Fargo Series Review (Season 2)

Released: July 13th 2016

Created by: Noah Hawley

Number of episodes: 10

Where to watch: Netflix (UK and United States)

Starring: Patrick Wilson, Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Plemons, Jean Smart and Ted Danson

Twenty years have passed since the Coen Brothers released what some consider their best film which has recently found new life as a superbly enjoyable small screen experience. As a prequel to both the original 1996 film and season 1, the second season of Fargo hardly puts a foot wrong, providing us with another enticing blend of crime, conflict and light comedy.

It all begins (Completely at random of course) in 1979 with a couple accidentally running down a member of the ruthless Gerhardt crime family; Peggy and Ed (Played by Kirsten Dunst and Jesse Plemons respectively) take desperate measures to cover up their involvement in the crime while also pursuing their own ends of moving up in life. Meanwhile State Trooper Lou Solverson (Patrick Wilson) takes up the case, but between an approaching visit from Presidential candidate Ronald Reagan (Played effortlessly well by Bruce Campbell), multiple gang wars and an incognito hitman lurking around, the concerned copper has his work cut out for him. Once again, we have a set of varied and interesting characters caught up in a web of intrigue. While it contains several key links to the first season For the most part, season 2 of Fargo is its own story and it’s vastly unpredictable, with the warring parties taking steps to further their own ends. Motivations change, authority gets in the way and desperate measures come into force; it all comes together to create another rich narrative that’s difficult to pull away from.

Just as before, Fargo season 2 creates an intriguing collection of characters that you’ll want to stick with; Lou Solverson is a decent trooper through and through with a sense a moral responsibility to uncover the crimes, but it’s his relationships with his family and father-in-law Hank Larsson that really anchors him as the season’s central protagonist. As you learn more about his past you really do care for him and his family, just as you did with Molly and Gus Grimly in the original season. The Gerhardt’s themselves have an interesting hierarchal structure to them; on the one hand they’re increasingly violent but then you have the more considered approaches by the family’s leader Floyd (Jean Smart); the way the family members play off one another throughout the season is one of its most interesting components and despite their questionable goals, you’re still invested in what will happen to them by the end. Finally there’s the elusive hitman (Zahn McClarnon) with more than a few secrets and parallels to Billy Bob Thornton’s Lorne Malvo from the original season; another sinister character that won’t fail at casting unease on the audience.

Fargo’s presentational techniques are back in full swing for Season 2, this time adopting a more vintage style to reflect the time period; this is personified mostly by the typewriter opening credits that mark each of the ten episodes. The cinematography makes a great use of wide shots to show the scale of the setting and often times the action will split the screen into two perspectives to track the characters, keeping the visual flair high. As a period piece, Fargo also does incredibly well from a design standpoint. Costuming, scenery, a selection of classic rock, the old fashioned cars and town settings; outside of the often nasty events that transpire in the season, it’s a real treat to be transported back to the seventies.

Season 2 of Fargo really isn’t all that different from the original (outside of the time period) but it hasn’t lost one bit of what made it so deliciously captivating. Just like its predecessors it will pull you in and never let go until the final scene has concluded.

Rating: 5/5 Stars