.
He’s a walking time capsule for America gone by (although this is somewhat debatable).
This man acts like he does not live in the modern world, instead he lives in an antiquated one.
There’s no presence of federal law in his county, his word is God, he is the law. The ‘law’ has been
reduced to vigilantism which abides by the morals and whims of a caricature of a man. The world is his, in his eyes.
One of the most terrifying things about this character, however, is the truth and reality within him.
The fact that he represents an antiquated worldview does not negate the fact that a horrifyingly
large chunk of people still think and act like this remains in the world today. He represents those
filled with hate and a refusal to learn and look at today’s world with empathy. I mean, we don’t
even need to look very far back into recent history to see one of the largest examples of
unabashed hatred broadcast mainstream.
Donald Trump’s presidency and the destruction that lay in its wake in American society demonstrates just how pervasive this sort of belief system is (e.g. Trump winning the presidency, 2020 BLM protests and spotlight on police brutality, the ban on ‘Muslim’ passport holders into the US, Roe vs Wade being overturned, attitude regression towards LGBTQ+ people in the south of America especially).
Roy Tillman represents those who go through day-to-day life believing they are fighting a constant
battle against their own ‘oppression’ as the rights of minorities are finally somewhat being recognised. He represents those who believe anyone who opposes them is a threat to their security as an individual and their existence as a ‘traditional’ God-fearing man in peril.
His approach to his beliefs and enforcement of them is terrifying as it reflects just how prevalent
this mindset is, the fact that he gets away with it, even when the FBI comes knocking on his door.
He sees people as a means to an end. As pawns in his game. This goes so far as to extend to his
family, those who are supposed to be close to him. Instead, they, too, are mere tools to serve him.
He doesn’t care about his elder son, Gator, the moment he stops being able to do anything useful
for him, and the only reason he wants Dorothy/Nadine back is because he cannot face a
woman, his wife, his property could be stronger than him and have the power to outsmart him
when he should own her and remove her humanity and agency as a human and equal.
A truly horrifying selection of traits and behaviours to possess as a human.
A scene that I feel encapsulates and pulls the shroud of mystery, if there ever was one anyhow,
completely off his character is the showdown between him and Lorraine Lyon in episode five as
the two argue over Dorothy/Nadine like she’s a piece of meat.
Roy finally meets someone as ruthless as him, someone who is a woman, who has something
that he wants, and something that she will not give up. This is particularly infuriating for him as
Dorothy/Nadine is the one thing he cannot bear to lose. The mere fact that she escaped him hurts
his fragile ego so much that he will stop at nothing to get her back. Lorraine being something
stood in his way, a woman is stood in his way, is another huge factor into why this is so
frustrating – the women who are more powerful than him undermine his authority as the ‘true and
traditional American man’.
He’s even flummoxed for a moment as he realises Lorraine is not going to back down – this is
reflected in Jennifer Jason Leigh’s – who plays Lorraine Lyon – incredible performance: Lorraine is
almost completely unfazed by his theatrical behaviour. The camerawork here reflects this too,
she’s shot from a low angle, making her appear as if she is looking down upon Roy at several
moments throughout the scene. The dialogue here is fantastic, too, as it plainly spells out who Roy believes he is. He describes himself as a ‘hard-working American,’ with ‘[his] hat in hand, just trying to do what’s right…Right as in the Bible.’
Lorraine continues to be unimpressed with what he has to say and requests proof of his alleged
matrimony to Dorothy. Here he produces an image, accompanying it with his word. I found this to
be particularly interesting as he has no actual proof, no documents, no official word that it is true,
merely his word and a photograph. Obviously, this reflects his views on the government and how
he sees them as tyrannical, refusing to abide by the laws they set, but I feel this speaks deeper as
to who he is as a character. He is the type of man to believe he can waltz around with authority
and have everyone bend to his whims just because he’s a man – and one with far too much
authority.
The scene closes out with neither one of them backing down, however, Lorraine does get him to
leave even though, he was not finished. She does so by speaking his language, and using his
own beliefs against him, which is the only way to argue or get those types of people to listen to
you. They’re so cemented in their ways that the only way they will listen or latch onto in any way
what someone with an opposing point of view has to say is through something they already
believe to be true.
She tells him that if anything he’s saying is true, then Dorothy is no longer his wife, his property,
instead, she is her son’s property, she’s a Lyon now. She closes their discussion by saying his wife
Nadine is dead, after all, a missing person is considered so after seven years, and Nadine has
been missing for over ten.
One final thing Lorraine says in this scene, which I loved, is that Roy ‘defender of freedom and
protector of the common man against the tyranny of the state and all its wicked demands’
Tillman is fighting for freedom with no responsibility, something only a baby can have. “You’re
fighting for your right to be a baby,” Lorraine smirks. At this point, Danish, Lorraine’s lawyer and
right-hand man, interrupts the two and the scene comes to a close.
Roy is ripped to shreds in this scene whether he realises or not, and I can only hope that this is
the beginning of his character’s unravelling as his world crumbles around him and he gets a huge,
overdue dose of reality. Maybe one day people like him will get a huge dose of the same
