‘Fargo’: Lamorne Morris on Witt & Roy’s Final Showdown

Meaghan Darwish January 17, 2024, 10:00 am

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[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for Fargo Year 5, Episode 10, “Bisquik.”]

When it comes to Noah Hawley‘s FX anthology series Fargo, not every character who graces our screens can walk away from the ensuing chaos and in Year 5, one of those unfortunate casualties was North Dakota detective Witt Farr (Lamorne Morris) who met his end in the finale episode, “Bisquik.”

Crossing paths with Juno Temple‘s Dot in the premiere episode, Witt’s life was saved by the Minnesota housewife during a shootout at a gas station. Realizing something was amiss, Witt didn’t let Dot’s odd behavior go and eventually learned that she was trying to evade her abusive first husband, Roy Tillman (Jon Hamm).

Everything came to a head in the finale episode as Witt led a team of operatives into the Tillman Ranch to help recover Dot who had been captured by Roy and his crew. Witt knew it for a fact after having seen Roy check Dot out of the hospital in Episode 8. Upon finding Dot in the finale, he shields her with his body after she shoots Roy point-blank with a shotgun.

As a fire fight ensues, Witt tries paying back his metaphorical debt to Dot by saving her life this time, but she’s more preoccupied with holding Roy accountable. Realizing what she needed, Witt ran in pursuit of Roy who made a swift exit from the spot on the porch where he’d been shot. Tracking the rogue sheriff to his underground tunnels, Witt and Roy come face to face.

(Credit: Michelle Faye/FX)

Unfortunately, brawn and evil win out as Roy faked dropping his weapon only to lunge forward and stab Witt in the heart. His death is later confirmed as authorities collect his body. But his efforts were not in vain as Roy was apprehended on the other side of the tunnels and locked away in prison where he’ll be strategically tortured by inmates of Lorraine’s (Jennifer Jason Leigh) choosing.

Below, Morris opens up about playing the heroic cop who couldn’t overcome Hamm’s onscreen evil in Witt and Roy’s final fight. Plus, he opens up about his initial reaction to the death, what went into filming the raid sequence, and dying onscreen.

What was your initial reaction to the news that Witt Farr wasn’t going to make it out of Year 5 alive?

Lamorne Morris: My initial reaction… It was like someone stepped on my chest slightly just because you want to be the hero, but a martyr can also be a hero. And I think that when the director told me where I was going, I understood because it made sense for my character. He’s a guy on a mission to make sure he can repay this debt, and he’s making sure that he doesn’t owe anybody anything and that includes saving a life. Unfortunately, it also meant losing his life, which is sad. But in typical Fargo fashion, very much shocking and necessary.

You mention the debt Witt owed Dot for saving his life at the start of the season. Do you think he’d have any regrets about the decision to pursue Roy in that tunnel?

No, no regrets. That’s also how he lives his life. He’s done all that needs to be done. And so his time has ended. And I think he’s not the type of person that will regret it. Remember, he’s not going to go after him, [it was Dot who’s] like, “you have to.” The look she gives him is so convincing that he’s like, “Okay, I got you. I’m going to go get him.” If Witt were remotely crooked, if he were remotely a scumbag, he would’ve just shot Roy because he knows what he’s done. He knows how he used to beat her. He knows about the murders, he knows about all of these things. [He could have] just dropped his fool. You know what I mean? At least hit him in the knees. But Witt being a good guy, he is going by the book.

(Credit: FX)

Would you say that is Witt’s fatal flaw? He’s too good of a guy to just shoot Roy.

It’s real life, you know what I mean? It just, it’s a crapshoot. People say, “Why did the good die young?” And I go, “Well, the good also die old too.” I mean, some sh*tty people too die old. It’s just the way life is. And then that’s the cool thing about Fargo is that it’s just ordinary people going through extraordinary situations, which again happens in the beginning. I loved Noah always putting that “this is a true story” at the beginning of every episode because it may as well be. It could be.

It definitely could be, but you’d think by Year 5 people would know Fargo isn’t really based on a true story.

I think the giveaway in this one was that there’s a person who’s 500 years old. In Season 2 there are spaceships. What’s interesting is I never asked Noah this question.

What was it like getting to shoot the Ranch raid? Were there fake guns and bullets, or were special effects used?

Yeah, everything’s fake. Well, some real, some fake. And there are certain shots. If it’s a tight shot on my hand or someone’s gun, then we swap it out for a real one. They do a whole safety check. We do a whole thing where they tell you the gun is not a live gun. There’s no firing pin. They threw a flashlight in one end, so you can see that there’s nothing in the chamber. And they test it. They cock it a few times, they show you, and then you are not allowed to give that gun back to anyone but the gun specialist at the end, and then every single time it switches a hand, the whole process has to happen and everyone on the crew has to be watching it. So it’s not just for you. The whole crew is watching you get a safety check right before we do the shot and then it goes away. But when we’re in those big scenes, those are replicas.

'Fargo' Star Breaks Down Ole Munch & Dot's Final Meal

They do a great job of adding the effects because I was shocked watching it going, “My God, this is a shootout!” On the day, it doesn’t necessarily feel that way. Some stuff is practical where they’ll have these squibs or whatever going off. Those are real during the shootout in the first episode where I’m trying to help out Dot [and Munch] starts shooting at the [gas station]. They laced those things with little explosives. So my job is to get the f**k out of the way. They do a great job. Working with great filmmakers is every actor’s dream. Being on Fargo has definitely checked a major box in my career.

What went into filming the final face-off between Witt and Roy?

It was interesting. Jon is such a professional and super down-to-earth guy, so I felt comfortable being there, but then he gets into character and he makes it real for you. We did have some discussions about the actual knife itself because when you’re acting, we’re using real knives for a lot of that scene. But when you’re acting, sometimes actors [will get really into character].

I don’t know Jon like that yet, but what if he’s one of those actors that’s like, “I’m going to go for it,” [I’d be like], “Wait a minute. I dunno.” So we had to do a lot of shooting around that. Using a real knife, a fake knife, a knife with no blade, and just a handle. All kinds of stuff that we did to make it safe first and foremost, but also look real.

We find out from Indira (Richa Moorjani) that Witt had six sisters. Do you think that helps audiences understand his motivations better and was that a detail you knew beforehand? Did it inform your approach to the role?

I think for sure it helps the audience understand his motivation. But, even if not, [you] understand that there are guys out there who will do that for you, who do treat people [kindly]. What’s right is right, and what’s wrong is wrong. I want to say I knew that because I did read it, but I forgot until I watched it and I went, “Damn, he’s got a lot of sisters.” It plays into that for sure, because I don’t think I knew that in the beginning when I was creating a backstory for myself. It was revealed throughout the process once the scripts came in. It kind of switched things for me in how I was going to act.

Fargo, Year 5, Streaming now, Hulu