The character arc of Dorothy “Dot” Lyon (Juno Temple) is the captivating anchor of the fifth season of Noah Hawley’s “Fargo.” The protective wife and mother finds her tumultuous past resurfacing in the form of a hardline, misogynistic sheriff (Jon Hamm) who hunts her down. In the episode “The Useless Hand,” Dot’s growing bravery reaches a dramatic climax. “It’s the first time we’ve shown her as a really strong woman,” says cinematographer Daryl Hartwell, who shot the final two episodes. Fleeing captivity, Dot takes refuge in a pit from the armed henchmen pursuing her. Beams of light streak across her face, a visual metaphor akin to a trapped animal. Approaching footsteps stir the tension. “This was her tiger-in-a-cage moment, and that beam of light represented that arc for us,” Hartwell explains. “Our director, Thomas Bezucha, was instrumental in telling us where he wanted the character and how he wanted to see a transition from her fear to her empowerment.” As the well opens, the bloody hand of a bullet-riddled killer named Munch (Sam Spruell) extends down. She ascends and the two adversaries exchange a deferential glance before he offers her a firearm and says, “The tiger is now free.”
