The Law of Inevitability

In May 2017, it was reported that the seventh episode of the season would be titled "The Law of Inevitability", and was to be directed by Mike Barker and written by series creator Noah Hawley, and co-executive producers Matt Wolpert and Ben Nedivi. This was Hawley's 20th writing credit, Wolpert's fourth writing credit, Nedivi's fourth writing credit, and Barker's first directing credit.[1]

The episode featured the return of Russell Harvard as Mr. Wrench, who was last seen in "The Heap", although a younger version of the character appeared in "Palindrome".[2][3] Series creator Noah Hawley explained, "We wanted this season to stand on its own two feet; the first and second seasons were Molly's story and then Molly's origin story. This season is set in 2010 after the financial crash, and as a result only a couple of characters could connect... and it felt really organic to me to say that in that seventh hour, when Nikki was at her lowest point and gets on that prison bus, and the audience thinks, 'We're losing Nikki and we hate this show' — cue the sad piano music — that we track over and find Mr. Wrench and that beat kicks in."[4] Hawley also explained that as he was considering which character would come back, the only options were Molly Solverson, Gus Grimly and Mr. Wrench. As the writers never found fitting why Molly or Gus would fit in the storyline, Mr. Wrench was selected.[5]

In its original American broadcast, "The Law of Inevitability" was seen by an estimated 1.03 million household viewers and gained a 0.3 ratings share among adults aged 18–49, according to Nielsen Media Research. This means that 0.3 percent of all households with televisions watched the episode.[6] This was a slight decrease in viewership from the previous episode, which was watched by 1.04 million viewers with a 0.2 in the 18-49 demographics.[7]

"The Law of Inevitability" received extremely positive reviews from critics. The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 100% approval rating with an average rating of 8.1/10 for the episode, based on 13 reviews. The site's consensus states: "'The Law of Inevitability' continues Fargo's third-season dive into darkness, with typically solid acting anchoring the story's grimly satisfying turns."[8]

Matt Fowler of IGN gave the episode a "great" 8.4 out of 10 and wrote in his verdict, "Despite multiple attempts on Nikki's life, and a fun, perhaps game-changing, shot of Mr. Wrench on the bus at the end, Fargo simmered down a bit this week for a Christmas Eve episodes all about Gloria making pain-staking progress in her frowned-upon investigation."[9]

Zack Handlen of The A.V. Club gave the episode an "A-" grade and wrote, "There's a growing sense of doom throughout 'The Law Of Inevitability,' that marvellous, agonizing feeling that everything is starting to fall apart."[10]

Alan Sepinwall of Uproxx wrote, "We'll have to wait and see if this is just a tip of the cap to previous installments or if Wrench will somehow help Nikki survive the coming assault of Yuri and company aboard the wrecked prison bus. But seeing Wrench again only drove home how many of this season's characters and moments are echoes of Fargo's first year."[11] Ben Travers of IndieWire gave the episode a "B" grade and wrote, "Year 3 can be as dark as it wants, as long as there's a greater purpose. But with only three episodes left, we need more consistency if the ending of this symphonic fairy tale is going to come together."[12]

Kevin P. Sullivan of Entertainment Weekly gave the episode a "B+" grade wrote, "The stakes are higher. The emotions seem more real. And there's a central crime that hasn't already been solved by Gloria."[13] Brian Tallerico of Vulture gave the episode a 4 star rating out of 5 and wrote, "Patriarchy, idiocy, murder: It's another solid episode of Fargo."[14] Nick Harley of Den of Geek gave the episode a 4 star rating out of 5 wrote, "Though it wasn't the most thrilling hour of the season, there were several engaging scenes powered by nothing more than solid performances. With only three episodes left, I wouldn't expect the episodes moving forward to have such a mellow pace. Nikki will have to fight her way out of a tight situation and the walls are slowly but surely caving in on Emmit, but I guess that was inevitable."[15]

Scott Tobias of The New York Times wrote, "This week's episode keeps moving the plot forward effectively, but what continues to be notable about this season is that Gloria would probably have the case wrapped up if she weren't held back by so many obstacles."[16] Caralynn Lippo of TV Fanatic gave the episode a 4.25 star rating out of 5 and wrote, "'The Law of Inevitability' dealt with the fallout from Ray's accidental death, which sent ripple effects unbalancing virtually every character on the show."[17] Kyle Fowle of Paste gave the episode a 7.2 rating out of 10 and wrote, "In this look at culpability and personal responsibility is the potential for a critique of privilege and the social blindness it creates."[18]