Lou Solverson

Lou Solverson
Fargo character
Lou Solverson in season 2 of Fargo
First appearance	"The Crocodile's Dilemma"
Last appearance	"Palindrome"
Created by	Noah Hawley
Portrayed by	Keith Carradine (season 1) Patrick Wilson (season 2)
Information
Gender	Male
Occupation	Owner of Lou's Coffee Shop (Season 1) Minnesota State Patrol (Season 2)
Family	Hank Larsson (father in law)
Spouse(s)	Betsy Solverson (deceased)
Children	Molly Solverson (daughter)

Lou Solverson is a fictional character in the FX television series Fargo. He first appeared as a supporting character in the first season, played by Keith Carradine, and then in a younger version as a main character in season two, played by Patrick Wilson.

Solverson has a minor role in season one. In 2006, he is a retired police officer, and is the owner of Lou's Coffee Shop. He appears as a wise mentor to his daughter, Molly Solverson who is investigating the crimes of Lorne Malvo and Lester Nygaard.

In 1979, Lou Solverson investigates a Waffle Hut shooting, with his father in law, Hank Larsson. He notes the strangeness of the shooter (Rye Gerhardt) apparently fleeing the scene in a different vehicle after parking his own car outside the diner. Unbeknownst to Lou and Hank, Rye was hit by Peggy Blumquist's car after running into the street after seeing a UFO. Peggy, not knowing what to do, takes the body home to her husband Ed to dispose of the body. At home, Lou is dealing with the worsening cancer of his wife Betsy, and his four-year-old daughter, Molly. Later, while driving his family into town, Lou stops by the crime scene where Betsy finds Rye's gun in some weeds. Later that night, Lou sees a light on inside the closed butcher shop and finds Ed Blumquist there. Lou asks to buy some bacon, while Ed does his best to distract Lou from noticing that he is putting Rye's body parts into a meat grinder. Lou eventually leaves unaware of what was really happening, and Ed finishes grinding Rye's body while strange flashing lights illuminate the exterior of the butcher shop.

The fingerprints on the gun are later found out to be Rye's, which leads to a manhunt for him. Lou travels to Fargo and meets Detective Ben Schmidt, to talk about the investigation. They visit the Gerhardt farm and have a tense encounter with the family. Lou then visits Skip Sprang's typewriter store, after noticing Skip acting nervously while at the late Judge Mundt's office earlier. When he returns home, he learns that Betsy's cancer is spreading, but learns that Betsy can take place in an experimental drug trial for a drug called Xanadu, but there is a 50/50 chance that Betsy would receive a placebo. Lou hesitates for Betsy to participate in the trial, but Betsy accepts anyway. After growing suspicious of the Blumquist's role in Rye's death, he visits their house to question them. They refuse to talk to him and ask him to leave. Lou tells them that the person they hit was Rye Gerhardt, and that the Gerhardt family has a very violent history. Peggy takes Lou's warning very seriously and plans to leave town, but Ed insists on staying. The next night, the police arrive and arrest Ed.