Lou is temporarily taken off the waffle house murder case while working a security detail for presidential candidate Ronald Reagan. Dodd and Hanzee concoct a story - about Ed Blumquist being a hitman called "The Butcher" that was hired by Kansas City to kill Rye - trying to rile Floyd into bloody action. She responds by having a group of KC men ambushed by Hanzee and Gerhardt accomplices. Hanzee kills a Kitchen brother as well as Joe Bulo, and sends the latter's head to Mike Milligan. Mike threatens Simone during their next dalliance, demanding that she spy on her family for him. Meanwhile, Dodd sends his henchman Virgil to Luverne to kill Ed, and allows Bear's son, Charlie, to accompany him. In Luverne, Peggy takes Lou's warning seriously and plans to leave for California, but Ed insists on staying, as he is invested in his life there. Peggy nearly leaves without him, but having a change of heart, sells her car to mechanic Sonny Greer to get the down payment for the butcher shop. Virgil and Charlie arrive in Luverne and botch the attempt to kill Ed - Virgil is killed, Charlie is hospitalized, and the butcher shop goes up in flames. Ed returns home to Peggy, now wanting to leave town with her, but the police arrive shortly thereafter.