by Jon Partridge
When the first announcements were made of a Fargo TV show, snorts of derision abounded. How delightfully wrong we were proven when Noah Hawley’s creation not only stayed true to the soul of the Coen Brothers’ original film but gave us something new that went down as one of the best seasons of TV in years. In its second year, the show goes back to tell a story that while connected to the events of the first season and movie, take place over twenty years earlier.
FARGO Season 2 Synopsis
The all new “true crime” case in Fargo’s latest chapter takes you back to 1979 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota and Luverne, Minnesota. Lou Solverson (Patrick Wilson), a young State Police Officer recently back from Vietnam, investigates a case involving a local crime gang, a major mob syndicate and a small town beautician Peggy Blumquist (Kirsten Dunst) along with her husband Ed (Jesse Plemons), the local butcher’s assistant. Helping Lou piece things together is his father-in-law, Sheriff Hank Larsson (Ted Danson). The investigation will lead them to a colorful cast of characters that includes Karl Weathers (Nick Offerman), the town lawyer of Luverne, Minnesota. A Korean War vet, Karl is a flowery drunk blessed with the gift of gab and the eloquence of a true con artist. Three-time Emmy® winner Brad Garrett plays “Joe Bulo,” the front man for the northern expansion of a Kansas City crime syndicate. The new face of corporate crime, Joe’s bringing a Walmart mentality to small town America. His number two is Mike Milligan (Bokeem Woodbine). Part enforcer, part detective, Mike is always smiling — but the joke is usually on you. Bulo and his crew have their sights set on the Gerhardt crime family in Fargo, currently led by matriarch “Floyd Gerhardt” (Jean Smart). With her husband at death’s door, Floyd takes over the family business, frustrating her eldest son, Dodd Gerhardt (Jeffrey Donovan). An impatient hothead with a cruel streak to match his ambitions, Dodd can’t wait for both his parents to die so he can take over and expand their business from kingdom to empire. Bear Gerhardt (Angus Sampson) is the middle son, an intimidatingly large man who, although inarticulate, is the most decent of his clan. Rye Gerhardt (Kieran Culkin), the youngest of the Gerhardt clan, views himself as a big shot, but in reality he’s just a small dog with a loud bark.
The seeds were sown back in the first season of Fargo, Keith Carradine’s Lou Solverson, a diner owner and retired police officer uttering the line “Had a case once, back in ’79. I’d tell you the details, but it’d sound like I made em up”. The second season harkens back to that and begins just a few weeks prior to the “Sioux Falls Incident”. The younger Solverson (played by Patrick Wilson) together with his father-in-law/boss Hank Larsson (Ted Danson) find themselves in the middle of an escalating situation between two crime families; The Gerhardts, a local clan who built up a shipping business in North Dakota and another, based out of Kansas city, intent on muscling in on the business after the Gerhardt patriarch fell ill after a stroke. The inhabitants of this small midwestern town get caught up in all out warfare between the two while the Sheriffs try to solve the spate of murders that occur.
What the season cleverly does with this conflict is show the changing nature of America in this era, the emergence of big business (organized crime/corrupt business) squeezing out the family run “mom and pop” stores. We get a view of small town America as progress creeps in, independent businesses are swallowed up and the resistance to that. It just so happens that this small local business is one built on crime and violence. It was a time of change in many ways for America, the aftermath of Vietnam and the Nixon scandal leaving very deep scars on the country and Fargo deftly works those into both the narrative and aspects of the characters.
If anything the 70s it serves as an even more fascinating backdrop to serve as a contrast for the shows themes. Wonderful production design from sets, costumes to props stand out against the bleakness of the Midwest. The folksy charm and rural nature a soothing canvas across which this bloody picture is painted. It is at times very grim, a sprawling tale of crime and violence. Intricately plotted and deftly layered, assured storytelling that is surprising in how naturally it unfolds.
Where Season 2 steps up from the first is in size, not just in terms of scale, but geography and cast. A large number of characters and sprawling plot threads make it feel dense yet somehow, it retains an intimate charm. Billy Bob Thornton’s Lorne Malvo served as the focal point for the sociopathic undertones of the first season, here the burden is shared by many eccentric characters. Bokeem Woodbine’s Mike Milligan is the standout with Jeffrey Donovan (Dodd Gerhardt) and Zahn McClarnon channeling Anton Chigurh also make their mark. They blended this with a host of characters that give more nuanced work imbuing the show with a lot of heart. Even supporting turns from Nick Offerman, Brad Garrett, Michael Hogan and Bruce Campbell as Ronald Regan (yes, that is a thing that happens) standout. In this respect Luverne feels like Pawnee in a way, the fictional town given life in Amy Poehler’s Parks and Recreation. A living breathing entity, a joyous place of whimsy and odd characters who feel very real and very memorable.
Much like the Coens film catalog, the show places an emphasis on regular Joes, caught up in a maelstrom of misfortune or mistaken identity. Here embodied by beautician Peggy Blumquist (Kirsten Dunst) and her husband Ed (Jesse Plemons), the local butcher, ordinary people thrown in at the deep end, caught up in the duplicitous scheming of others. It’s a trait of the Coens that their plot twists and turns uncover people’s true nature or how far they’re willing to go for something and they is expertly explored here. A slow burn with dark humor bordering on the farcical where morals win out and people always get what’s coming to them.
Noah Hawley (showrunner/writer) and the rest of the Production/writing team of Joel & Ethan Coen, Warren Littlefield and John Cameron all return and craft out something both familiar and distinct. Preserving the soul of the original, but reincarnating it if you will. Inventive camera work, quirky music, intricate plotting, verbose engrossing dialogue, Fargo opens up you mind to how restrictive and unambitious many shows have been. More than just being smart, you feel a sense of joy imbued into the work, this is a show not just at ease channeling the Coens’ vision but confidently making its own path in their world. At times it lacks the natural pathos of the first season and it is dense, requiring attention and patience to understand how various plot strands connect, but the creativity and ambition cannot be faulted, it should only be applauded.
THE PACKAGE
Fargo is an exquisite show, in terns of production design, cinematography and direction. The transfer is sharp, clean and a joy to watch. The bleak Midwest has never looked so good, popping with the vibrant colors from 70s fashions and splashes of blood.
Special Features include Lou on Lou which is a conversation between Patrick Wilson, Keith Carradine and Noah Hawley about the difference and similarities between the portrayal of the the same character across two decades and two seasons of the show. The most significant extra is Waffles and Bullet Holes: A Return to Sioux Falls which serves as a lengthy “making of”. There is also a short featurette explores The True History of Crime in the Midwest while two comical additions, The Films of Ronald Reagan (with narration by Bruce Campbell) and a TV commercial for Skip Sprang’s typewriter store (that features in season’s plotlines) rounds out a very nice set of extras.
THE BOTTOM LINE
One of the TV highlights of 2015 gets the Blu-ray release it deserves. Bigger, bolder and bloodier than the first season, but no less true to the Coen Brothers’ vision. Quirky, twisted, darkly hilarious and imbued with a lot of heart thanks to deft writing and a magnificent cast. One of the most creative and distinct shows and deserving of your undivided attention.
Fargo Season 2 is available on DVD and Blu-ray from February 23rd, 2016