Fargo: Mike Yanagita

At first glance, the scene in Fargo where Marge Gunderson goes to meet and old friend from school, Mike Yanagita, doesn’t appear to add anything to the main plot of the film. However, it is very important to the character development of Marge Gunderson. During this scene, Mike explains a story about how he married a girl from their school named Linda, who apparently died of leukemia later on. Being an honest and almost naive person, Marge buys his story right away. Later on in the film, Marge chats with a friend from school and hears that Mike’s story was a lie and that Linda is healthy and very much alive. Marge’s friend also mentions that Mike struggles with psychological problems. After learning that Mike lied to her, Marge’s naivety lessens, and she returns to someone who may have lied to her during her investigation, Jerry Lundegaard. Had Marge not learned that Mike was lying to her, she may have continued on with her investigation without taking a second look at Jerry, who was in fact lying to her.