Fargo

Back in 1996 I saw Fargo in the theater. It was a pretty good movie, but it wasn't really what I'd call great. In fact, I've never re-watched it, and I love watching movies again.

Then a friend of mine recommended the show Fargo (2014). From his descriptions of a couple of events, I knew I had to watch it, and watch it I did.

This is a good show, maybe even great. Some have compared it to True Detective which I consider erroneous. True Detective is in my opinion far better, but that doesn't mean Fargo is bad. Far from it. In fact, I watched the whole season in two days.

What we have here is a strange show. The actors are good, as is the cinematography and well, pretty much everything else. The story is the potential problem, since it is very convoluted. It jumps back and forth, and there are more twists and turns than a plate of spaghetti. If you pay attention and suppress your urge to have everything explained at once, it's not too hard to follow, but this does mean that it's not background entertainment.

Depending on how you like your TV series, that fact that Fargo leaves certain things up to your own interpretation is either good or bad. I like not having everything spelled out. But there was one series of events that felt half done and it never really got a conclusion.

It is a very violent show, with showers of blood (literally in one case) so be warned. Some sex, but compared to many others it's practically puritanical. What really amused me as a Fenno-Scandinavian was the pronunciations of Nordic names. The whole thing takes place in Minnesota, which was settled by mainly Scandinavian and German settlers back in the day. This heritage is apparent in both their names as well as their accent, which I could listen to for days.

Finally I want to bring up what I think makes this show really stand out. Character development. Considering that the first season is ten episodes, you get tons of it. But not all major characters change. Lester Nygaard does, but neither Lorne Malvo or Molly Solverson really change at all, and this makes them stand out against each other in a good way. Also, we get the always funny Key & Peele as a bonus.

Bottom line is, you really aught to watch Fargo if given the chance. Within the two first episodes, you're either hooked or repulsed, so go for it.

Until next time, have a great week!