Fargo Season 4 Ending Widens Series Universe With Major Character Cameo Connection

Fargo ended its excellent season 4 story with a bang - several of them, in fact. As the war between Kansas City's black and Italian mobs reached its bloody end, the various gangsters on either side had to settle up with lady Karma. In the process, a lot of lives were shattered, while others were set on a path of violence that would extend far into the future - and Fargo's larger series mythos. As it turns out, the popular fan theory was right: Fargo season 4 wasn't just some isolated tale of gangster violence - it was also a tale about the making of one particular famous gangster from the series.

(Spoilers) Fargo season 4 ends with the brutal slaying of the season's lead character, black mob leader Loy Cannon, on his own front doorstep. The only one to witness the assassin's act is Loy's son "Satchel," who is by his father's side in his final, horrific moments. Fargo season 4 ends with the epilogue reveal "Satchel Cannon" as a fully-grown man, who Fargo fans immediately recognized as season 2's gangster workman, Mike Milligan (Bokeem Woodbine). Mike is riding in the back of his car with Gale Kitchen driving. Mike is seemingly reflecting on the events of his past in this rare quiet moment of introspection - and that memory of his father makes him quickly go back to practicing loading and firing his gun. Since Gale Kitchen is solo this is clearly after the events of Fargo season 2 (where his brother Wayne was killed), but it seems Mike is no longer stuck behind a desk, serving as a true "company man" for the mob.

Fargo fans had a lot of clues going into the finale that Satchel Cannon was actually Mike Milligan - not in the least because of some big name-drop clues. Satchel's name is actually "Michael 'Satchel' Cannon (a clue buried in the seasonal storyline); and, more tellingly, Satchel's protector was "Rabbi" Milligan (Ben Whishaw). That bond was forged through the shared trauma of being two boys traded like commodities to rival gangs, of very different ethnicity. Milligan was an Irish boy traded to the Italian mob; Satchel was a black kid, traded to that same Italian mob. In the end, they felt like they only had each other's back, and Rabbi sacrificed his life to defend Satchel.

The bond that Satchel and Rabbi formed, and their time spent on the run together, seemed like the perfect backstory to how Mike Milligan became a black man with an Irish last name. The bloody fate of Satchel's father and the crushing of his dreams of black economic power in Kansas also explain Mike's dutiful service as a company man-type gangster. If nothing else, Fargo season 4 deepens and enriches the story of one of its fan-favorite characters, while also deepening the series' Americana themes about power, profit, and violence.

Fargo season 4 is now streaming on FX on Hulu.