After over a year, the small screen version of the Coens’ famed film Fargo is finally gracing our televisions once again. Showrunner Noah Hawley has so gracefully captured the Coen style and translated it to the small screen that one might wonder if the Coens would ever consider jumping to the small screen themselves. From the soundtrack (nice little O Brother Where Art Thou? reference at the end there) to the style, the shots and the dialogue, Hawley may have been party to a second lightning strike with Season 2 of Fargo.
This week on Fargo: Rye Gerhardt (Kieran Culkin) is sent on a mission to get a judge to change her mind, but things go horribly amiss. Peggy and Ed Blomquist (Kirsten Dunst and Jesse Plemons) must deal with an undesirable situation. The Gerhardt family mourns, and plans to overthrow them abound. Lou Solverson (Patrick Wilson) and Hank Larsson (Ted Danson) are summoned to a triple murder scene.
As you can see, there was a lot of plot development in the first hour (or so) of Fargo‘s sophomore installment. As a huge fan of the first season, I have to admit that I was wary when Season 2 was approaching. I was so worried that it wouldn’t be as good. Honestly, my fears have already been quieted. Sure, with the first season under my belt, maybe I can see a bit better where it’s going, but I am actually really excited to watch this new version of Fargo unfold.
The cast of characters assembled here is just wonderful. Kirsten Dunst and Jesse Plemons were phenomenal in the first episode. Plemons’ simple butcher is paired with Dunst’s big dreamer/hair stylist, and it works really well for the situation they’ve gotten themselves in. He is obviously the more lovestruck of the two, which seems like it would work to her advantage in this particular scenario. At least she won’t have gotten into it alone.
Patrick Wilson is the perfect young Lou. There were several moments in the first episode that I could hear a little Keith Carradine in his voice. Lou seems troubled, as any man would be, about his wife’s condition (side note: Can we PLEASE give Cristin Milioti a non-cancer-stricken role please? I would very much appreciate it) but very much carries with him that strong sense of duty. If we’re unsure about any allegiances in the show, we can count on Lou being one of the good guys.
My favorite part about “Waiting For Dutch” was how Coen-esque it really was. The Coens are dry (like me), and they have proven time and time again that even brutal bloody murder can be a teensy bit funny. I don’t think that stopping and thinking about things like that make it funny, but what’s brilliant about Hawley’s two-season-long Coen homage is that your gut reaction is to laugh at things like that. Fargo has been a brilliant show to this point because it is funny, dark, and hopeful all mixed together with bloody snow.
I look forward to doing more laughing in the weeks to come. “Waiting For Dutch” was an exciting setup episode that got me very interested in each character and what comes next for them. In some shows, you have to trudge through setup to get to the good stuff. I would argue that “Waiting For Dutch” was both the setup and the good stuff.
What did you guys think? Did you enjoy the premiere? Let us know in the comments!!
Fargo airs Monday nights at 10/9c on FX.
[Photo credit: Chris Large/FX]
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