In March 1979, Floyd Gerhardt is the matriarch of The Gerhardt family, which is the most powerful organized crime syndicate in Fargo, North Dakota. Their power is threatened by two near-simultaneous incidents. A debilitating stroke leaves her husband, Otto in poor health, potentially jeopardizing the dynasty's leadership. Two of their sons, Dodd and Bear, begin competing for control. While they are figuring out who will lead the family, Floyd is put in charge. The Gerhardts are facing a serious challenge from a Kansas City crime syndicate, led by Joe Bulo, for control of the region. Meanwhile, Floyd's third son Rye has gone missing. Unbeknownst to Floyd and the rest of her family, he has been killed by Peggy Blumquist in a hit and run after murdering a judge at a diner in Rock County, Minnesota. Joe Bulo of the Kansas City syndicate arrives at the Gerhardt residence, along with Mike Milligan and the two Kitchen brothers. Bulo offers Floyd a buyout of her family's operation but would allow them to run it. After he leaves, Floyd tells her sons, minus the missing Rye, about the meeting. Dodd bristles at his mother running the business, but she states that he can take over once the current situation settles. She then demands that Rye be found. Mike and the Kitchens also begin searching for Rye. Dodd and his henchman Hanzee, as well as Mike, each conduct an independent search for him. Dodd's daughter Simone tips off Hanzee about a lead on Rye, and they ambush Skip at Rye's apartment. They bring him to Dodd, who assaults Simone for acting independently. Mike and the Kitchens then eliminate Otto's guards in the parking lot outside the medical clinic, leaving Otto unharmed. Meanwhile, Floyd, Dodd, and Bear meet with Joe Bulo and propose a counter-offer to his buyout: a partnership. Bulo balks at the idea, since Dodd assaulted two of his men earlier. Bulo phones his superiors who reject the Gerhardts' proposal. They now offer two million dollars less than the first offer and demand the Gerhardts' complete surrender. At the Gerhardt farm, Floyd tells the family to prepare for war. Dodd and Hanzee concoct a story – about Ed Blumquist being a hitman called "The Butcher" who was hired by Kansas City to kill Rye – trying to rile Floyd into bloody action. She responds by having Hanzee and a team of Gerhardt assassins ambush Bulo during a hunting trip. In the resulting shootout, Hanzee kills a Kitchen brother as well as Bulo, and sends the latter's head to Mike. Mike threatens Dodd's daughter Simone during their next dalliance, demanding that she spy on her family for him. Meanwhile, Dodd sends his henchman Virgil to Luverne to kill Ed, and allows Bear's son, Charlie, to accompany him. Virgil and Charlie arrive in Luverne and botch an attempt to kill Ed. Virgil is killed, Charlie is hospitalized, Ed is arrested and the butcher shop is burned down. In Fargo, Floyd insists that "The Butcher" be executed, and Charlie retrieved from jail. Hours later, Dodd and accomplices arrive at the Blumquist home hunting Ed, while Bear heads to the police station to fetch Charlie. Hanzee knocks out Hank, but Peggy subdues Dodd in her basement using his stun rod. Meanwhile, Simone calls Mike Milligan and reveals the Gerhardts' plan that Dodd and Bear departed for Luverne. Fed up with her father's abuse, she wants Mike to murder Dodd. Mike and his men arrive at the thinly protected farmhouse and open fire with Simone, Floyd, and Otto inside. They succeed in killing Otto. Otto and some of Rye's belongings, including his belt buckle, are buried at the Gerhardt farm. Lou Solverson and Ben Schmidt arrive after the funeral and take Floyd to the station for questioning. She eventually accepts a deal that will absolve her family members for previous crimes they have committed in exchange for information about how the Kansas City syndicate runs their drug operation. Dodd is later held hostage by Peggy and Ed after trying to attack them. Ed calls Mike and offers Dodd in exchange for getting the Gerhardts off their backs. After, Hanzee comes to kill the Blumquists and kills Dodd. He then asks Peggy for a haircut so he can be free of "this life". Before Peggy finishes, Lou arrives to arrest the Blumquists, and he escapes. After being arrested, Ed reveals his upcoming rendezvous with Mike to hand over now-dead Dodd Gerhardt to the cops at Sioux Falls. South Dakota State Police Captain Cheney hatches a dangerous scheme for Ed and Peggy to wear a wire for the meeting, hoping to implicate Milligan and the Kansas City mob. After Ed and Peggy agree to the plan in exchange for lesser criminal charges, the police set up an ambush at the motel meeting spot, only for Hanzee to observe their actions from a distance. Hanzee lies to Floyd and Bear by claiming Dodd is being held inside the motel by the Kansas City mob. When the Gerhadt family is about to invade the hotel and take back what they think is Dodd who is kidnapped by the Kansas City mob, Hanzee reveals his true intentions and stabs Floyd to death.
Reception
Smart received critical acclaim for her performance. For her performance in the episode "Fear and Trembling", TVLine named her their "Performer of the Week", writing: "In the opening weeks of the FX series’ second season, we saw hints of Floyd’s formidability as the Gerhardt crime family matriarch, newly thrust as she was into a position of leadership after husband Otto’s stroke. But it was when she sat down to present a “respectable” counteroffer to Kansas City, the syndicate fronted by Joe Bulo, that Smart took revelatory dialogue and crafted a compelling picture of one tough mother."
