There are only a few movies that have come close to how good Fargo is. This Coen brothers cult classic small-town crime film is the finest piece of screenplay writing. The TV show with the same name did not live up to the hype as they kept rehashing the same concept without any real originality. The Sticky, the Canadian Amazon Prime Video Original, is a fictional story based on the ‘Great Canadian Maple Syrup Heist’ (yes, this actually happened, Google it.) The show has elements of Fargo, as it is set in the cold and gloomy countryside of Canada, where people showcase instincts that are far from normal.
Spoilers Ahead
Why were Ruth and Remy mad at Leonard?
The six-episode show began with a local police officer in Quebec and her colleague finding a head in a barrel full of maple syrup. The show cuts to Ruth Landry, one of the maple syrup farmers who had been served a notice by the local maple syrup association president, Leonard. Leonard stated that she could not work the farm since it was in the name of her husband Martin, who was now in a coma. Leonard’s son, Liam, who was the chief manager of the association, tries to be the bridge between these warring individuals. Ruth knew that Leonard wanted to buy their land. Thus started his plan of cornering her and financially draining her so that she sells the land out of desperation.
Ruth was not going to give up the land and was willing to put up a fight. In a rage, she cut down one of her maple tree trunks and launched it at Leonard’s office, disrupting his property. Remy was a man in his thirties who lived with his overprotective father. He worked as a security guard at Leonard’s large storage unit. The storage unit was the place where the farmers stored barrels filled with maple syrup. Remy wanted to share his presentation about updating the security at the unit with Liam, but he was disregarded by him and insulted by Leonard. It was later revealed that Remy and his friend Orval used to steal one barrel every month to sell on the side. Remy was angry at Leonard for misusing his position of power as an association president and wanted to hatch a plan to rob him.
How did Mike learn About The maple syrup?
Michael, aka Mike, was a wannabe hitman visiting Martin in Quebec. Mike worked for the Devaney family, one of the notorious gangster mafia groups based in Boston. Ruth requested he generate some money from the land, but Mike was too attached to Martin to do anything of that sort without his consent. During his birthday dinner with his father, Remy overheard Mike speaking to someone from the Devaney family. His mind worked quickly and offered a deal of a lifetime to Mike. He let Mike know about the presence of tons of maple syrup worth 150 million dollars nearby, with Remy being the only security taking care of the place.
Remy mentioned the name of the partner, Orval, who helped him steal one barrel every month. Mike was intrigued by the offer as he felt he would walk away with a good take if this heist was successful. He asked Ruth to meet him the next day to discuss the details of this heist. Remy’s father had given him a pair of mittens made out of mink fur which he forgot at the restaurant. Mike picked them up and decided to kill Orval while wearing those mittens to avoid any fingerprints.
What did Ruth and Mike discuss?
Ruth, Mike, and Remy met up at a local diner. This was the first time Mike had discussed his and Remy’s plan to steal the maple syrup in the storage unit to get back at Leonard. They would make money from selling the syrup on the black market. Ruth was not sure how the plan would work, as she assumed the storage unit would have a lot of security. Remy confirmed that he was the only guard and there was no CCTV to record their robbery. Remy learned from his father later that day that Orval had been found dead. His father was relieved that Orval was dead since he was involved in many shady businesses. Remy was in shock, and he almost backed out from the robbery plan as Mike was insensitive and threatened him as well.
Why was Ruth arrested?
Ruth was arrested on charges filed by Leonard, who claimed his property had been destroyed by her. Her sister Florence, a doctor by profession, decided to help look after Martin, who cannot be left alone at home due to his condition. Ruth was acquitted by Liam, Leonard’s son, as he did not want to escalate matters between his father and her.
What was the initial plan?
Just a while before Ruth was bailed, she came up with a genius plan to make sure the heist was carried out in such a manner that it would never trace back to them. She reunited Mike and Remy and made the former apologize to the latter. Ruth’s plan was to steal the barrels at night, move them to another container, fill the original barrels with water, and return them back to the storage unit. This seemed like a plan with bones, which Remy and Mike consented to. They had to move the barrels kept at a storage unit rented by Orval before the police would catch up to them.
How did Detective Valérie and Teddy find the black truck?
Detective Valérie Nadeau was sent to investigate the murder of Orval since he was involved with many shady people, including the mafia. She, along with Teddy, began to look into the storage unit rented by him as their first lead. They also sent Orval’s body for a post mortem to find any leads that would take them to the killer. As Ruth had anticipated, the police were going to the rented storage space. Ruth, Mike, and Remy followed the cop car to find out what they were up to. Mike wanted to know what leads the cops had found. To stop the cops from finding Mike in their car, Ruth parked their black truck in front of them. The trio got to the storage unit first, but the police reached soon after, forcing them to get inside. They used all their power to make sure the police did not open the shutters. As the police left to get reinforcements, they got out without finishing the work.
What happened to Gary?
Remy went back to Leonard’s large storage unit only to find Liam had hired a trained security guard named Gary. Remy would have to report to Gary, and he soon realized their plan was going to get out of hand in no time. The trio decided to injure Gary to intimidate him, while Mike was in favor of killing him. This made Ruth and Remy wonder if Mike had killed Orval. Mike asked Remy to get Gary to the woods, and the rest would be handled by him. Remy pretended to be Gary’s friend and walked into the woods to put the plan in motion. Mike did not intend to keep his promise and decided to kill Gary to make sure their plan remained foolproof. As he shot at Gary, Mike missed. The plan went awry when the physically strong Gary beat Mike to a pulp. Remy tried to stop Mike from making a mistake and helped him escape. Gary, who was confused about what happened, thanked Remy for saving him. Teddy and Valérie Nadeau were informed about the shots fired in the forest, and Gary informed them about the red jacket worn by the shooter. The ladies assumed the man could be connected to Orval’s death as well.
Was Remy accused?
The postmortem report of Orval revealed the presence of trace amounts of mink fur. Teddy was quick to draw the connection that Remy’s father used to make such gloves. Maurice, Remy’s father, was a novice who accidentally revealed that he made the mink fur gloves for his son. This was enough for the police to confront Remy. Remy vehemently denied killing his best friend, as he had no motive. Teddy believed him, but not Valérie Nadeau, who tried to force him to confess. Remy revealed he never wore those mittens, and he forgot them at the hotel he had gone to for his birthday dinner. Teddy, who was the smart one, deduced the killer must have picked it up from the restaurant and used it to pin the blame on Remy. Remy’s doubts about Mike being the killer grew stronger.
Who was Beau?
The police drew out Mike’s sketch as per Gary’s memory to find him. Mike was back in the mansion where he was hired to water the flowers owned by his bosses. He was technically a house sitter who always wanted to prove his skills as an ace hitman. The Devaney family came to know of the police in Quebec looking for Mike with his sketch. This indicates that there was someone in the force who was keeping the Devaney family updated about happenings.
Mike was hiding in his boss’s mansion when he was attacked by Beau, another hitman sent to keep an eye on him. Beau was trying to get some information from him about Orval’s death. A while later, Remy and Ruth reached the mansion and were astounded to find Beau pointing a gun at him. Beau wanted to find out how Remy and Ruth were involved in this matter. Remy, accidentally, out of fear, revealed the plan to steal the maple syrup worth 150 million dollars guarded with bare minimum security. Beau also forced Mike to confess that he killed Orval, which further shocked Ruth and Remy. Remy was angry at Mike, but there was no time as they had only one day before the harvest festival to carry out the heist.
Beau, on learning of the heist, tried to change the plan in such a manner that she would disappear without a trace and somehow all of them would go unhurt and earn from the robbery as well. Mike was not sure if Beau was the right person to be in cahoots with. He was hyperventilating over her involvement in the robbery as he felt it would expose them further. Beau was a crippled hitman, and she was speaking to the Devaney family about this heist and how it might benefit them. Beau accidentally tripped on her support stick and fell from the top floor.
Was Mike arrested?
Teddy and Valérie were desperate to find Mike since they had evidence to prove that he’d shot at Gary, and he could have killed Orval as well. They did not find anything in the garage of the mansion he was living in. He had stored Beau’s body in cold storage in the garage, but to his horror, the body had disappeared. Mike had no time to tell Remy and Ruth about this as they were on the way to carry out the heist. The new plan was to use a milk tanker and fill it with maple syrup when Leonard and all the farmers were busy celebrating the harvest festival, not far from the storage unit. Teddy and Valerie were clueless at this point as to how to find the killer; they could not get their hands on Mike either. Valerie was somehow convinced Remy had killed Orval, and they wanted a warrant to search the house to find more evidence to prove her theory right.Â
Did Martin come out of his coma?
Leonard rang up the social services and complained about Ruth not giving any attention to Martin. Ruth went back home to find Martin had been admitted to the hospital, and her sister convinced her he would be better off in the hands of the nurses and the doctors. Ruth was getting ready for the heist, and she held Martin’s hand; she felt his fingers move. Her sister Florence felt the same, but she let Ruth know that it could be a sign of him dying. As a doctor and as a sister, she let Ruth know that she should leave, as the doctors would inform her if there was any good or bad update.
Why were people opposed to Leonard?
On the last day of the harvest festival, Leonard and all the farmers were at the storage unit to celebrate the last day. Leonard was not a crowd favorite in the town, and Liam tried to make that clear to him, but he wouldn’t hear it. Ever since the war between Ruth and Leonard had gone public, many farmers had come out to showcase their displeasure in him being the association president. Leonard was a typical self interested leader who was good at manipulating people, including his son. He was a ruthless person who only wanted to make money through twisted means, and somehow he was successful in doing so. Even though he knew people did not like him, he was still in power and took advantage of it. Liam also learned that his father had been illegally grabbing the lands of many maple farm owners and was trying to do the same to Ruth and Martin as well. Liam was a person with a conscience who wanted some changes to happen in the association to make sure there was no such hatred. Leonard would not have it, as he felt he was doing the right thing for his legacy. After the harvest festival, during the gathering at a place near the storage unit, Leonard began to accuse his son Liam of malpractice, just so that he could be replaced. Leonard wanted someone who would listen to him and not question his moves. Since Liam had begun to doubt his father’s tactics, he threw his son under the bus, and chaos erupted.
Was Ruth, Mike, and Remy’s heist successful?
Just a while before Remy headed to the storage unit for the last day of the festival, he and his father, Maurice, had a falling out. Remy was angry at his father for mollycoddling him and not letting him make any decisions for himself. Remy wanted to be proud of himself if this robbery was a success, as he was an unexpected suspect. After everyone at the storage unit left, Ruth, Mike, and Remy began their work to fill the tanker with the maple syrup. This was the main point of the robbery, and it was going smoothly. They were interrupted by Maurice, who was shocked to find out what his son was up to. Remy was not expecting his father to understand the gravity of the task. He also had not assumed his father would just show up and be a witness to their robbery. Maurice becomes an accomplice because he saw the crime, but he chose to remain quiet about it. He wanted his son to be safe, and he agreed to not utter a word about it.
The Sticky season 1 ended with multiple events happening at the same time. Since it was a heist show, things would have to go down fast, for at any second things would go wrong. As Leonard could not control the crowd of farmers that had erupted to protest against him, Ruth and Remy had to distract them before their crime was spotted. Ruth threw a Molotov cocktail at the newly built visitors’ center so that a blast could further incite the farmers. The Molotov cocktail part was unexpected, for it came out of nowhere. Ruth, Mike, and Remy took the truck out in no time as this distraction allowed them to do so. It was bizarre to assume Leonard and his son wouldn’t notice a large tanker getting out of the storage unit. The makers of the show also did not mention how they planned to sell it and restock the barrels so that their role was not uncovered. All the loose ends had to be tied up by the end of the show, and one of them was who killed Orval. Valerie and Teddy got a warrant to search Remy’s home, and Maurice had no choice but to allow it. Maurice was worried Remy would be caught since he was aware of the maple syrup heist. By the end of the search, they found the baseball bat Mike had used to kill Orval in Maurice’s car. This was most likely planted by Mike on purpose so that Remy and his father would be out and share from the robbery would increase. A shocked Maurice admitted to having killed Orval only because he wanted his son to be safe and out of prison.
Remy knew it was Mike who killed Orval, and he would eventually have to tell the truth about it to save his father. That might be a plot for a potential second season. The epilogue of The Sticky season 1 had Ruth learning that Martin was stable but still in a coma. Brutally bruised and bloodied, Beau reached the hospital to converse with Martin. This indicated that Martin and Ruth knew about the Devaney family, and they were somehow involved with them. Martin has had a past with Beau and the mafia family. Since Beau was alive, Pandora’s box would open if she was caught by the trio or the police. A lot needs to be unearthed about Martin’s family, and this will take place if the makers announce a second season.
