FX's FARGO Discussion Thread

[Magooglie]

One could attribute that to "art," less is more, not going the obvious route ala Reservoir Dogs (a heist movie that doesn't show the heist).

But I attribute it to laziness. If they had shown the shootout, they would have had to explain how Mr. Wrench could have taken out all those guys by himself. He wasn't exactly packing heat like Neo in the lobby, either.

They showed a lot of violence already (and a lot last season too) so there was dissonance to the decision of doing it that way.

 

[Loiosh]

Yeah, Meemo's fate is a bit vague. But I feel if they didn't cover his body with a sheet while on the stretcher, he's still alive.

Definitey, Yuri was the more menacing goon.

Nah, he's dead, just checked. He's being wheeled out by the coroner's office.

 

[Loiosh]

My favorite Meemo scene was with the IRS.

 

[Dragonlordxxxxx]

My favorite Meemo scene was with the IRS.

Same. I was amazed at his chamelonic abilities. Wished we could have seen more of that from him.

Nah, he's dead, just checked. He's being wheeled out by the coroner's office.

Nice catch.

 

[drstrangelov]

Good season, lacked a character who created personal investment in the plot progression though. The scene at the storage facility was excellent, that would have been a standout on any show for how well it was paced and shot.

 

[HereticBD]

Good season, but kind of went downhill after Ray died. It got a little too up it's own ass, with the artsy fartsy shit, and played too loose with the real world setting that it firmly grounded itself in for the first 7 episodes.

It really kills the momentum of a tense showdown, when the bad guy can literally disappear into thin air, and his henchmen be taken out by one fucking guy. Also, what was up with Emmit's car? Why did it start up all of a sudden, after the standoff? What happened to Yuri? Was any scene after the bowling alley stuff actually real for the characters involved?

I don't mind a show going down a more artsy, avant-garde path, but this show didn't decide to implement these elements until it had already established itself in a real world setting for the first three quarters of the season. It was like watching a tense crime drama that's grounded in the real world, and then it ends with the bad guy growing wings and flying into space, while quoting Abraham Lincoln in German. The pieces just didn't fit together in a digestible way, and it really took me out of an otherwise great season.

7/10

The UFO scene doesn't seem that weird anymore.

 

[Peteyandjia]

Varga's last scene with Burgle was great. His whole stint this season was, I could see an Emmy nomination for him for best supporting actor. I liked the poetic cliffhanger, where you're not sure if the Burgle's version or Varga's was going to come true.

Loved this season overall. 1 > 3 > 2 is my order.

 

[Peteyandjia]

Mind is blown as I just found out that Chief Burgle was also Ben Affleck's sister in Gone Girl, a movie I love and have seen several times.

 

[DIABOLUS]

Mind is blown as I just found out that Chief Burgle was also Ben Affleck's sister in Gone Girl, a movie I love and have seen several times.

 

[Lights Out 101]

I read a comment claiming that the ambush scene took place in Stavros's abandoned supermarket from Season 1, Can anyone confirm?

 

[Whiterabbit]

Thoughts and questions

Burgle was far below the solversons in terms of character and ability. I also thought it was dumb she acted all high and mighty after not really doing shit. Her story fell kinda flat to me. I didnt get her whole character arc maybe someone can explain?

Was bowling alley guy god, the author?
Was there reference to the german opening later? Or was it just to bookend the series with interrogation?

 

[Plissken]

Pretty sure the German opening had to do with the show's theme of perception versus reality, which is how the season ended as well.

 

[Loiosh]

Thoughts and questions

Burgle was far below the solversons in terms of character and ability. I also thought it was dumb she acted all high and mighty after not really doing shit. Her story fell kinda flat to me. I didnt get her whole character arc maybe someone can explain?

Was bowling alley guy god, the author?
Was there reference to the german opening later? Or was it just to bookend the series with interrogation?

If not for Burgle, nobody would have known what was going on, and nobody would have been caught. The entire operation would have been invisible.

Molly only had Lou in her way, and he was a spineless incompetent she was able to walk through. Gloria had Moe blocking her every move, and he was far more aggressive and comfortable in his higher rank. Moe also felt compelled to squash Gloria's moves in order to establish his authority as Gloria had been a chief and he wanted it clear he was in charge. Lou wanted the same thing but had a fraction of the strength and just wanted it to happen. Gloria would have walked through Lou in half the time.

Gloria has the same arc as Molly, for the most part. She's on track to find the truth, is prevented by a superior, and then other forces thwart the antagonist, with different degrees of success.

I'm not sure I can define Gloria's arc.

She's a big fish in a small pond until her station is absorbed by the state. She then has to prove herself to higher ranked incompetents and fails, resulting in her failing to make her case. Then, she moves to an even bigger pond, where she seems to be having success, even if it isn't quite determined.

 

[CO68]

Season Finale

A bit underwhelming. Didn't like Nikki's "random" death. Thought she became an even greater character in the last few episodes and wanted her to survive so she can show up in future seasons.

Overall, an entertaining season 3 but not up to par with seasons 1 and 2.

I liked the unexpectedness of it. I thought she'd get her revenge and then hit the road, but nope, bullet to the dome. I liked how the finale wasn't 'satisfying' and didn't tie everything up in a neat little bow with everyone living happily ever after. That's been done waaay too much. I liked this finale more than the S1 finale.

How did Emmit drive off after Nikki's death? Isn't the reason he pulled over was because he was out of gas?

Mr. Wrench is the only one worthy of future seasons.

 

[Peteyandjia]

2 things I see a lot of people missing in this thread:

1. Burgle was awesome

2. Deaf guy's unseen 1-man massacre through the building was a callback to Billy Bob's unseen 1-man massacre through the building in season 1

 

[JadeOwl]

You're going to lead me to believe that Mr. Wrench was able to take out all those armed guards singlehandedly?

I find it plausible. Remember that Malvo highhandedly slaughtered the entire Fargo Syndicate in one scene. And Numbers and Wrench were acknowledged by him to be closest than anyone to his level.

And yes, that's another thing that pissed me off about the season. Yuri was awesome in all his scenes. He survived the axe being thrown at his face, goes to the bowling alley and......? Meets his final judgement? What a shitty way to leave the show. Meemo was nowhere near as menacing as Yuri.

I liked it after all the build-up with his bragging about his piece-of-shit Cossack ancestors, that he was taken down by the Wandering Jew and a whole army of angry Jewish ghosts.

Mind is blown as I just found out that Chief Burgle was also Ben Affleck's sister in Gone Girl, a movie I love and have seen several times.

It never ceases to amaze me how much a change in haircut can make a person look completely different.

Pretty sure the German opening had to do with the show's theme of perception versus reality, which is how the season ended as well.

That too, but in a more direct manner, the murder that was being "investigated" in that scene was committed by Yuri. It also set up his final fate in the bowling alley when his murdered girlfriend's ghost was at the head of the army of angry ghosts.

 

[CO68]

Was there reference to the german opening later? Or was it just to bookend the series with interrogation?

Yeah, in a previous episode, the one where Varga's goons are chasing Nikki and Wrench through the woods. Yuri sees Golem's Helga tattoo and mentions how he knew a Helga.

 

[Peteyandjia]

It never ceases to amaze me how much a change in haircut can make a person look completely different.

It's also a credit to the actress, the way she carried herself was completely different in both roles. In Gone Girl she is loose, modern, sexy. In Fargo she is more reserved, old-fashioned, introspective. Impressive work.

 

[HereticBD]

2. Deaf guy's unseen 1-man massacre through the building was a callback to Billy Bob's unseen 1-man massacre through the building in season 1

That seems like a bit of a stretch. Other than being off screen, there's really nothing similar about either scene.

What bugged me about the scene in the finale, as opposed to the scene in the first season, was that Wrench took out some seemingly highly trained ex-commandos of some kind, all armed with high powered weapons...in a hallway. Ambush or not, it takes quite a bit of suspension of disbelief to buy that Wrench took them all out without getting shot himself. Billy Bob methodically took out a bunch of unprepared office geeks if I'm not mistaken.

Then again, I'm not sure if they were trying to say something of the nature of Wrench and Nikki's characters, and trying to contrast them, with him surviving a shootout with multiple guys shooting everywhere, and her dying in a standoff with one guy and one bullet. I don't know.

 

[DIABOLUS]

Then again, I'm not sure if they were trying to say something of the nature of Wrench and Nikki's characters, and trying to contrast them, with him surviving a shootout with multiple guys shooting everywhere, and her dying in a standoff with one guy and one bullet. I don't know.

I'm sure the liberal feminists will have a field day with that one haha.