Fargo

Greetings, Fargo is a 2014 television series based on the Coen Brother’s 1996 film of the same name. The story is set 19 years after the movie, meaning that it is focused on an entirely new cast of actors and characters while occasionally referring back to the themes or important plot points from the 1996 version of Fargo. It contains similarities to the movie as there is introductive text at the beginning of each episode, suggesting that the storyline is based off real events that took place in Minnesota during 2006 but despite the claims it is a work of fiction. The series does have a relatively large cast with some of the more noticeable actors and actresses including Martin Freeman, Billy Bob Thornton, Allison Tolman, Colin Hanks and Bob Odenkirk.

The story begins with Lorne Malvo, a contract killer played by Thornton, crashing his car on a wintry highway outside the city of Bemidji, Minnesota. Malvo is slightly injured in the accident and goes to a nearby hospital to get aid. The story also focuses heavily on Martin Freeman’s character, Lester Nygaard, an insurance salesman and henpecked husband. One day Lester bumps into an old high school bully of his, a man called Sam Hess, who intimidates Nyggard into accidentally breaking his nose when trying to flee Sam. As such Nygaard meets Malvo at the hospital where the two discuss what had caused Lester to break his nose but the conversation takes a strange turn in which Lorne stated that he would have killed Hess if he was in that position. Malvo continues the conversation by promising he would kill Hess for free if Nygaard agreed to it. A confused Lester was called by a nurse before he could answer, leaving the assassination open to interpretation.

Later on Lorne does kill Hess, a lowlife criminal with connections with a crime syndicate in Fargo, as Nygaard never said no to the proposition. In return the Fargo criminal organization send two of their own assassin’s to track down Sam’s killer, hoping to avenge his death. The story returns to Lester after he returns from hospital. In the spur of the moment he kills his abusive wife, Pearl, with a hammer and calls Lorne to dispose of the body. At the same time Hess’ death is under investigation by the local police force, the meeting between Nygaard and Malvo is discovered in which Sam’s name was often referred to. As such police Chief Vern Thurman travels to Nygaard’s house to question him about Hess’ murder, where Pearl’s corpse is hidden in the basement. Thurman is shot dead by Malvo before Lorne escapes, leaving Lester trapped in a crime scene. Nygaard decides to run into a wall with intentions of knocking himself unconscious, in order to create an alibi in which he was supposedly attacked as well. The investigation falls to Deputy Molly Solverson after the death of her boss, in which she has to unravel the complicated case which appear to be different and unrelated crimes.

That is the main outline of the plot but there are many other storylines that run through it and characters that have a bigger presence later on in the series. The character progression is done particularly well, especially with the fall of Lester Nygaard into the depths of immorality. Lorne Malvo is the character I found that was the most intriguing who was played brilliantly by Thornton. His mischievous nature, oddly worded threats and references to Biblical scriptures have lead some fans to believe that he is actually an incarnation of the Devil but this is never stated outright by the writers. The music, composed by Jeff Russo, sets the mood nicely and positively enhances the experience. I really enjoyed this series and look forward to what season two has to offer.

Plot=9/10

Characters=9/10

Special Effects=9/10

Overall=9/10

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