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Fargo (TV series)

Just finished it. I thought it was good, but not as good as season 1, which had some genuinely jaw dropping plot turns up its sleeve. This I found a little meandering and a bit too style over substance/quirky for the sake of it. Still good though and hopefully there will be more, though apparently this didn't do well in the ratings so that may well be the end of it.

I always thought Kirsten Dunst is an underrated actress who doesn't get good enough roles and finally she did get a great part.
 
Popping in without reading the rest of the thread to say I watched the first episode of S1 today, not knowing what to expect, and thought it was great. Couldn't get on board with Martin Freeman's character because he's so well known and lives in his face, iyswim, but that's my own problem, not the show's.

Looking forward to watching the rest.
 
Vintage Paw said:
Popping in without reading the rest of the thread to say I watched the first episode of S1 today, not knowing what to expect, and thought it was great. Couldn't get on board with Martin Freeman's character because he's so well known and lives in his face, iyswim, but that's my own problem, not the show's.

Looking forward to watching the rest.
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I've started watching it as well, agree about Freeman. I am loving the accents as well, sorta scandanivian-ish :D
 
Billy Bob Thornton is a more famous actor internationally than Freeman. Why is there suddenly a problem in not being able to accept British character actor in a different role than the many famous actors who play all the different roles you see on the telly and in films? When it comes to accents, most of the actors don't get the Minnesotan accent exactly right, some barely even bother and that goes for the US actors as well. In the end it comes down to choosing to suspend your disbelief for some actors and not for others.
 
Reno said:
We've heard about your hang up about Freeman's acting often enough, thank you. Most people think he's a perfectly fine actor and he's good in Fargo.
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You seem to be the one who has a problem with other people's opinions when it comes to film and TV. :rolleyes:
 
Reno said:
Billy Bob Thornton is a more famous actor internationally than Freeman. Why is there suddenly a problem in not being able to accept British character actor in a different role than the many famous actors who play all the different roles you see on the telly and in films? When it comes to accents, most of the actors don't get the Minnesotan accent exactly right, some barely even bother and that goes for the US actors as well. In the end it comes down to choosing to suspend your disbelief for some actors and not for others.
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Because not everyone watches the same stuff and some people might be more familiar with Freeman's stuff recently than Thornton's. Not everyone forms connections in their brains in the same way. It's got nothing to do with 'choosing' to suspend disbelief. I can either do it or I can't. I don't understand why my brain has made the connections it has made, any more than a neuro-scientist could tell me, since we understand fuck all about brains. But there it is. I fail to see why it is a problem for you.
 
Vintage Paw said:
Because not everyone watches the same stuff and some people might be more familiar with Freeman's stuff recently than Thornton's. Not everyone forms connections in their brains in the same way. It's got nothing to do with 'choosing' to suspend disbelief. I can either do it or I can't. I don't understand why my brain has made the connections it has made, any more than a neuro-scientist could tell me, since we understand fuck all about brains. But there it is. I fail to see why it is a problem for you.
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I don't have a problem !!! :mad:

Never mind, it was probably just Monday morning crankiness.

Then again, how did you adjust to Freeman as a Hobbit ?
 
He looked like Martin Freeman in makeup. I don't know why I have difficulty letting go with some actors and not others. Some just, like I said rather vaguely in my first post, 'live in their faces'. I don't even really know what that means, but I can't describe it any other way. It's not about British actors. I feel the same about Kevin Spacey, for example. There are some actors who have imprinted on my brain in a certain way that makes it difficult for me to ever fully believe the person they're playing. I don't blame them, I don't blame their acting style, 'tis but a quirk of the way memories and associations are formed in people's brains.

The last time I believed Martin Freeman in anything was in The Office, but that was the first time I'd seen him act.
 
It helps if you just think of him as Tim from The Office being whatever character he is. So it's Tim from The Office riddling with Gollum in the caves. And it's Tim from The Office hitting his wife in the head with a hammer.
 
I may or may not have binged the whole of S1.

:hmm:

Anyway.

Wow.

Masterful. Truly excellent.

Highlight of the whole thing was early episode 7, with the FBI guys in Fargo missing the whole thing. The way it was shot, from outside, following the mirrored windows... that's up there with the scene in episode 4 S1 of The Wire, the 'fuck' scene with Bunk and McNulty. Such a perfect concept.

But really it's hard to pick the best moment because it shines throughout. I'll watch it again at some point no doubt.

There's a second season, yes? Is it available anywhere? I watched this on UK netflix, haven't tried US for a while so don't know if it's there.

Will now read this thread for your thoughts!
 
Okay, stopped reading when I got to you all talking about S2, but I'm excited to go back to see what Molly's dad got up to. Presumably it'll be about the Sioux Falls stuff we kept hearing about? I was massively intrigued about that.

Will have to try to track it down.
 
Vintage Paw said:
Okay, stopped reading when I got to you all talking about S2, but I'm excited to go back to see what Molly's dad got up to. Presumably it'll be about the Sioux Falls stuff we kept hearing about? I was massively intrigued about that.

Will have to try to track it down.
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You may or may not prefer S2 depending on taste, but either way it is a similarly masterful piece of television.
 
I can't remember now if the events of series 2 really matched what we heard about the past in series 1.
 
Series 2 wins over 1 for me. Simply because of

CT_yBGOWoAAFe2w.jpg
 
I preferred Season 2 but to be honest that might just be because I watched it more recently. Time for a S1 rewatch I think.

They are both excellent and the depth put into each episode (background details, nods to other influences) is staggering at times.
 
I preferred season 1.

Season 2 had some fun supporting characters, but I found Molly Solverson a more interesting protagonist than her dad and Lorne Malvo was a far more scary and charismatic villain than the Native American hitman/helping hand in season 2. Season 2 was still very good, but nothing in it happened which I found as surprising as some of the plot turns in the first season. I thought that leap one year ahead in season 1 and what happens then was absolutely brilliant. Season 1 had some genuine "holy shit" moments which season 2 lacked. The UFO in season 2 was sub-Twin Peaks quirky-for-the-sake of it stuff I could have done without. And the massacre in season 1, all shot in one take from the outside of the building, was the outstanding sequence of either season.

Kirsten Dunst was good but the parody of 70s semi-feminist self-actualisation was layed on too thickly. The incident of a hit and run, where the woman drives home with the still alive victim embedded in her window, was based on a real case and has made it into several films and TV series by now. The murder of the traitorous granddaughter in the wintery forest was too reminiscent of Adriana's death in The Sopranos (maybe the most upsetting scene in the entire series), but not as memorable.

The character I found the most interesting in season 2 was Jean Smart's gangster matriarch who looks like your friendly, cookie baking gran but who is tough as nails. She got dispatched rather unceremoniously I thought.

Not a criticism, but rather than the Coen Brothers own films, season 2 felt heavily inspired by the 70s rural gangster film Prime Cut with Lee Marvin and Gene Hackman. It's a favourite film of mine and jawdropping in its political incorrectness, but that's also what makes it great pulp fiction.
 
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I've said it before and I'll say it again; I loved the sheer audacity of the UFOs turning up. No explanations; it just was..! As brilliantly audacious as psychic Johann in 1864.
 
Reno said:
I preferred season 1.

Season 2 had some fun supporting characters, but I found Molly Solverson a more interesting protagonist than her dad and Lorne Malvo was a far more scary and charismatic villain than the Native American hitman/helping hand in season 2. Season 2 was still very good, but nothing in it happened which I found as surprising as some of the plot turns in the first season. I thought that leap one year ahead in season 1 and what happens then was absolutely brilliant. Season 1 had some genuine "holy shit" moments which season 2 lacked. The UFO in season 2 was sub-Twin Peaks quirky-for-the-sake of it stuff I could have done without. And the massacre in season 1, all shot in one take from the outside of the building, was the outstanding sequence of either season.

Kirsten Dunst was good but the parody of 70s semi-feminist self-actualisation was layed on too thickly. The incident of a hit and run, where the woman drives home with the still alive victim embedded in her window, was based on a real case and has made it into several films and TV series by now. The murder of the traitorous granddaughter in the wintery forest was too reminiscent of Adriana's death in The Sopranos (maybe the most upsetting scene in the entire series), but not as memorable.

The character I found the most interesting in season 2 was Jean Smart's gangster matriarch who looks like your friendly, cookie baking gran but who is tough as nails. She got dispatched rather unceremoniously I thought.

Not a criticism, but rather than the Coen Brothers own films, season 2 felt heavily inspired by the 70s rural gangster film Prime Cut with Lee Marvin and Gene Hackman. It's a favourite film of mine and jawdropping in its political incorrectness, but that's also what makes it great pulp fiction.
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great post - I preferred series one also. I agree with all of the above - although personally, I did like the UFO bit, but put more simply, I just felt more engaged with series one.
 
krtek a houby said:
I've said it before and I'll say it again; I loved the sheer audacity of the UFOs turning up. No explanations; it just was..! As brilliantly audacious as psychic Johann in 1864.
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Okay, so I've spoiled myself for s2 by reading this, but I'm slightly agog, because...

I was rewatching s1 with a friend...

And at the end of I think it's episode 4 (not sure), where the camera zooms in so beautifully on numbers and wrench in their little shed on the ice...

Such a beautiful shot, it's one of my favourites of the whole series...

And I said that the only thing that could have made it better was if a ufo appeared above their little shed, and then it's never mentioned again. Just a little wtf moment that's utterly inconsequential.

And... that apparently happened (or something similar) in s2?

Gosh.
 
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