Fargo

Fargo - Noah Hawley

Season Two

This season is set before the first season and we immediately get the references to Sioux Falls. We are finally going to find out what they were all talking about in the first season!

This season follows a large organized crime operation attempt to take over a small family-run one.

Thrown into this is the unlikely murder of one of the family crime members by a hairdresser. Her and he hapless husband try to cover it up and if the first season taught us anything this will not end well.

The cops are great in this and we get to see Molly’s dad in action as the lead cop. I was surprised to see the two main actors from Burn Notice here. Jefferey Donovan plays the eldest son of the family crime gang and Bruce Campbell plays Ronald Regan. Jefferey is fantastic.

The characters in this are brilliant. They are all believable and complex. Even Kirsten’s crazy Peggy fits in here.

I think that this is what makes the series so great that while you wouldn’t do what the characters are doing you can see why they think it is a good idea.

The two lead cops played by Ted Danson and Patrick Wilson are standouts for me. They carry the season.

The performance that Zahn McClarnon gives as the native American, Hanzee Dent, is unforgettable. The writing and performance of this character left me on his side as he guns down locals in the street – really hard to get onside with the villain.

The representative of the big syndicate, Mike Milligan, gets promoted to an office job at the end which just seems surreal but is fantastic as well.

Several scenes refer to UFOs and we see one for real during the last shootout. I found this very strange in a series that opens every episode with ‘This is a true story’.

Now this isn’t a question about if UFOs are real or not. The detectives felt that was exactly what they saw. My issue is that it changes the tone of the whole piece which is supposed to be the true crime schtick.

I enjoyed getting to see Molly’s family when she was a kid. Molly is such a great character from the first season and has such a fantastic relationship with her dad that it was great to see where that came from.

The same slowness from the first season is here again and is just as brilliant. You get to see things ticking over in people’s minds. Great stuff.

Last but not least, Nick Offerman’s performance as Karl Weathers, the anti-establishment lawyer is excellent. Can’t wait to see the next season and I highly recommend that you see this one.

Season Four

There is no hero in this season. Every episode you have to try to latch on to one.

But then the next episode is about something or someone else. You feel for each of the characters. Each has its own small part of the narrative.

None of them have a central through line. Cannon (Chris Rock) is the closest but his failure at the end is a great example of why true stories often make bad shows.

He has gone through so much and paid such a high price to get where he is but in the end, he is murdered and left with almost nothing.

The multi-generation setup at the start is great. We get to see the history of the town’s underbelly clearly and succinctly.

Oraetta Mayflower (Jessie Buckley) is fantastic—just the right level of crazy for a ring-in serial killer.

I could’ve watched her all season but she was merely a bit player in this story.

The feud between the two brothers at the head of the mafia family is great. Both of the actors give spectacular performances.

The boss secures his brother’s release by trying to get him killed. This in turn cements their relationship because his brother thinks he is brilliant.

Fantastic writing. It’s a great story of redemption between those two.